Reginald says TSM spent $5 million on League team this offseason, but ‘went with rookies to rebuild over 3 years’

TSM apparently had a long-term vision in mind for its team ahead of 2022.
Photo by Colin Young-Wolff via ESPAT/Riot Games

The 2022 LCS Spring Split hasn’t been kind to TSM fans, especially with the team suffering a 1-8 record through the first round robin. People in the League of Legends community have raised many questions around the decisions made behind the scenes, but the team’s CEO Andy “Reginald” Dinh broke down the thought process behind the org’s moves heading into the new year.

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On the TSM subreddit, discussions were being had around former TSM president Leena Xu and her comment on the possible rosters that the team could have fielded for 2022. Both she and former TSM general manager Parth Naidu wanted to sign a combination of Jensen, Doublelift, and current Evil Geniuses support Vulcan, according to the 28-year-old. But she claims they were told that was “not worth the cost” and she eventually left after the offseason ended.

Screengrab via Doublelift Twitch

In response, Reginald said the decisions made were never about one-to-one costs. He confirmed that TSM spent around $5 million on its League of Legends team for 2022, with over $1 million of that going toward the buyouts for new support Shenyi and mid laner Keaiduo. He also said the lineup with Jensen, Doublelift, and Vulcan would have cost around the same amount as what the org paid for this younger roster.

“We also knew the above roster would lead to a more consistent performance, but thought it wouldn’t have the potential to dominate the league or go far at Worlds,” Reginald said. “We wanted to build over three years, not one. Parth recommended against this option [by the way], and I still agree. We don’t want to make safe bets to be in the top four in NA for one year and then rebuild again with veterans.”

Screengrab via r/TeamSoloMid

In addition, Reginald said this roster was built through multiple scouting grounds across NA, Korea, and China, while also flying in 20 players for tryouts. Ultimately, the org took a big risk on unproven talent for this year and it hasn’t panned out the way TSM likely wanted it to.

After a 0-3 superweek, TSM fans are rightfully in panic mode and their worries are quickly building into speculation around the team’s situation. Rookie support Shenyi, for example, was sent to the Academy team after two weeks in the LCS and public scrutiny has gotten so bad that star jungler Spica was forced to address the criticisms raised against him on social media.

The 21-year-old said that “no player played a part in deciding [Shenyi’s] benching” and that they were never against his shotcalling style, which directly contradicts the current narrative building around the squad.

With four weeks left in the 2022 Spring Split, TSM will need a miracle if they want to challenge for the LCS championship this season. But looking even farther into the future, the org’s management will need to figure out what direction this roster is heading in if TSM wants to be in the running for a Worlds spot later this year.


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Author
Tyler Esguerra
Lead League of Legends writer for Dot Esports. Forever an LCS supporter, AD carry main, with more than five years in the industry. Sometimes I like clicking heads in Call of Duty or VALORANT. Creator of the Critical Strike Podcast.