‘End of an era’: LoL fans mourn TSM as future of legendary org hangs in balance

After leaving the competitive League of Legends scene in North America in 2023, remaining TSM fans were still hopeful for an appearance in another region this year. Following recent cuts and a woeful lack of communication, however, the team’s last supporters have seemingly lost faith.

Across multiple social media platforms, such as the official TSM and League subreddits, droves of LoL fans have recently voiced their disappointment with the team, lamenting its “death” like “peeling the band-aid really slowly from a bleeding wound.” Other fans demanded a statement of any kind from team owner Andy “Reginald” Dinh, who has gone silent after promising an announcement on the state of TSM last March.

These sentiments rose in force after the team’s departure from the LCS, but there was still some hope among the fan base after Reginald said TSM would be moving to another tier-one region. Now, supposed reports around the team’s dwindling workforce have killed almost any remaining faith, especially after the firing of longtime social media manager Duncan “Dunc” Cox.

According to Dunc, only nine people are still “working on TSM,” especially after the team around him dissolved and he was forced to pick up more responsibilities as a result. With all of this information, some esports fans believe they’re witnessing the slow death of a once-iconic esports monolith.

Over the last decade, TSM built up a reputation as a legendary organization with teams in multiple esports but was best known for its efforts in the North American League scene. The LCS was synonymous with TSM, with the team winning seven regional championships and making several appearances at the World Championship.

Even though the team failed to find any international success with countless star roster iterations, TSM was still able to power forward until a $210 million deal fell through with disgraced cryptocurrency exchange FTX. TSM claimed it was still “stable and profitable” despite the failed deal but eventually left the LCS and made several job cuts in 2023.