The 2022 LCS Season is just around the corner, as hard as it is to believe. The time since Worlds 2021 has flown by quickly, and North America is gearing up for a huge year. LCS teams made big moves in the offseason, including several notable names leaving and joining for different reasons. Ahead of the pack, Team Liquid’s offseason wrapped up before anyone else that made changes.
Before jumping into the new roster, cast back to the World Championship. Team Liquid had one of the wildest group stages ever, with everyone in the group–MAD Lions, Gen.G, LNG and TL–beating each other. It was the first four-way tie in Worlds history. To break the ties, the teams formed a bracket based on which teams had the fastest wins–MAD (slowest) versus LNG (fastest), and Gen.G versus TL.
Team Liquid was part of the first 4-way tie in League of Legends World Championship history.
In true North American fashion, Liquid lost the tiebreaker and were eliminated. All of the buzz and excitement of the four-way tie fizzled for LCS fans, as another 3-3 Team Liquid headed home after Group Stage. Anyone following the team over the year knew changes would occur, remembering the Malphite Tactical memes, the Alphari-Jatt issue, Santorin migraines and other bumps in the road.
As the dust of Worlds settled, fans heard murmurs of Jensen role-swapping bot lane. Bjergsen was returning to mid lane and joining TL. Then rumors swirled that Bwipo was leaving Fnatic to join TL. Tactical to TSM and Hans sama from Rogue to Liquid was the final whisper. Lo and behold, most of these became true.
Team Liquid announced Head Coach Guilhoto on November 19, Santorin remaining jungle November 20, CoreJJ remaining support November 21, Bwipo top lane November 22, Hans sama bot November 23, and Bjergsen mid November 24. The entire roster was finalized less than three weeks after World Finals.
Per usual, Team Liquid’s offseason boiled down to major acquisitions and signing them quickly. In a year where the League of Legends World Championship is coming to North America, this TL roster has all the pieces to succeed. Every member has had some of the highest levels of performance in the entire LCS. Bwipo, Santorin, Bjergsen, Hans sama and CoreJJ took home six silver medals with their respective teams in 2021, and none of them made it out of Worlds Group Stage. They are experienced, they are talented, and they are hungry for wins.
Image from Team Liquid’s Twitter
Listen to The Liquid Lowdown Episode 10: What is Going on with Alphari?
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