LCS Veteran ADC Doublelift Announced he is Retiring
Professional League of Legends player and long-time veteran ADC Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng announced he is retiring... for real this time.
Who is Doublelift?
Doublelift is traditionally an AD carry and one of NA's strongest at that. He has played since March 2011 for CLG and went on to play most of his career for TSM. He has won 13 LCS split titles, a strong member of the 1,000 kill career club, and has achieved 10 pentakills on stage!
Why is he Retiring?
In the past, Doublelift has "retired" twice. In his announcement he said that the first time was due to being in a poor place mentally and feeling his performance was being hindered. So he decided to take a break to give himself a mental reset. The second time he retired was due to, in his words, no good team picking him up. He had to choose between playing for a "poor team" or not playing professionally for a season. Having chosen the latter, he became a content creator. Streaming ranked games and co-streaming the LCS seemed to be a way for him to stay in touch with his fans and also the game.
Doublelift announced his third and final retirement for a multitude of reasons. The largest reason for him is that he feels that winning worlds is slipping away due to the budget cuts occurring in the North American region. Reiterating that money does not drive him, Doublelift stated that with lack of resources NA will struggle to hold competitive rosters and will have difficulty acquiring up and coming talent. Another reason for his retirement is that his life is evolving and has new goals to pursue in his life such as marriage and raising a family.
Doublelift with his pet / "My Future" Doublelift YoutubeCriticism of the LCS
Having stated that the LCS is projected to go downhill since the budget cuts, it's important to note that there were no specific sources or references as to whether his concerns are confirmed or not. LCS has been seen to cut salaries and organizations have pulled out or even shut down. However, new organizations are coming into the scene and acquiring previous rosters. In Worlds 2023, NRG who was the winner of the 2023 Summer split made it to the quarterfinals. A strong feat that not even LEC teams made last year.
What's Next for Doublelift?
Even though Doublelift is retiring from the professional scene indefinitely, he announced he will go back to full time content creation. This will include co-streaming, climbing the ranked ladder, and perhaps engaging in other for-fun tournaments. Be sure to tune in to his stream at twitch.tv/doublelift.
Featured Image Source: Doublelift X
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