After seeing the successful return of TSM icon Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg on the Team Liquid (TL) superteam this LCS Spring 2022, it's no surprise that loyal fans of other League of Legends pros are wondering whether other retired players might put on the jersey yet again. That's true especially for Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng, one of the most decorated veterans in the domestic scene. On his Trash Talk podcast, Doublelift has revealed that he still has the “urge” to return to the competitive stage and seek glory again on a (new or old) LCS team.
Doublelift's decade of greatness in the LCS
Doublelift had enjoyed a spectacular 10 years as a pro player, first making a name for himself on Counter Logic Gaming (CLG) at the peak of the CLG-TSM rivalry. The AD carry then went on to play for TSM, Liquid, then back to TSM again before retiring from competitive play in November 2020.
But in his swan song season with TSM, Doublelift made history with an eighth LCS trophy. Although the squad had a disastrous showing at Worlds 2020, going 0-6 in the group stage, there's no doubt that he's an illustrious figure in the NA League of Legends scene. Besides his eight domestic titles, Doublelift's individual accolades included being named as 2018 Summer Split MVP and 2019 LCS Summer finals MVP, as well as making the All-Pro first team five times.
Now that he has transitioned into streaming and content creation full time, Doublelift still produces a lot of League of Legends content, regularly playing the game and even commenting on the happenings around the LCS and global competitive scene. Many in the community still tout him as one of the greatest NA/LCS players, and possibly among the best Western players of all time.
Doublelift weighs in on returning to the LCS
While Doublelift has enjoyed a thriving career as a streamer, the former LCS champion has in fact floated the idea of a return to competitive during the last off-season. No move materialized, however.
Still, the AD carry hasn't ruled out a comeback. In fact, Doublelift even voiced a desire to reignite his playing career in the second episode of his Trash Talk show, which was co-hosted by former Cloud9 stars Zach “Sneaky” Scuderi and William “Meteos” Hartman.
“I very frequently get the urge to compete because it is something that is so romanticized in our minds,” he disclosed. “It [would be] really fulfilling. It's something that I love, so of course I’m gonna have the urge to compete.”
However, he also recognized that it would take time and dedicated practice to get back his top form. Doublelift even cited his former rival-turned-teammate in Bjergsen as an example, saying that he needs to have the same mentality as the mid laner to hold up against or outperform current LCS marksmen.
He expounded, “I think Bjergsen had the best take possible. When he came back he told [TL], ‘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 think that is the right mindset [for a return to pro].”
Even though the former champ still plays League a lot, he admitted that beating other top ADCs in the league right now won't just be a walk in the park.
“If I said right now [that] I could come back and stomp LCS ADCs easy, [I'd be] delusional,” Doublelift added. “You need a lot of time to go back and develop your skills. So the idea of ‘can you still compete?' Yeah, but there's an asterisk there.”
Which team could sign Doublelift?
Besides the asterisk about brushing up on mechanics and regaining his peak form, another asterisk for Doublelift (and his fans) to consider would be where he might end up. It's basically out of the question for him to return to TSM, given the (very public) fallout with Reginald and the disastrous, dead-last position that the squad finds themselves in the current standings.
While he might fancy a reunion with Bjergsen and CoreJJ, Liquid's superteam already has a standout marksman in Hans sama. And even at peak form, would Doublelift joining the squad really give them the edge they need? It wouldn't be that big of an upgrade, many would say, and it might not be enough for the team's aspirations to perform well internationally.
Another top team, Cloud9 has a prodigious talent in Berserker, and even if something went horribly wrong, there's also veteran ADC Zven waiting on the bench. Evil Geniuses similarly are reliant on a rising star in Danny, while last season's champs 100 Thieves may not be so quick to pull the trigger with replacing FBI, even with their struggles this 2022 Spring split (and it's not like FBI is underperforming anyway).
Even Doublelift's former team, CLG, who are at the bottom half of the LCS table, may opt to give the squad more time to gel, with ADC Luger still relatively early into his pro career. The veteran might then see it more viable to try with a mid-table team like FlyQuest or Golden Guardians. They do have serviceable marksmen in Johnsun and Lost, respectively, and have shown the potential to break into the upper echelon of teams with a little more consistency.
Whether Doublelift's interest in going pro again even comes to fruition remains to be seen. It might not even happen in the 2022 LCS Summer split. Regardless, fans will welcome it with open arms as the veteran brings a huge following, an entertaining character, and with ample practice, great mechanics and outplays to boot.
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