Søren Bjerg (Danish: [ˈsɶːɐn ˈpjɛɐ̯ˀw]; born February 21, 1996), better known as Bjergsen (English: /ˈb j ɜːr ɡ s ɪ n / BYURG-sin), is a Danish former professional League of Legends player. He is best known for playing as the starting mid laner for the Team SoloMid League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) team from 2014 to 2020. After that, he briefly worked as a head coach for TSM and later returned as a mid laner for Team Liquid and 100 Thieves. He is one of the most successful North American players in history, with six domestic titles and ten appearances in finals. He never finished lower than fifth place in any competition. Internationally, he won IEM Katowice 2015 and qualified for the League of Legends World Championship five times, but only advanced past the group stage once. He is widely considered the greatest North American LCS player for his skill as a mid laner. He was often named MVP and was frequently nominated for 1st Team All Pro honors. He won four MVP titles, three playoff MVP titles, and six 1st Team All Pro titles. He never finished lower than fourth in All Pro voting and holds the record for the most kills in LCS history. He retired from competitive eSports in April 2023.
Early life
Bjerg was born on February 21, 1996, in Denmark. He grew up in Mejdal, Holstebro, with his two brothers. Before playing League of Legends, Bjerg played several games as a hobby, including Counter Strike Global Offensive, World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, and Diablo 2.
Career
Bjerg joined professional League of Legends in 2013 as a member of the Copenhagen Wolves in the European League of Legends Championship Series. Because of age rules set by Riot Games, Bjerg could not play with the Copenhagen Wolves until Week 3. For the first two weeks, the team used a substitute player named cowTard. After Bjerg turned 17 on February 21, he joined the main team and played in the remaining matches. After having success with CW, his team was bought and renamed Ninjas in Pyjamas (NiP) for the Summer Split of the EU LCS.
On November 2, 2013, Bjerg left NiP to move to North America and joined Team SoloMid as their mid laner. He was the second player to move from the EU to the NA LCS, after Edward left Gambit Gaming to join Team Curse during Season 3. On January 23, 2014, Riot Games announced that Bjerg broke LCS rules by contacting and encouraging a contracted LCS player to leave his team, Lemondogs. Bjerg admitted the violation and was fined $2,000. In the Spring Split, Bjerg and TSM finished second in the regular season with a 22–6 record, and Bjerg won the Most Valuable Player award in his first split in North America. They reached the semifinals, where they defeated Counter Logic Gaming 2–0 before losing 3–0 to Cloud9 in the finals. In Summer, Team SoloMid ended with a 16–12 record, which was enough for third place in the playoffs. TSM defeated Dignitas 3–1 in the first round and then beat LMQ in a close 3–2 series to reach the finals for the fourth time in a row, facing Cloud9 again. This time, Team SoloMid won 3–1, and Bjerg earned his first LCS Championship.
In the 2015 Spring Split, Bjerg won the MVP Award again, leading his team to a 13–5 record and first place in the league. In the playoffs, Team SoloMid defeated Team Impulse 3–1 in the semifinals before meeting Cloud9 in the title match. TSM beat C9 3–1, winning their third LCS title and Bjerg’s second. In the Summer Split, TSM finished fifth with an 11–7 record but still made it to the finals, defeating Gravity Gaming and Team Liquid both with a score of 3–1. In the finals, they faced Counter Logic Gaming and were swept 3–0. Despite losing the Summer Finals, TSM qualified for the 2015 League of Legends World Championship. At Worlds, Team SoloMid was placed in Group D with KT Rolster from Korea, Origen from Europe, and LGD Gaming from China. TSM finished last in their group with a 1–5 record and were eliminated in the group stage.
