After two weeks of sitting on the Team Liquid bench, Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng appears to be back in the game. In a simple tweet stating, “I’m back,” the pro AD carry seems ready to compete in tonight’s LCS match against Immortals.
im back
— Yiliang Peng (@Doublelift1) March 9, 2020
Doublelift’s return from the bench
The star player was initially benched due to illness, explaining to fans on Twitter that he had laryngitis. As a result, Team Liquid Academy’s ADC, Edward “Tactical” Ra, took over while Doublelift recovered. During Tactical’s time in Doublelift’s place, Liquid snagged two LCS victories from 100 Thieves and TSM. This was a refreshing change for fans, as the team was struggling to perform at the start of the split.
However, Doublelift’s spot on the bench stayed warm the following week as Liquid replaced him with Tactical once again. When asked if he was still sick, Liquid’s co-CEO Steve Arhancet explained that Doublelift had recovered but gave no explicit reason for the benching. The player later opened up on Twitter, saying that he’d been demotivated lately and had been benched as a result.
I'm benched because I had no motivation until very recently. Being sick and unable to compete gave me my passion back, but too late. I'm sorry towards every one of my teammates and I'll be working from now on to regain their trust.
— Yiliang Peng (@Doublelift1) March 4, 2020
While Tactical’s first replacement run helped bring Liquid to victory, the second time around wasn’t as successful. CLG defeated Liquid over the weekend, a loss that stings even further when you consider that CLG is currently the league’s last-place team. Despite the loss, Liquid still remains in sixth place in the league alongside Immortals and Golden Guardians.
There is no confirmation from Liquid staff or players that Tactical’s swap out is due to the CLG loss. However, Arhancet did previously say that the team would be evaluating its starting line-up on a week-to-week basis. As such, the team may be ready to give Doublelift another chance in the rift. With only two weeks left in the regular season, Liquid have to make some quick moves to make sure they qualify for the playoffs.
Do you think Liquid is ready to take home a victory tonight? Let us know in the comments, and keep your eye on Daily Esports for all your League of Legends news.
