Photo Credit: Riot Games
Doublelift, formerly of TSM, has recently joined Team Liquid as their starting ADC for the rest of the Spring Split. At first glance, the move may seem a bit weird for someone as good as Doublelift to join a sinking ship, but once the facts fall into place, the move makes sense. First of all, although Doublelift has officially signed with Team Liquid, it’s best to consider him on loan temporarily from TSM. Both owners of TSM and Liquid have traditionally had a good relationship and have been known to work with each other in the past regarding roster changes and more. Doublelift was on hiatus and took to streaming after Worlds last year, but a player of his caliber would much rather compete. As such, Team Liquid would be a good place for him to get back into the LCS and prepare himself to rejoin TSM during the Summer Split for Worlds.
In regards to Doublelift’s impact on Team Liquid, he will be a huge upgrade from Youngbin who was recently promoted to the starting ADC role after Piglet was swapped to the mid lane. Unfortunately for Youngbin, he was plucked out of the collegiate scene and thrown against some of the best teams in North America. Doublelift joining Liquid will bring much needed experience and firepower to the squad. One potential downfall to this however, is that Doublelift has been known to have personality clashes with teammates in the past. His infamous departure from CLG and the Donezo Manifesto by Link highlight some of the issues he may have had with his longtime former teammates. With two Koreans on this new team, language barriers as well as personality conflicts may arise.
One thing to note however, is that if the pieces do fall into place for Liquid, they have the potential to quickly rise up in the LCS ranks. Although it is unlikely they will make any deep runs to the LCS playoffs, they could easily finish in a respectable middle spot and upset a few of the top teams.