A TSM official has announced that Ruby will not be starting for the team in this week’s LCS Summer matches.
On TSM’s official subreddit, Duncan Cox, the organization’s Head of Global Social, confirmed that it will be David ‘Insanity’ Challe starting for the team in this week’s matches.
The decision comes after a rough 0-3 week for TSM. It was Lee ‘Ruby’ Sol-min’s first week of LCS play after he was left out of the starting lineup for the first six matches due to joining up with the team late because of visa issues.
The Korean mid laner, signed from Heretics in the off-season, gave a disappointing account of himself as TSM lost to Evil Geniuses, Dignitas and 100 Thieves, leading to many a fan urging TSM to swap mid laners back.
In an interview with Daniel ‘dGon’ Gonzales in the middle of Week 3, TSM bot laner Jason ‘WildTurtle’ Tran said that team would give Ruby the week and then see “how things pan out”. He also said that the team was making “communication errors” with Ruby and admitted that he was not a fan of the Korean’s control mage playstyle.
TSM bring Insanity back for LCS Summer Week 4
Insanity, TSM’s first North American mid laner in almost a decade, averaged a 2.9 KDA as the team went 3-3 in the first two weeks of LCS Summer.
The team surpassed many expectations during those early stages and looked like a serious playoff contender. However, the 0-3 run undid a lot of their good early results, with the team now languishing near the bottom of the table.
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
“The fact that they are throwing a week away to have Ruby show up, shake up the team and see if he’s good and then it’s like, ‘Oh, what a surprise, Ruby is not good,’” popular League of Legends streamer Christian ‘IWillDominate’ Rivera said on the latest episode of ‘Facecheck’.
“I think it’s really bad for the momentum of the team because it felt, after their week one and two, they should have been feeling pretty good about themselves and their performances.”
And judging from head coach Seong ‘Reven’ Sang-hyeon’s comments in an interview with dGon, there’s a chance that Insanity will play for the rest of the split.
“I think, after a certain point, maybe after this week or next week, there will be a definitive starter, depending on how we’ve done in scrims and on stage,” he said during Week 3.
TSM will take on Immortals on July 5 in their first game of Week 4, which also includes clashes with NRG and Golden Guardians.