TSM 2016 Summer and the TL Rebuild
The NA International Problem
When people talk about why North America doesn’t succeed internationally, the most common reason I hear is the talent problem. In this article, I will discuss the real reason NA struggles internationally.
Let me begin by showing why NA’s problem internationally is not due to lack of talent. TL went through a rebuilding at the end of the 2017 season. In 2019, they ended up with a roster consisting of an 8x LCS champion in Doublelift, an MSI finalist in Xmithie, a Worlds semifinalist in Jensen, and two world champions in Impact and Corejj. During worlds that year, TL failed to get out of groups. North America has been importing talent for years, but that has failed to produce results internationally.
The reason why NA struggles internationally is a coaching problem. When comparing top teams internationally to their North American counterparts, top teams internationally are successful in most fundamentals of the game where NA’s top teams are drastically lacking. Let’s use DK as a recent example. They know how to get leads in the early game (using priority to make team plays to win conditions, and big wave macro, for example), get vision in the early game, and trade objectives in the early game. They know how to set up for and use first rift herald. They understand macro; they know how to snowball the game with a lead. DK also know how to trade objectives from behind. They know how to set up objectives, how to close out a game utilizing baron macro, and how to push. They also understand their mid-late win conditions, teamfighting, and comms. Top North American teams, in contrast, sometimes can be “mistake free,” have pretty solid objective setups and pushes, but are severely lacking in all of the other areas. This is a coaching problem!
Let’s take a moment to discuss LCS 2016 Summer TSM to expand on the coaching problem in why NA teams fail to succeed internationally. When I think about TSM 2016 Summer, I think 5-man dives bot lane. That version of TSM knew how to get leads in the early game, and had pretty solid mid-late game fundamentals in order to close out games. In my opinion, that was one of the best NA teams to ever go to Worlds. When they got there, however, they became a completely different team. They stopped playing the game the way they knew how to, and started playing to not lose. It seems to me that the pressure of the world stage got to them and they started worrying about losing. This is again a coaching problem. It is the job of the coaches to put systems in place, inside and outside of the game, that allow their players, as individuals and as a team, to perform at their best.
In order for North American teams to reach international success, they must hire coaches who understand how to develop the fundamentals of the game. In order to reach consistency, their coaches also must have a game plan outside of the game. I recommend investing in up-and-coming coaching talent instead of recycling the existing coaching pool which might be stuck in it’s ways.
