It’s only been two weeks since the start of the 2021 LCS Summer Split and yet multiple teams have made a handful of roster changes, with the most recent being Dignitas’ switch from Soligo to Yusui in the mid lane. And former TSM AD carry Doublelift has plenty of opinions about the constant switches and how it can affect a player’s mentality moving forward.
“If you’re going to do a roster change, you shouldn’t do it lightly,” Doublelift said on stream. “You don’t fuck around with a roster change. It’s something that you’re committed to for at least a few weeks because that player is gonna need a few weeks of scrims and a few weeks of playing on stage to even look like himself. It’s really unfair to sub somebody in and give them two days of scrims plus one day of LCS, and if they don’t fucking play great on that one day, it’s over.”
He also said it’s not fair to the player who’s replaced since it’s expected of them to come back and act normally after being benched “like a rebound girlfriend,” even though they were shown that no one trusts or believes in them.
Afterward, Doublelift gave an example of this situation by comparing it to his reaction during his time with Team Liquid when he was replaced by Tactical on the starting roster. He said the organization contacted him right after they lost to CLG in week seven of the 2020 Spring Split to sub him back into the lineup. The rookie AD carry wasn’t given nearly enough time to adjust and Doublelift voiced out his frustration with the situation.
“I was like, ‘fuck you guys. I don’t want to fucking play,'” he said. “You’re literally waiting for a reason, some weird mental gymnastics, where you want to play with Tactical until you lose a game. Then you want to put me back in for the easier—I don’t know. The whole relationship is fucked by then. I would have way rather have them give Tactical a couple more weeks.”
It’s unknown if Soligo will be returning to Dignitas’ starting lineup anytime soon, but the practice of quick roster swaps has always occurred in the North American League of Legends scene. But it’s important to see the perspective and feelings of the players involved because getting constantly replaced and brought back can be taxing on someone’s self-confidence and mentality toward the game.
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