Star streamer and former League of Legends pro-Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng has revealed that fans were denied a chance to see him return to the LCS with the team he featured for between 2017 and 2020.
The retired pro revealed over the weekend that he could have returned to the LCS with Team Liquid but for the team’s general manager Kang “Dodo” Jun-hyeok.
He mentioned this while he was co-streaming the LCS Spring Split on Saturday, March 9. Doublelift also disclosed that he aspired to create a strong hit squad at Team Liquid, his third return to the competitive League, and how Dodo halted everything.
Doublelift retired from competitive League for a second time after playing out the 2023 LCS season with 100 Thieves, after which he revealed that he was accomplished in League pro play.
However, the plan by Team Liquid in the off-season was to form an Exodia squad, one of which Doublelift is part of.
For Doublelift, he said he wasn’t bothered about LCS salaries and the drop in League viewership for the top NA league as a whole and that he would give 100 percent if they put the right lineup together.
Furthermore, he said TL chief executive Steve Arhancet reached out to him in September 2023, asking for his preferred potential teammates, with Doublelift mentioning Canadian mid-laner Jojopyun as a keen interest.
The interesting part was that Jojopyun was available after Evil Geniuses’ exit from the LCS, and Doublelift got in touch with Dodo regarding a potential return to competitive League with the 19-year-old Canadian.
However, while manager Dodo spoke to Jojopyun regarding his availability for the 2024 season, he left Doublelift from the equation and insisted he wouldn’t want to work with Doublelift.
“If Doublelift joins the team, I’m going to have to quit my job, or they will have to fire me.” Dodo reportedly declared.
For Doublelift, Dodo’s attitude could be attributed to their time in 2020 when Liquid, after an underwhelming season, parted ways with the botlaner, claiming he was unmotivated.
He also stated that Jojopyun’s agent contacted Doublelift and multiple times reached out to Dodo and Liquid in the buildup to the 2024 League season, but nothing as much as a response came forth as Jojopyun went with an offer from Cloud9 instead.
