Doublelift slams “disgusting” TSM after LCS 2021 roster issues

Former TSM superstar Yiliang ‘Doublelift’ Peng has slammed his old organization. He labeled the team “disgusting” after a plethora of LCS 2021 roster issues ⁠— mostly in preseason ⁠— saw the team squander a chance at Worlds. It comes amid rumors he’s mounting an LCS comeback in 2022.

Doublelift has eight LCS titles in the cabinet, three of which he earned with TSM in Summer 2016, Summer 2017, and Summer 2020.

However, the star has had a falling out with his former organization, stemming from issues in the LCS 2021 off-season.

Doublelift’s primary issue with TSM is their mishandling of Hu ‘SwordArt’ Shuo-Chieh’s signing. The Taiwanese support was rumored to be joining TSM all off-season, but owner Andy ‘Reginald’ Dinh took his time with the offer.

TSM were considering Vietnamese support Nguyễn ‘Palette’ Hải Trung at the same time, but the NA star wanted someone who could speak English comfortably.

Once Doublelift learned SwordArt had gotten the spot on TSM, it was too late to come back: Doublelift had already announced his retirement from professional League of Legends.

“SwordArt called me afterwards and said ‘I’m coming to TSM’,” he said on a November 9 Twitch stream.

“He still wanted to play with me, and then I called Andy and told him ‘SwordArt still wants to play with me and I would love to continue to play for the org’ and Andy said no because he’s got too much of an ego.”

Doublelift sat down with SwordArt after he made the move over to NA ⁠— a sea change that ultimately led nowhere, with TSM failing to qualify for MSI or Worlds. The two claimed TSM would have gone international in 2021 if Doublelift was still playing.

“If I was on TSM last split there’s no doubt in my mind we would have made Worlds,” Doublelift said.

“I talked to SwordArt after Spring ⁠— we got hotpot… around MSI ⁠— and the dude was literally saying if me and Bjergsen were still playing we would have 100% won.

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“Every split I’m on TSM we win and still to get treated like that, it’s disgusting.”

Doublelift went as far to say “it would be a personal pleasure of mine to never see TSM win anything again because of how shitty they treated the people who brought them everything.”

“I don’t even need to pray for it, they’re just going to make that happen themselves,” he added.

Doublelift admitted back in December 2020 part of the reason behind his retirement was because TSM couldn’t wrap up negotiations with SwordArt fast enough.

“The whole situation made me realize: I’m better off retired,” he said back then.

Doublelift is reportedly planning a return to pro play in 2022, fielding offers from LCS teams. However, he will only come back if he can play alongside a top-tier support on a competitive team.

With a number of LCS squads already locking things in behind the scenes, including Team Liquid’s super team and TSM’s youth-packed roster, Doublelift is on the clock if he wants to make a return next year.