In 2016, Team SoloMid started the Spring Split slowly, finishing sixth with a 9–9 record and barely qualifying for the playoffs. In the knockout stage, TSM defeated Cloud9 and Immortals 3–1 and 3–0, respectively, before facing Counter Logic Gaming again. This time, TSM lost 3–2. In the Summer Split, TSM finished with a 17–1 record, losing only one game to Immortals, and Bjerg won his third MVP. The team faced Counter Logic Gaming again in the playoffs, this time in the semifinals, and TSM swept them 3–0 to reach the finals against Cloud9. TSM won 3–1, earning Bjerg his third World Championship appearance as North America’s first seed. At Worlds, Team SoloMid was placed in Group D with Samsung Galaxy from Korea, Royal Never Give Up from China, and Splyce from Europe. They finished third in their group with a 3–3 record and were eliminated in the group stage.
For the 2017 season, TSM finished Spring with a 15–3 record as the second seed. Bjerg was named First Team All-Pro but did not win the MVP. In the playoffs, TSM defeated FlyQuest 3–0 before facing Cloud9 in the finals. TSM won 3–2 and qualified for the 2017 Mid-Season Invitational. At MSI, Team SoloMid finished with a 4–6 record, placing fifth out of six teams. In the Summer Split, Bjerg and TSM finished first in the regular season with a 14–4 record. Bjerg was awarded his fourth MVP, and in the playoffs, TSM defeated Dignitas 3–1 before facing Immortals in the finals. TSM won 3–1 and earned the first seed for the 2017 World Championships. At Worlds, Team SoloMid was placed in Group D with Team WE from China, Misfits from Europe, and Flash Wolves from Taiwan. Despite not having a Korean team in their group, TSM finished third with a 3–3 record and were eliminated in the group stage.
In the 2018 Spring Split, Team SoloMid had an 11–7 record in the regular season, qualifying third for the playoffs. Bjerg was named First Team All-Pro, but in the playoffs, TSM was upset by the sixth seed, Clutch Gaming, and for the first time in their history, TSM was eliminated before the finals. In the Summer Split, TSM finished fifth with a 10–8 record and faced Echo Fox in the quarterfinals, winning 3–1 before losing to Cloud9 in the semifinals. Because of their fifth and third place finishes, TSM did not automatically qualify for Worlds 2018 and had to compete in the Regional Gauntlet as the second seed. In a rematch with Echo Fox, TSM swept them 3–0 before losing to Cloud9, eliminating them from Worlds. For the first time in his LCS career, Bjerg did not attend the World Championship.
After a disappointing 2018 season, Team SoloMid went 13–5 in the 2019 Spring Split, qualifying third. Bjerg was named First Team All-Pro again, and in the playoffs, TSM defeated Echo Fox 3–1 before reverse sweeping Cloud9 3–2 to return to the finals against Team Liquid. TSM was then reverse swept by Team Liquid. In the Summer Split, TSM finished fifth with a 10–8 record and lost their first playoff game 3–1 to Clutch. Again, the Regional Gauntlet was the team’s last chance to qualify for Worlds, but TSM was defeated 3–2 by Clutch, and for the second straight year, Bjerg and TSM failed to qualify for the World Championship.
In the Spring Split, TSM started the season with a 9–9 record and defeated 100 Thieves 3–2 in the playoffs before losing to FlyQuest 2–3 and being eliminated early. In the Summer Split, they finished fourth with a 12–6 record, and Bjerg was named All-Pro again. TSM defeated Golden Guardians 3–0 in the first round but faced challenges in the new playoff format. TSM advanced through the losers bracket, defeating
Coaching career
In October 2020, after seven years playing for Team SoloMid, Bjerg left professional gaming and became the head coach for TSM. Bjerg said that the rumors about his retirement being caused by TSM's poor performance at the 2020 Worlds were not true, explaining that he had planned to retire for some time. On November 21, TSM signed Tristan "PowerOfEvil" Schrage from FlyQuest to join the team as a midlaner. With Bjerg as their coach, the new TSM team placed second in the Spring season and first in the Summer season. However, despite these regular season results, Team SoloMid did not qualify for the playoffs. They finished fifth in Lock-In, third in the Mid-Season Showdown, and fourth in the Summer season, losing to Cloud9, Team Liquid, and Cloud9 in those events. Because of this, Bjerg's team did not attend Worlds.