Seven-times LCS champion Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng is set to return to Team SoloMid after a five-split stint with Team Liquid, ESPN’s Jacob Wolf reports. The move is likely to happen ahead of the 2020 Summer Split, confirming earlier reports that Doublelift’s contract has been put up for sale by Liquid.
According to ESPN, Doublelift was “intimately involved” in the process of finding his new home. TSM will be familiar ground for him, after winning two LCS titles with the league’s winningest franchise. From that 2016-2017 TSM squad, Soren “Bjergsen” Bjerg and Vincent “Biofrost” Wang are still on the roster.
Doublelift departs Liquid after a very disappointing split, where the then reigning champions finished 9th with 7-11 record. On several occasions during that time, Doublelift also spoke out about his lack of motivation, which led to his eventual benching in favor of substitute Edward “Tactical” Ra for three matches.
The move leaves two questions to be answered: which bot laner will replace Doublelift in Liquid, and where will TSM’s current ADC, Kasper “Kobbe” Kobberup will go. According to ESPN’s report, Tactical is likely to reclaim the starting AD Carry position. As for Kobbe, his future is uncertain. The Danish played is an import still, which would severely limit his options for potential new home.
Even though they made playoffs, TSM’s results cannot be satisfactory to fans and management. The team finished fifth in the regular season and then placed fourth in the Spring Playoffs, making it the second consecutive split where they finish outside the top 3.
The silver lining for both Liquid and TSM is that the Mid-Season Invitational is likely not happening, which takes away some of their bad splits. Both teams can now look to rebuild and enter the Summer Split with renewed strength.
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