It’s no secret that Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng’s performance has taken a hit so far this split. Heading into the new season, he was supposed to be the strongest and most reliable carry on Team Liquid, but he’s turned into one of the largest risk factors, despite the team pumping the most resources into his lane in each game.
Team Liquid hosted an Ask Me Anything on Reddit yesterday featuring Doublelift, co-owner Steve Arhancet, and Counter Strike: Global Offensive coach Wilton Prado. In the AMA, Doublelift didn’t shy away from talking about his slacking performance with support Kim “Olleh” Joo-sung.
“Hard to argue that we’re not playing well together,” Doublelift said. “I usually hang first in all laning stats, but not this split. We’re working on it, and I haven’t given up building synergy and mutual understanding of how to play together.”
He then commented on the beginning of his long career in the famous Rush Hour bot lane alongside Zaqueri “Aphromoo” Black, stating simply that they weren’t always the Rush Hour, and at first, they played like “mincemeat.”
“Sometimes it takes time to make something great,” he said.
Outside of his synergy with Olleh, Doublelift is also working on personal growth in order to become a better player. In response to a question asking what the most difficult lesson he had to learn during his esports career was, he bluntly replied, “I don’t have an ounce of talent, and neither does anyone else.”
“The best in anything,” he said, “Are always the ones who work hard and don’t complain. Somewhere in there you also have to learn how to work with others, which I’m still working on.”
Arhancet added onto Doublelift’s reply, saying that you need to “be likeble, think big, and get shit done.”
Doublelift has the second-lowest kill count in the league among ADCs, barely edging out TSM’s Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen. He also has the second-lowest kill participation, as well as the absolute lowest total CS.
This is undoubtedly one of his worst seasons yet, but he’s proven time and again through several NA championships and Worlds appearances that he’s one of the best the region has to offer, so it’s safe to assume he’ll bounce back after this adjustment period with his new support.
