Bjergsen
The ‘burgerking’, Soren Bjerg, also known as Bjergsen, is one of the, if not the most popular and skilled player in the North American competitive League of Legends scene. Bjergsen began his competitive career extremely young, at just sixteen years of age he was signed to and played for the Copenhagen Wolves. With the team, he made his large debut in the DreamHack Winter 2012 tournament, astounding many with his young age yet high mechanical skill and game knowledge. The Wolves came in as a semi-finalist, a decent achievement considering they were created only two to three months before the event.
LCS Player age requirement
The EU LCS had an age restriction for competitive play in Riot events, preventing younger players to enter the scene. As the EU LCS Spring Season had started before Bjergsen had turned 17, he was unable to represent the team in the first two weeks. This forced the Copenhagen Wolves to temporarily allocate substitute player ‘Cowtard’ until Bjergsen was fit to play.
The team rapidly dropped down the LCS ladder before Bjergsen finally turned 17 and re-joined the starting roster as the team’s mid laner. This quickly boosted their overall performance before finishing 5th place in the EU LCS Spring Split.
Gaining recognition
After showing his prowess and carrying the Copenhagen Wolves, the young superstar was snapped up by rival EU LCS team, Ninjas in Pyjamas. While 2013 was by no means a good year for the Copenhagen Wolves, ending the Summer regular season 5th and the Summer playoffs at 6th place, Bjergsen remained a strong force in the team.
The team may have performed poorly, however, the young mid-laner was the driving force, without him, they would have definitely lost even harder.
Joining Team SoloMid
Backed by his strong individual performance and skill, Bjergsen caught the eye of Team SoloMid’s owner and mid laner at the time, Reginald. As Reginald had wanted to retire and step out of the competitive side of the team, he scouted and trailed Bjergsen as the team’s starting mid laner.
Transitioning into TSM was no small matter, previously playing for one of the lower tier teams in the EU LCS, before moving across half way around the world into North America to play for the region’s biggest and most hyped team. In North America, while Bjersen was still young and nervous, he settled in extremely well with the team, assimilating smoothly and being coached by his experienced teammates Dyrus, Xpecial, WildTurtle and TheOddOne.
Bjergsen on his journey with TSM
As we already said, Bjergsen is one of the most recognised names in competitive League of Legends, not only restricted in the North American scene, instead being known worldwide. While the Bjergsen has yet to achieve a top finish in international events such as Worlds, his individual performance is able to rival some of the best mid laners throughout the other regions like EU, CN and even KR.
As Bjergsen mentioned in his video, he has been with Team SoloMid the majority of his competitive career, joining when he was just seventeen. As an extremely young member that had been recruited to fill the shoes of Reginald, the TSM founder and former mid laner, Bjergsen started he simply desired to earn his “right on TSM”. While TSM fans in the start were sceptical due to his young age and absence in the NA scene (previously playing in EU), Bjergsen quickly earned their respect when he immediately delivered results.
Growth with TSM
In the early days, Bjergsen was simply a mechanical player, with veterans like Dyrus or Xpecial being left to shot call in games. However, as members departed, Bjergsen became TSM’s pillar as he continued to improve. This transformed Bjergsen to being TSM’s new shot caller, not only responsible for his individual lane, but setting his teammates up for success through correct macro play.
© Riot Games
Bjergsen on the 2017 roster change
Bjergsen mentions the domestic success TSM had achieved in the past may have stagnated the growth of the members. This led to same poor habits being unable to be corrected, leading to their downfall in the international stage.
As a result, Bjergsen personally advised to bring certain members to the team, specifically Sven, Mithy and MikeYeung. TSM’s decision to bring these three players on their starting roster demonstrate the trust they have towards Bjergsen, and their desire to focus the roster around Bjergsen.
Now, the names of Bjergsen and TSM are inseparable, with the two having already been together for five years. As Bjergsen continues to play at his current standard as amongst NA’s best mid laners, he will likely stay with Team SoloMid for many years to come as the organisation will undoubtedly throw everything they have to keep their star player.
