Team Liquid is about to close a deal that will see bottom laner Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng return to Team SoloMid, ESPN’s Jacob Wolf reported.
Earlier this month, it transpired that Team Liquid put Doublelift’s contract up for trade ahead of the 2020 LCS Summer Split. According to the report by ESPN, multiple teams were interested in the contract, but Doublelift himself ultimately chose to go back to TSM.
This has Doublelift reuniting with an organization that kicked him in 2017 without any kind of warning. The change is not surprising, as Doublelift has been vocal about his discontent with the coaching staff and the decisions being made behind the scenes by Team Liquid. He even criticized the signing of jungler Mads “Broxah” Brock-Pedersen and called it a mistake.
Team Liquid is looking into potential recruits, but so far the organization is sticking with Edward “Tactical” Ra as the starter for the 2020 LCS Summer Split. Tactical gave Liquid some consistency during the season and he might be the best option for a team that will be looking to return to form.
Under different circumstances, this would be looked at as just another roster change, but this trade is not like most. Doublelift is publicly dating TSM’s president Leena Xu, who makes frequent appearances on his Twitch stream. That makes for a unique situation within the TSM organization, and also gives a different feel to the public blowout between Doublelift and Team Liquid. Not only that, but Doublelift’s performance was also questionable throughout the 2020 LCS Spring Split.
Terms were not disclosed, but Doublelift and TSM coming back together will likely be well-received by fans. Earlier this year, Doublelift reunited the 2016 TSM roster for a charity stream to adulation from fans.
That said, this trade does raise some eyebrows when it comes to Riot’s roster rules. It will be interesting to see if the LCS has anything to say about the matter in the coming weeks.
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