Doublelift Wants To Return To Pro Play

The eight-time League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) champion, Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng, has expressed his intention to return to pro play. Although he has yet to do so officially, the 28-year-old has admitted that he wants to play in the LCS again after a two-year break.

Earlier this weekend, Doublelift said that he has the urge to return to pro play and has been thinking about it for a while. However, it’s unclear whether the legendary ADC will take the step and make a comeback after a two-year hiatus.

Doublelift last competed in the LCS with TSM in 2020. In his final season in professional LoL, he claimed record eighth LCS title but had a bittersweet ending to his illustrious career.

TSM traveled to China for the 2020 LoL World Championship following the domestic success but failed to deliver. Hailing from a region that is notorious for poor international performances, TSM failed to break the stigma.

Instead, TSM ended the 2020 LoL Worlds group stage without a single win, which ushered in a major roster overhaul ahead of the 2021 season. Most notably, mid laner Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg retired from pro play and transitioned to coaching, while Doublelift retired and focused on his streaming career.

Since he left TSM at the end of November 2020, Doublelift has transitioned to a full-time Twitch streamer. And even though his Twitch career has been going well, it seems like Doublelife has other goals he wishes to achieve, most notably a ninth LCS title.

Throughout his illustrious LoL esports career, which started in March 2011, Doublelift has won eight LCS titles, LCS MVP in Summer 2018, and LCS Finals MVP in 2019. Furthermore, Doublelife was in the NA’s All-Pro First team in five seasons and is the most accomplished NA LoL pro player to date.

As it stands now, Doublelift has yet to announce his return to LoL pro play officially, but he has made it very clear that it is his intention. Still, he had already hinted at a comeback when Bjergsen revealed he returned to pro play.

“As far as do, I still think I can. I think Bjergsen had the best take possible; when he came back he told his team, ‘Guys, I’ve been out of it for a year, I’m not gonna be that good, but I promise that I can get really good. I just need the time’. I really think that is the right mindset,” said Doublelift.

Doublelift further commented that he knows that if he returns, he will not be the best ADC in the league. Instead, he is aware that he will need time to get back in form and develop the skills.

Still, Doublelift is confident that he can compete at the highest level.

The obvious choices would be the current top two LCS teams in Cloud9 and Team Liquid, who would give Doublelife the best chance to win another domestic title. But both squads already have ADC players in Kim “Berserker” Min-cheol and Steven “Hans sama” Liv.

Although there’s always a world where the teams will look to make roster changes, that seems unlikely for Liquid and C9. Similarly, 100 Thieves won’t want to let go of Ian Victor “FBI” Huang, who has been a stand-.out player for the team.

Other teams on the list of Doublelift’s possible destinations include Evil Geniuses and FlyQuest. However, like Liquid, C9, and 100T, EG and FlyQuest likely won’t want to part ways with their current ADCs.

EG’s Kyle “Danny” Sakamaki is arguably one of the best ADCs in the LCS. FlyQuest, on the other side, won’t look to make changes following a solid start to the year.

This leaves Doublelift with only three options – Dignitas, Immortals, or TSM. But based on how Doublelift feels about his former team and the organization’s owner, he really has only Immortals and Dignitas as his potential destinations if he decides to return for the LCS 2022 Summer.