Even though there are only 3 more weeks left in the 2022 LCS Summer Split regular season, we are still seeing some teams make abrupt roster changes. With only 3 spots available for North America in the upcoming 2022 World Championship, Golden Guardians might think that acquiring Korean jungler Kim “River” Dong-woo in a mid-season trade deal with LCS rivals Dignitas will increase their chances to reach the playoffs.
River will immediately step into the LCS starting lineup for Golden Guardians, who are currently sitting in seventh place after 11 games in the 2022 LCS Summer Split. They trail Counter Logic Gaming and Cloud9 (tied fifth) by League victories, and this change might be just what they need.
The now Golden Guardians jungler has been around the League of Legends competitive scene for quite a while now. Before moving to North American, the 23-year-old was a key playmaker in PSG Talon’s talented PCS lineup. The Taiwanese champions made it all the way to the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational semifinals before falling to eventual victors RNG in a four-game series against the Chinese heavyweights.
While this might be a really good thing for the Golden Guardians, this is definitely a dooming signal for Dignitas. River was clearly their best player and their only chance of making it into the playoffs, but it seems that they are focusing on next year.
Solo becomes TSM starting top laner after Soul benches himself
Yes, we can put our pitchforks away, this time it wasn’t TSM’s fault. The team said it was a mutual decision that stemmed from Soul’s desire to “accelerate his growth” as an LCS-ready talent.
“Management fully gave me the option to continue playing, but I want TSM to make playoffs as much as you guys do, and with my current performance we’d have a higher chance without me”. Thanks for the support guys loved being able to play and even getting a dub on stage for yall. I will be back.” stated Cheng “Alex” “S0ul” Luo on social media.
As a result of everything, veteran Colin “Solo” Earnest will be taking his place in the top lane, making TSM the sixth LCS team he has played for in his lengthy career.
After going through so many unfortunate events, it isn’t strang to see that TSM is currently in ninth place in the regular season standings with a disappointing 3-8 record, sitting just out of playoffs. With multiple roster changes and rookie replacements, the roster has struggled to find a steady baseline. With only three more weeks left to play, however, TSM’s window for a miracle run is closing fast.
Things are looking rough for all the TSM fans out there, and not only because of all their external issues they are currently having. This upcoming week they’ll have one of their toughest challenges this split as they’ll be facing one of the strongest teams in the league, Team Liquid. It’s going to be a good opportunity for Solo to prove that he is still worthy of playing on the LCS stage.
