TSM bench Biofrost for Academy star Treatz after 0-2 LCS weekend

Team SoloMid are making mid-split changes to their LCS roster by benching Vincent ‘Biofrost’ Wang in favor of Academy team standout Erik ‘Treatz’ Wessén.

The org announced the move on July 15, which will signal the LCS-debut for one of the Academy leagues’ up-and-coming stars. Meanwhile, Biofrost will take Treatz’s place on the development team after coming off an underwhelming performance in Week 5.

For one of the most storied franchises in the league, TSM have a high bar of expectations, regardless of the lineup they field. Going into the league’s fifth week of play, TSM brandished a 6-2 record before slipping in consecutive games against league-leaders Cloud9 (9-1) and bottom of the table Immortals (2-8).

In a team environment, losses don’t fall on one player’s shoulders – but the delicate power-struggle in the league after five weeks could have been enough for Head Coach ‘Parth’ Naidu to make the switch.

In the two losses to diametrically opposed competition, Biofrost notched a 0.5 KDA in the separate encounters on Bard and Tahm Kench.

That’s not to say Treatz doesn’t deserve the promotion: Lately, he’s been a force in the Academy scene with his latest performance on Nautilus netting him a 20 KDA with a 1/1/19 scoreline.

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Prior to that, he’s been a constant boon for TSM’s Academy side who are working with an 8-2 record. He’s shown his prowess on frontlining champs like Braum and Tahm Kench or proactive playmakers in Rakan and Thresh.

Though TSM have an over .500 record to show for in the first round robin stage, the league as a whole is prepped for a shakedown of its ladder with only two wins separating third place from seventh.

“Lane kingdom with [Yiliang ‘Doublelift’ Peng] incoming,” Treatz said after the announcement. “Excited and confident for this opportunity and will give it my all.”

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Teams like 100 Thieves (4-6), Immortals, as well as Dignitas (2-8) have shown glimmers of brilliance on the Rift after promoting players from their respective Academy pools, and TSM might be looking to replicate that surge.

Doublelift has already been queuing up in matchmaking with his new lane partner Treatz, and should have some synergy to work off of when they square up against 100T on Friday, July 17 at 6 PM PST / 9 PM PST / 2 AM BST followed by Flyquest (5-5) on Saturday July 18, at 3 PM PST / 6 PM PST / 11 PM BST.