Considering the lack of true improvement from TSM outside of regional play (and that's only really attributed to the fact that their roster just gets more and more stacked every year), I don't see them doing much with their worlds travels. Out of all the NA teams that have gone (which if IIRC we have sent a total of 8 different teams over the course of 6 world championships) TSM is the only team to have gone every single year and the only time they've made it out of groups, was when the competition was literally still in it's infancy. I'm not here to knock on TSM, I honestly think they're a good team with a strong sense of how to play the game. But right now it feels like that knowledge only translates into their own region.
Can they win smaller international events where the competition is not nearly as fierce? Definitely. Can they pretty much wash through NALCS like a tidal wave? Most definitely. But when it comes to worlds or MSI it feels as if TSM take a proverbial step back in terms of understanding how to prepare and execute a game plan, and it shows every single year.
Every single year they come in as one of the most hyped teams from NA (Excluding 2013, that was C9's year and we all know how that went), and every year they bow out at groups. And honestly I can't fathom why that happens? Is the competition just that good? Are they not preparing properly? Maybe the nerves of worlds trumps that of the NALCS. I honestly don't have the answer, but I do know that every year it seems like the same thing happens without fail and no one learns anything from the experience.
It honestly feels like the smaller regions learn more from their mistakes than our own and that's saying something. So yeah unless both C9 and TSM can show improvement this year then I feel like it's a waste for them to keep going. All it does is block other teams that could potentially grow from this experience from going, and that's not to say they don't deserve to go. They won their way in. But that makes it even more frustrating that they're only using their experience to perpetuate their own success in what is internationally considered one of the weakest major regions.
They need to show that there is more to their repeat appearances at worlds other than being dominate in a region that any of the other competitors could potentially steam roll with little to no difficulty. They need to show that their dominance is not a fluke nor is it coming off the fact that none of the other teams have nearly as much experience as them.
As fans we should expect that at the very least from them. It's not harsh to say that experience is wasted on someone if they're not going to use it properly. It's like giving gold and experience to a teammate who then pretty much afk's in a side lane for the rest of the game but still doesn't get any turrets.
That's all I'm trying to say about this though. I get what you mean. International experience is nice and all, but I want them to finally use it. Finally show the world what they've learned over all these years. Otherwise we might as well be considered a minor region for all the good we do at these events.
