Doublelift officially rejoins TSM after two years with Team Liquid

Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng has officially rejoined Team SoloMid ahead of the 2020 LCS Summer Split.

TSM has confirmed the transfer of former Team Liquid ADC Doublelift who rejoins the organization after two years. On April 21, it was reported that TSM was in negotiation with Liquid to complete the trade. According to the original report by ESPN’s Jacob Wolf, Doublelift picked this contract out of the options presented to him by multiple organizations in the LCS. Doublelift is reuniting with long-time friends and teammates Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg and Vincent “Biofrost” Wang.

Doublelift was part of TSM from 2015 to 2017 when the team replaced him with Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen in a controversial roster change. According to Doublelift, he wasn’t aware that TSM was looking to replace him and found out about it through social media when TSM announced Zven. Doublelift has been vocal about his time with TSM and how toxic the team environment was. It seems to be his M.O, in recent times, Doublelift’s statements about Liquid have been far from kind.

Despite all he had to say about TSM, Doublelift is back within its ranks in another controversial roster change. Doublelift is not a regular player, he’s publicly dating TSM’s president Leena Xu. The community is accusing TSM of nepotism and asking for an investigation into the deal and the competitive integrity.

LCS Commissioner, Chris Greeley released a statement saying that the LCS conducted an investigation and found no evidence of prohibited behavior.

Was it really necessary for TSM to sign Doublelift?

The biggest question is not whether or not the move is completely legal, but if it’s really necessary. TSM had a good season with consistent performance from all the players. TSM is showing again a willingness to blow up its roster after only one split.

Adding Doublelift to the lineup might look good on paper, but in reality, it might have the opposite effect. Doublelift is a big personality, used to getting extra attention from the jungler and having the team play around him. The same can be said about the TSM solo laners. Doublelift will definitely change the dynamic in the team. Hopefully, it’s the happy reunion the team envisioned.