TSM officially announces Spring 2023 roster, adding Bugi and Neo

TSM of the League Championship Series (LCS) announced their "League of Legends" roster on Nov. 29, picking up new players in jungle and bot lane to field a roster of Solo-Bugi-Maple-Neo-Chime, as initially reported by independent journalist Brieuc "LEC Wooloo" Seeger on Nov. 19.

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Who's new?

Replacing Chinese 21-year-old Mingyi "Spica" Lu in the jungle is Korean 24-year-old Lee "Bugi" Seong-yeop. The jungler most recently played with Estral Esports of the Liga Latinoamérica (LLA), who replaced Bugi with former FlyQuest jungler Brandon Joel "Josedeodo" Villegas; Wooloo reports that Spica will play for FlyQuest in 2023. Bugi also has experience playing in Japan and Taiwan.

Toàn "Neo" Trần is TSM's new botlaner, replacing American 22-year-old Edward "Tactical" Ra and American 18-year-old Tony "Instinct" Ng. Neo came up in the Dignitas system, garnering the respect of the league in his three splits with the squad, but played on the LCS org's academy squad this summer.

Who's coming back?

Veteran LCS player and 29-year-old American toplaner Colin "Solo" Earnest will remain with the team. Solo replaced 21-year-old Canadian Cheng "S0ul" Luo a few weeks into the 2022 LCS Summer Split. The journeyman has been with eight different LCS organizations as a substitute or starting toplaner for teams's main roster or the academy squad.

Taiwanese midlaner Huang "Maple" Yi-Tang retains his starting spot on TSM. The 25-year-old achieved acclaim as a member of Flash Wolves of the League Master Series (LMS), then had stints with teams in China's League of Legends Pro League (LPL) and the rebranded Taiwanese region, the Pacific Championship Series (PCS).

Finally, Canadian support Jonathan "Chime" Pomponio will stay with the team. The 23-year-old made his debut with the LCS's Golden Guardians before moving to TSM this July.

Singaporean coach and former LMS midlaner Wong "Chawy" Xing Lei also re-signed with the team as head coach. The 31-year-old has been TSM's head coach since Dec. 9, 2021.

Featured photo courtesy of TSM.