Doublelift weighs in on controversial Rogue vs TSM League of Legends debate
Riot GamesTeam Liquid star Yiliang ‘Doublelift’ Peng has weighed in on the controversial ‘Rogue vs TSM’ hypothetical being discussed in the League of Legends community recently.
The nature of League of Legends’ regional structure means that many teams will never actually meet face-to-face. Usually only a few of each region’s top teams will compete internationally, so for the rest there is nothing but speculation and theorycraft as to who would win.
In recent weeks, there has been some debate around the relative strength of North America’s TSM and Europe’s Rogue, after Splyce coach Hadrien ‘Duke’ Forestier suggested on July 17 that Rogue, one of the bottom-ranked teams in the LEC, would beat the legendary organization “8 out of 10 games.”
Quick look at reddit tonight: Rogue would beat TSM 8 out of 10 games btw, big names in TSM shouldn't distract you from the fact that they are terrible
— Duke (@Duke_Esports) July 17, 2019
Naturally, the statement stirred controversy, with both fans on both sides of the argument jumping to defend their team.
During a recent stream, Doublelift was asked to weigh in on the discussion, and his take is that the match-up would be “pretty even”, although he did also state that he isn’t extremely familiar with Rogue’s play.
“TSM vs Rogue, who would win? I think it’s pretty even. Like you can make arguments for either side.”
While Doublelift may not have gone all in on Rogue as some commenters have, it’s hardly a ringing endorsement for either TSM or the league more broadly that he considers one of North America’s most storied teams to be on a par with a squad that doesn’t currently hold a playoff position in the LEC.
Doublelift’s Team Liquid has dominated the LCS this year.In the weeks since the debate originally began, TSM unfortunately haven’t done much to build confidence in their fans. Though they’ve been even in record with two wins and two losses, the team has looked directionless in defeat and only scraped through in their victories.
With only one week left to play in the LCS regular season, TSM should still be safe for a playoff spot, but many will be hoping for some big improvements come playoffs if they’re to see TSM back in the form that got them within one game of winning the Spring split.