This marks his third and, as he emphasizes, final departure from competitive play.

Doublelift initially entered the scene in March 2011 with CLG, later playing for TSM and Team Liquid before concluding his career with 100 Thieves.

Throughout his illustrious career, he secured 13 LCS split titles and achieved membership in the 1,000 kill career club, showcasing his prowess as a top-tier AD carry. Notably, he boasts an impressive record of 10 pentakills on the professional stage.

His past retirements were driven by different factors.

The first time, he cited mental strain and a perceived hindrance to his performance, prompting a break for a much-needed mental reset.

The second retirement occurred due to a lack of attractive team offers, leading him to transition into content creation through streaming and co-streaming the LCS.

In this latest retirement announcement, Doublelift highlighted several reasons for his decision.

Foremost among them is his concern about the impact of budget cuts on the North American region, leading to a diminished ability to maintain competitive rosters and acquire emerging talent.

While specific sources validating these concerns are absent, Doublelift expressed worry about the declining resources affecting the LCS.

Moreover, Doublelift noted a shifting focus in his personal life, with aspirations for marriage and starting a family.

He emphasized that his decision is not driven by financial motives, but rather by the evolving landscape of the league and his changing life goals.

Despite the projected challenges for the LCS, recent developments, such as NRG’s strong performance in Worlds 2023, challenge the narrative of an irreversible decline.

NRG, the winner of the 2023 Summer split, reached the quarterfinals, surpassing even some LEC teams.

Doublelift confirmed that, despite retiring from professional play, he intends to fully engage in content creation.

This includes regular streaming, climbing the ranked ladder, and potentially participating in casual tournaments.

Fans can catch his content on his Twitch channel at twitch.tv/doublelift.

Peter ‘Doublelift’ Peng made the retirement announcement on December 2, 2023, through a comprehensive 14-minute interview, stressing that this decision is final and driven by a combination of personal and professional factors.

My Future pic.twitter.com/b835ewQoKA

— Yiliang Peng (@Doublelift1) December 1, 2023

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With Bjergsen set to join 100T after leaving Team Liquid earlier this month, the pair will be playing under the same banner for the third time in their careers.

A report last month suggested that 100 Thieves would look to promote rookie support Alan “Busio” Cwalina from their academy to the main team. The top prospect in the North American league will likely get his first run at the LCS level at the start of the 2023 season.

Doublelift has had some success playing alongside rookies in the past, notably with Vincent “Biofrost” Wang in his time at TSM in 2016. Together, they formed one of the strongest bottom-lane duos in the West.
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Doublelift made his name at Counter Logic Gaming from 2011 to 2015 before joining TSM, where he has spent the bulk of his career since. He has also represented Team Liquid – first on a month-long loan in 2017, then in a longer stint from November 2017 until April 2020.
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The veteran stayed within the space despite retiring from professional gaming in 2020. He dove into content creation and became an in-house streamer for TSM in 2021.
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100 Thieves have also reportedly reached an agreement with MAD Lions AD carry William “UNF0RGIVEN” Nieminen. While it not yet clear if UNF0RGIVEN was to join the academy or play with the main team at LCS level, it is being widely reported that UNF0RGIVEN will act as a backup to Doublelift in the upcoming season.
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As the League of Legends free agency period will officially commence on November 21, more details regarding roster changes will begin to emerge in the coming days and weeks.

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A possible return to TSM has been talked about ever since Team Liquid revealed they were open to negotiations for the sale of their star ADC, with whom they won four consecutive League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) playoffs and made four appearances at the LoL World Championship. During that time, Doublelift and TL also defeated the reigning world champions, Invictus Gaming, in the semi-finals of the 2019 Mid-Season Invitational to become only the second North American team to reach the MSI grand finals.

With Doublelift, Team Liquid enjoyed one of the most successful periods in the organisation’s history. This year, however, has been a disaster thus far, as TL finished the LoL Championship Series (LCS) 2020 Spring Split in ninth place with a 7-11 record.

While Team Liquid did not provide any detailed explanation for Doublelift’s departure, it is public knowledge that he and Team Liquid’s owner, Steve “LiQuiD112” Arhancet, parted ways on good terms. However, many in the broader LoL esports community want a few important questions answered.

Since Doublelift is dating Leena Xu, who is the president of TSM, several prominent figures in the esports industry have asked whether this move constitutes a flagrant breach of integrity protocols. Christopher “MonteCristo” Kjell Mykles, a former Overwatch caster who turned to freelancing in January, summed up all the concerns with one Tweet:

Some have even accused Doublelift of intentionally underperforming in the LCS 2020 Spring Split in order to force a move to Team SoloMid. However, those claims ignore the fact that the player could have triggered a release clause in his contract at any time.

“If Leena wasn’t on TSM, would I join TSM? Absolutely, yes,” said Doublelift in his vlog.

“I joined because the roster is really good, because the organisation is super hyped, and my past relationships with Bjergsen [S?ren “Bjergsen” Bjerg] and Bio [Vincent “Biofrost” Wang]. I think if you removed Leena from the equation, my decision making would be the exact same.”

In the same vlog, Doublelift explained everything that led to his departure from Team Liquid, including Mads “Broxah” Brock-Pedersen’s visa issues, internal struggles and disagreements with the team’s leadership.

It all started after Team Liquid failed to deliver at the 2019 LoL Worlds, at which point the team started to talk about parting ways with their jungler, Jake “Xmithie” Puchero. Reportedly, Doublelift was the only player on the team who did not want Xmithie to leave, since he had established a great relationship with the Filipino jungler over two-and-a-half years.

Liquid’s performance at Worlds was humiliatingly bad, and Doublelift was adamant that the whole team, and not just Xmithie, were to blame. His voice was not heard, however, and Liquid decided to sell Xmithie and acquire Broxah.

Doublelift also talked about his lack of motivation during the LCS Spring Split, for which he apologised once again, and addressed the many factors behind his lack of drive. He pointed to a lack of feedback from his teammates and coaches, and he also claimed he was told “not to make any calls and instead only feed information” during matches.

Supposedly, the only two members of the Team Liquid setup who supported Doublelift during this difficult time were Broxah and Arhancet. That made the 26-year-old LoL veteran realise his relationship with the roster was damaged beyond repair and it was time to start looking at other options.

Doublelift has now reunited with Bjergsen, with whom he played in 2016 when TSM finished third-fourth at the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Season 10 World Championship and won the LCS 2016 Summer Split. In 2017, the trio of Doublelift, Bjergsen and Biofrost won Rift Rivals as well as the LCS Summer Split and the resulting playoffs.