Soren “Bjergsen” Bjerg is leaving TSM after eight years with the club, per an announcement from the club that went out on social media Thursday.
An update from @TSMReginald and @parthenaan on our LCS roster. pic.twitter.com/1C0ji7cfGL
— TSM FTX (@TSM) October 28, 2021
Bjergsen, 25, retired as a player in October 2020 to take over as coach for Team SoloMid, but he was reportedly interested in returning as a player in 2022.
Those contract discussions broke down, leaving the six-time North American champion on the free agent market this upcoming November.
In addition, Dot Esports reported that Hu “SwordArt” Shuo-Chieh is planning to leave the team as well, a year after signing a two-year, $6 million deal.
SwordArt would forgo $3 million in that move.
Bjergsen had been with the North American team since November 2013 and became part-owner in 2019. He will need to sell off his ownership equity to play for another team.
TSM’s last title was the 2017 North American LCS Summer split, when Bjergsen was MVP. TSM qualified for the World Championship that year, but the team has struggled since then, failing to qualify for Worlds in two of the past three years.
TSM was bounced without a single win in the group stage for Worlds 2020, marking the first time a top seed in a pool has gone winless in Worlds.
–Field Level Media