Rumors surrounding Doublelift and TSM have been everywhere for quite some time now, but now it is official: Doublelift returns to TSM.
If you're good, you’ll tell everyone. If you’re great, they’ll tell you.
With this quote, Team Liquid bids farewell to who is arguably the greatest North American League of Legends player of all time:
"When you're good, you'll tell everyone. When you're great, they'll tell you."Thank you, Doublelift. pic.twitter.com/U0fx9gRjXn
— Team Liquid LoL (@TeamLiquidLoL) April 26, 2020
Because now it is official: Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng leaves Team Liquid after four Split Championships in 2018 and 2019.
After the Spring Split 2020 went anything but well for Team Liquid, it was rumored that Doublelift would leave the team to return to TSM.
Doublelift and TSM: Champions among themselves
Doublelift is now reunited with Søren "Bjergsen" Berg and Vincent "Biofrost" Wang with whom he won several splits a few years ago.
TSM brings a true LoL legend back onto their roster: Doublelift holds the record for most championships with 7 titles and is the only player to have won the LCS with three teams.
wait, what year is it? welcome back @TLDoublelift: https://t.co/g4IxQAPEae: https://t.co/JsGAhBMC5A pic.twitter.com/djqpB95TOr
— TSM (@TSM) April 26, 2020
Controversy
But not all is bliss when it comes to this major move: some people have some serious integrity concerns and even called for this trade to be vetoed. Why? Because Doublelift is dating TSM president Aileena "Leena" Xu. A relationship this close is troubling for many reasons. One being: did Doublelift underperform at Team Liquid on purpose? It's certainly something that's out there in the universe as people online are accusing him of collusion, tampering, poaching, and more.
Another very valid worry sounds funny and simple, but is very legit: what if Doublelift has a disagreement with a teammate? Who is Leena going to side with? Can she remain objective in any situation regarding her boyfriend? Can she consistently prioritize her job over her relationship? There certainly are a lot of issues with this one.
For now, though, the LCS has taken a clear stance. Chris Greeley, the LCS Commissioner stated:
"The League worked with TSM and Team Liquid to review the trade of Yiliang 'Doublelift' Peng to ensure its compliance with the LCS ruleset. We conducted interviews of the relevant individuals as well as reviewed documents and communications in connection with the trade. We found no evidence of prohibited behavior and accordingly, we have approved the trade."
The LCS can of course always come back to this if further investigation warrants an intervention. If they do, you'll hear about it here.
For now, it will be interesting to see how Doublelift will find his way back into the team and whether the success story of Yiliang Peng will continue.
As soon as there's more news on the story, you'll find out right here at EarlyGame.