All of this is rumors right now but Mark obviously works for Riot and Travis is, especially when it comes to Doublelift, one of the biggest voices/reporters in League. They’re both pretty connected intel wise when it comes to what is happening with rosters. They have sources and it sounds like at the very least there have been discussions had about moving on from Doublelift and this clip from the other night from DL stream, along with others, makes me think he isn’t happy with the current coaching staff.
https://www.twitch.tv/doublelift/clip/FrozenConsiderateGerbilKAPOW
It isn’t a secret that Doublelift played poorly this split, with that being said he just won TL 4 straight championships and was the clear cut best ADC in the league starting the year. Unless this is a request from DL to be traded Liquid would be morons to trade him. This was an awful split with various things going wrong, Doublelifts performance and attitude being one of them.
Since I started writing this at work this rumor has been confirmed by Jacob Wolf of ESPN Esports so everything above is whatever but I’m not going to restart the blog.
From @FionnOnFire and I: @TeamLiquid have made @TLDoublelift available for trade or buyout, sources confirmed to ESPN.
— Jacob Wolf (@JacobWolf) April 17, 2020
We also have some new reporting on team finances and why this mid-season is likely to be much slower due to COVID-19.https://t.co/vBT8XUTVta
Let’s start randomly guessing at what teams he might be playing for since ESPN cucked my blog. I think we can say with a good amount of certainty that he won’t be going to C9. They’ve had far too good of a year to even consider switching anything up, not to mention Zven just finished third in MVP voting. I can’t imagine Doublelift would play for some meh team like GG, Immortals or even Flyquest. Their name just doesn’t have the pedigree. 100 Thieves maybe but probably not. Cody has been good and I think they’re happy with their bot lane.
I think the Top 3 potential teams Doublelift would play for in summer split is either TSM, Dignitas or EG. I think EG is the least likely of those 3 partly because so think they’re happy with Bang and I think TL would give Doublelift some day in where he goes and I don’t think he wants to duo with Zeyzal. I also think EG might look to bring on Huni and they can’t afford both players. Speaking of Huni, his future former team should look to bring in DL. Reunite him with Sven and Aphromoo who would say no to that? Let the past be the past they’ve squashed any beef they used to have.
TSM gets its own paragraph because it is the most likely. Other than returning to his old team TSM should have the money to bring him back. Kobbe was fine but if DL comes back to his old self he would be a major upgrade. I think the storyline matters a lot too. Doublelift has an ego, it’s not a bad thing but it is there. Storyline matters. The brand name of the team matters. That’s why he wouldn’t play for a team like Golden Guardians, that name doesn’t hold any weight. TSM the name alone is legendary, add on he is returning and bringing them back to their old days of glory? Not to mention he’s dating the President of the company. I feel like that might help during negotiations.
What I do know is unless this is a Doublelift requested decision TL is making a huge mistake. His contract is up at the end of the year, ride it out. I promise you you’re not going to find a better ADC than pissed off doublelift. You know what pissed off Doublelift gets you? 4 STRAIGHT LCS CHAMPIONSHIPS! TL knows first hand what happens when he has to prove his worth, he does it then buries you with titles.