TSM missed the League of Legends World Championship for the first time in the history of the organization, and there has been no time wasted in making changes.
TSM has signed Tony “Zikz” Gray as head coach. Zikz will be replacing Kim “SSONG” Sang-soo, who served as head coach of TSM for the majority of 2018. Zikz has spent the past five years coaching Counter Logic Gaming.
Zikz initially worked with CLG as an analyst before joining the organization as the assistant coach. He played an integral part in CLG’s first championship in the 2015 NA LCS Summer Playoffs, and became the team’s head coach the following season.
CLG went all the way to the 2016 Mid-Season Invitational finals with Zikz at the helm. At the time, it was the most successful international performance in North American League of Legends history. Zikz was removed from his position ahead of Week 8 of the 2018 NA LCS Summer Split.
Zikz is arguably the best coach in the North American region’s history. The move comes as a surprise to many given his many years spent with the Counter Logic Gaming organization. Zikz took to twitter to thanks CLG fans for their support and to admit that he himself didn’t expect to be playing with TSM.
In the announcement on TSM’s website, the organization expressed its excitement to have signed a decorated coach of Zikz’s caliber, pointing to his years of proven success in the North American LCS.
TSM’s problems extend well beyond the coaching position, but Zikz might provide the right combination of experience, success, and familiarity with North America to take TSM back to the promised land.
