LCS: Breaking Down All The Possible Destinations for Doublelift

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Doublelift, Team Liquid, LCS, League of Legends.

League of Legends. Photo Courtesy of Riot Games. /

Reports have surfaced that Team Liquid’s Doublelift may be traded between the LCS Spring and Summer Splits. Here are all the places he could go.

The LCS finals haven’t even been set for this weekend and already we have some good ol’ fashioned hot stove action. According to a report by Travis Gafford, “multiple sources” have confirmed that Team Liquid is looking to trade their star ADC Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng after a split of turmoil, accusations of poor work ethic, and a surprise benching in favor of Edward “Tactical” Ra.

While it is not a sure thing that Doublelift will be traded, the published confirmation that the discussion has been ongoing about trading him is sure to send a massive ripple effect through the LCS landscape. But, if he is to be traded, where will he land?

TSM

Let’s get the most obvious one (and the one most people immediately thought of when this news broke) out of the way. Doublelift being up to get traded could lead to a reunion with his previous squad TSM, his former teammates Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg and his former support Vincent “Biofrost” Wang, and a chance for TSM to recapture the glory of those great teams from two years ago.

And, I’ll be honest…this just makes far too much sense.

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Doublelift is clearly still on great terms with his former teammates, even electing to play an in-house with the former 2016 TSM squad during the brief shutdown due to COVID-19. He’s still very good friends with Biofrost, he is currently dating TSM’s President Leena Xu, TSM has never been the same since that great shake-up in the offseason and this would be a chance to right that wrong. On top of that TSM’s owner Andy “Reginald” Dinh and Steve “LiQuiD112” Arhancet are both part of an unspoken clique of owners that are friendly with each other, so a deal between the organizations would likely be beneficial.

While, yes, TSM does have their own solid ADC in the newly-acquired Kasper “Kobbe” Kobberup, reuniting the old guard might just be too tempting. Plus, if TSM swapped their AD Carries, they would free up an import slot that they could then use to acquire an import jungler.

The one rub is that TL might not want to help one of their greatest rivals, TSM, and TSM might not think Doublelift is worth the headache compared to Kobbe. Still, I just do not see a world where, if Doublelift is traded, TSM isn’t Steve’s first call.

Likelihood: Very high

Cloud9

We’ll get C9 out of the way next because, yeah, no this one’s not happening. C9 just posted the best split since the glory days in 2014, largely on the back of their own ADC Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen. With Zven putting in an MVP-caliber performance this spring including earning First-Team All-Pro and finishing in the top three for MVP votes, I don’t envision Cloud9 messing with the winning formula when they already have a stud at the position.

Likelihood: None

Evil Geniuses

It would certainly be a very…evil…thing to swipe away one of the most-storied LCS players ever only to bring him back to glory and stick it to his old mates. Evil Geniuses have their own star ADC in Bae “Bang” Jun-sik and they do look like the only true challenger to Cloud9, but there have been rumors that Bang and support Tristan “Zeyzal” Stidam aren’t exactly gelling. Maybe taking a shot on Doublelift returning to form and having a better-performing bot lane could push EG over the hump and make them a true #2 going into summer.

Likelihood: They’ll consider it

FlyQuest

I think this is a perfect fit for the team, who has really shown that they can be dangerous with their mid, jungle, and support core. Adding Doublelift along with solidifying their top lane (which they have been doing throughout the playoffs) would take FlyQuest from dark horse to darling status overnight. If you paired Doublelift with Lee “Ignar” Dong-geun I think that’s easily the second-best bot duo in the LCS if they can gel.

However, this is where I think personality of both the team and player might get in the way. I don’t see a world where Doublelift agrees to go to a team like FlyQuest and I don’t think that FlyQuest (who are rumored to be a bit more on the cheaper side) will take on Double’s (likely) monstrous contract. If they did bite the bullet and both sides could make it work, I think this would be a monumental shift in the LCS landscape, bringing a previously second-tier team right into the top-tier.

Likelihood: They should, but they won’t

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