TSM returns to competitive Valorant

TSM is anticipated to take over BackOutsideBoys’ slot in the 12-team NA Challengers competition. BackOutsideBoys is one of six “core roster” teams who qualified for the league or were invited back to play. Between the 2023 and 2024 seasons, there was a great deal of organizational turnover in the offseason: G2 acquired The Guard’s roster after the latter’s organization folded, Moist and Shopify partnered, OREsports dissolved, and FaZe is currently missing from the picture. Ascension will see the BackOutsideBoys compete for the organization. A request to attend the VCL Ascension 2024 has been extended to TSM. Professional players did not appreciate the time of inactivity due to the lack of professional events and matches. Riot announced minor adjustments to the 2024 season at the same time, saying that matches will be more evenly distributed throughout the year. TSM will have its work cut out for it in this battle with twelve teams. The majority of the teams have established themselves, either by winning their berth through the qualifiers or competing in prior Challengers.

New faces, old friends, same goal.

▪️ @sevvn
▫️ @symrifle
▪️ @Guiiimond
▫️ @POISEDfps
▪️ @OfficialAproto
▫️ Coach: @Faded_VL

The black-and-white rejoins the road to Ascension. pic.twitter.com/8SRjamJJT9

— TSM (@TSM) March 19, 2024

The organization did carry out a pledge made back in July 2023 to rejoin the NA Challengers scene, even though TSM delayed doing so until the very last day of the agonizingly lengthy VALORANT Challengers offseason. The protracted offseason has caused difficulties for prospective professional players to play VALORANT full-time, which has been a big topic of discussion within the tier-two scene. Only a few rosters are left in the Challengers this season. The lone free-agent roster that participated in the 2023 season without an organization was Turtle Troop.

The new TSM roster includes Tyler “sym” Porter, Alex “aproto” Protopapas, Kevin “POISED” Ngo, Johann “seven” Hernandez, Anthony “gMd” Guimond, and coach Daniel “Faded” Hwang. Since 2020, the TSM organization has been a part of the Valorant scene. Over the years, their performance has varied, though, going from strong finishes to missing out on qualifying. Before they were grouped for the VCT NA Challengers 2022 Split 2, gMd and seven joined the roster in April 2022. TSM had minimal success in Challengers for 2023 after failing to get into the Americas partnership program; they placed sixth and eighth in Splits 1 and 2, respectively. After that, TSM left Valorant temporarily and parted ways with the roster, which included gMd and seven. After finishing second in the North American LCQ 2021 competition with Rise, POISED departed the team following Split 1 and joined FaZe Clan. The roster gained strength throughout the season, which paid off in NA LCQ 2022 when they finished in third place.

The club’s goal this season is to retake North America, and they will play their first game against the team that is favored, M80, who are just one step away from earning a spot in the Americas League for 2024.

With VCT 2024 here, keep an eye on all of our content as we’ll be covering all the action VALORANT has to offer. Don’t forget to bet on VALORANT at BetUS Sportsbook & Casino, as we have a plethora of valorant odds for you to enjoy!