TL;DR
- Doublelift’s return from benching failed to improve Team Liquid’s performance, with continued individual and team-wide struggles
- The team’s jungle transition from Xmithie to Broxah created fundamental strategic incompatibilities
- Multiple players underperforming simultaneously created compounding performance issues
- Team Liquid’s passive playstyle and poor objective control became major competitive liabilities
- With critical Week 8 matches approaching, immediate strategic adjustments are essential for playoff qualification
Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng’s highly anticipated return to Team Liquid’s starting roster during the 2020 LCS Spring Split delivered disappointing results that highlighted deeper organizational issues. The veteran AD carry’s comeback after a three-game benching failed to provide the spark the struggling organization desperately needed.
Team Liquid concluded the competitive week with consecutive defeats, dropping them into a precarious seventh-place tie with Golden Guardians. This positioning creates significant playoff qualification pressure with limited matches remaining in the regular season.
The ups and downs of Team Liquid in 2020
During their match against Immortals, Doublelift struggled to make meaningful contributions despite maintaining competitive CS (creep score) and gold metrics during laning phase against Apollo “Apollo” Price. The problems emerged during critical teamfight scenarios and neutral objective contests, where positioning errors and enemy zoning tactics rendered him effectively neutralized.
The mid-game exposed deeper strategic flaws as Doublelift focused excessively on farming rotations without creating map pressure or presenting credible threats to opponents. Despite favorable scaling champion selections that should have provided late-game insurance, Team Liquid consistently failed to translate individual advantages into team-wide benefits.
Team coordination completely broke down during pivotal moments, particularly evident in the disastrous river teamfight near the dragon pit that sealed their defeat. This match revealed systemic issues including poor communication, inadequate vision control, and fundamental misunderstandings about win conditions.
Why is Team Liquid losing?
Team Liquid’s historical dependence on jungle leadership created a critical vulnerability during their roster transition period. Throughout their dominant 2018-2019 campaigns, the team relied heavily on Jake “Xmithie” Puchero’s methodical playmaking and lane facilitation. When Xmithie’s performance declined late in 2019, the entire team structure deteriorated correspondingly.
Mads “Broxah” Brock-Pedersen brings a fundamentally different jungling philosophy developed during his tenure with Fnatic, where he prioritized mid lane synergy to create advantages. This approach has proven incompatible with Team Liquid’s established systems, particularly given Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen’s concurrent performance slump.
Despite Broxah’s dedicated efforts, the roster appears mismatched strategically. Multiple players are underperforming simultaneously, compounding individual mistakes into team-wide failures. The passive “wait for opportunities” strategy that previously brought success now represents a significant competitive disadvantage in the evolving LCS meta.
Heading into Week 8, the LCS competition reaches its most intense phase with playoff implications affecting every match. While Cloud9 has secured the top regular season ranking, the remaining standings remain highly contested. Team Liquid faces critical matches against Evil Geniuses and Golden Guardians, where additional losses would severely jeopardize their playoff positioning and potentially eliminate postseason opportunities entirely.
To address these challenges, Team Liquid must implement immediate strategic adjustments including revised draft priorities, enhanced communication protocols, and more aggressive early-game planning. Teams struggling with similar integration issues often benefit from focused scrim blocks targeting specific synergy problems rather than general practice.
The organization should consider tactical role adjustments and potentially revisiting their fundamental strategic identity. Successful esports organizations facing performance crises typically prioritize fixing one core issue at a time rather than attempting comprehensive overnight transformations.
Action Checklist
- Conduct targeted scrim sessions focusing specifically on jungle-mid coordination and objective control
- Implement revised draft strategy prioritizing early-game agency and proactive playmaking
- Establish clear communication protocols for teamfight coordination and objective calls
- Analyze VODs of successful teams with similar roster compositions
- Develop contingency plans for different game states and opponent strategies
No reproduction without permission：Games Guides Website » Doublelift has returned to LCS with Team Liquid, but still struggles Analyzing Team Liquid's 2020 LCS struggles and providing actionable solutions for competitive recovery