Doublelift now has the worst KDA of any ADC in the LCS

Olivia Richman Published 12/02/2020

Team Liquid’s start in the Spring Split hasn’t gone as planned. On February 10, last year’s North American champions lost to Golden Guardians, currently considered one of the bottom tier teams in the LCS. Now, they’re tied for seventh place with a poor 2-4 record.

While the Team Liquid pros and their fans are blaming their poor performance on veteran jungler Mads “Broxah” Brock-Pederson’s visa issues, there’s another issue becoming abundantly clear: Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng currently has the lowest KDA of any LCS ADC as of the Spring Split’s third week of competition.

Often thought of as the best AD Carry in North America, Doublelift’s performance this season has been underwhelming. In fact, he was even killed in a 2v2 against bottom lane duo Victor “FBI” Haung and Yuri “KEITH” Jew in their latest match against Golden Guardians. That’s probably not something Team Liquid fans thought they’d ever see.

Doublelift also has the lowest kill participation percentage among the LCS ADCs, according to Oracle Elixer’s extensive LCS data. The chart also points out Doublelift as having the second-highest share of team deaths and one of the lowest damage numbers for ADCs.

This might be because of Doublelift and Team Liquid’s fixation on playing Senna.

Doublelift continues to disappoint on Senna

Doublelift has yet to win a game while playing Senna. But despite loss after loss, Doublelift continues to pick her. Senna has become one of Team Liquid’s staples during their six opening games. Even though he told Ovilee May that Senna “didn’t fit” his team’s playstyle, he seemed determined to keep selecting this particular champion.

While it’s not quite clear why Doublelift and Liquid want to keep giving Senna another chance, the reasons why this champion isn’t cutting it are a bit more obvious. Doublelift is most often seen carrying with high-damage champions. Senna is a more supportive champion who doesn’t always dole out massive damage.

Despite this, Senna currently has a pick and ban rate of 80% in the LCS even though she’s only won six out of the 20 games she’s participated in. That gives her one of the lowest win rates in the LCS at just 30%, thanks in no small part to Doublelift.

It’s possible that Doublelift is hoping to emulate play styles from the LEC. European teams have seen more success with Senna, where she has an impressive 62.5% win rate. But if Team Liquid continues on the path they’re currently on, they most likely won’t be attending the Mid-Season Invitational, where Senna might finally become more relevant.

It’s yet to be seen if Broxah’s arrival will turn the team’s performance around when he finally joins them on the LCS Arena stage next weekend. That doesn’t give him much time to acclimate and scrim with his new teammates, but they still have hope that his knowledge, skill, and in-game leadership will only improve their performance. It would be difficult for things to get any worse.

Find out if Doublelift decides to pick Senna again when Team Liquid faces Immortals on February 15.

Olivia Richman

About Olivia Richman

Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.

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