After parting ways with League of Legends Pro League (LPL) team Suning Gaming, Hu “SwordArt” Shuo-Chieh has been signed by TSM as their new support player.
The deal came with US$6 million worth of salary for SwordArt, believed to be the highest salary in the LCS according to a report by The Washington Post.
For the next two years, SwordArt will play under the TSM banner where he will receive an annual salary of US$3 million each for seasons 2021 and 2022. TSM founder Andy Dinh considers this as an investment that will bring glory not just to TSM but to the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) as well.
“It just makes sense for TSM to spend these dollars to recruit players,” said Dinh. “I think that the investment we made, and other teams’ [investments in other players], reinforces that our team and our region is really serious.”
- PowerOfEvil replaces Bjergsen as TSM’s mid-laner
- Bjergsen retires as a player to become TSM’s new head coach
SwordArt revealed the reason that he transferred to TSM was to challenge himself and see what he can do in a new region. He believes that he can unlock TSM’s true potential by bringing his experience from past leagues to the members and the organization.
“I want to take my experience from the LPL and LMS to TSM,” said SwordArt. “I want to bring some LPL style to TSM to make TSM play more aggressively.”
The language barrier won’t be a problem for the 23-year old Taiwanese player as he’s fluent in English and claims that he can “communicate a lot.” He also looks forward to facing his former teammates Suning in Worlds 2021.
Many would remember SwordArt for his stellar performance during the 2020 League of Legends World Championship (Worlds). The team defied everyone’s expectations and have been deemed by many as the dark horse of the competition. Unfortunately, they lost to Korean favorites DAMWON Gaming in the finals 3 – 1.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Rell, League of Legends’ newest support
