The 2020 LCS Spring Split hasn’t even finished yet, but there’s already some spicy news on the free agency front for the North American League of Legends scene.
The contract for Team Liquid’s superstar AD carry Doublelift is now up for sale and the talented ADC is likely to be traded before the start of next season, Travis Gafford reported today, citing multiple team sources. This news was relatively unexpected since the 26-year-old has been the best ADC in the region for many years.
Doublelift’s contract ends in six months, Gafford said, which makes the timing a lot more unusual. Teams won’t want to pay Liquid a lot of money for Doublelift’s sizable contract since they’re only guaranteed six months of play from him.
LCS analyst MarkZ, who joined Gafford in the video, said that Doublelift didn’t play bad enough to warrant being replaced despite his performances falling short of the standard he’s set for himself.
As a result, there could be a rift between the veteran marksman and Liquid’s management and coaching staff, the pair said.
There were multiple issues that cropped up for Liquid throughout this season, including Broxah’s early-season visa problems and Doublelift’s loss of motivation for the spring, which led to his eventual benching for Tactical. The rest of the roster was also massively underperforming compared to the year before when they dominated the league and won four splits in a row.
Everything culminated in Liquid missing the playoffs for the first time in their superteam era with a 7-11 record. It was an abysmal end for one of the most hyped rosters in the LCS and an end that gave way to one of the most commanding performances League fans have ever seen with Cloud9.
If Doublelift does switch teams, we could witness one of the most intense offseason periods in LCS history. Buckle up, NA fans—the next few months might be one hell of a rollercoaster.
