TSM’s Infamous “Nine-Man Sleep” Play Reminisced by Doublelift and Bjergsen
During a recent watch party stream of the Worlds quarterfinals between JD Gaming and Rogue, popular League of Legends players Doublelift and Bjergsen took a moment to reflect on one of their most infamous moments as teammates. The play in question was the “nine-man sleep” executed by TSM during Worlds 2020, where their jungler Spica successfully landed a perfect setup on Gen.G, but the rest of the team failed to capitalize.
In the stream, Doublelift admitted to rewatching the “nine-man sleep” multiple times during this year’s Worlds. He described it as “pretty dogshit man.”
The Failed Setup
During the play, TSM’s jungler, Spica, made an impressive move by flashing into the entirety of the Gen.G team and applying Lillia’s crowd control abilities. This resulted in all of Gen.G falling asleep. However, TSM failed to follow up on the advantageous situation, letting the opportunity slip away.
The inaction by all TSM players (except Spica) during the play led to it being famously referred to as the “nine-man sleep,” highlighting how even Spica’s teammates seemed to have been put to sleep by the crowd control.
Watch the nine-man sleep play here.
Doublelift commented on the situation, saying, “I was hitting mid minions and I was scared of Ori ulting me but she was literally asleep.” He also mentioned how the team had a defeatist mindset and lacked aggression.
A Missed Opportunity
At the time of the play, TSM had already lost four consecutive games in the group stage and were already out of the running for the event. Despite facing only a 2,000 gold deficit, TSM failed to seize the opportunity and turn the game in their favor.
Accepting Responsibility
Reflecting on the play, Doublelift blamed himself for not taking advantage of the situation. He stated, “If I didn’t let myself have to flash out—if I could just flash in and I had ulti, like if I didn’t do anything stupid—if I just went AFK at the start of the fight, it’s over.” Bjergsen half-heartedly agreed with him, indirectly implying that Doublelift was partially responsible. Doublelift then playfully called out Bjergsen for still having his Flash up while the enemy team was asleep and vulnerable.
Overall, TSM had a disappointing performance at Worlds 2020, losing all six of their group stage games. This year, the poor performance of North American teams at Worlds has brought attention back to TSM’s struggles.
TSM, League of Legends, Worlds 2020, nine-man sleep, Doublelift, Bjergsen, Gen.G, Lillia, teamplay, missed opportunity