Team Liquid co-CEO Steve Arhancet confirmed in a tweet Tuesday that Edward "Tactical" Ra will continue to play for Team Liquid in the League of Legends Championship Series for at least another week.
Arhancet noted that Tactical would start this weekend over Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng, who was unable to compete last weekend due to laryngitis. He also noted that the team would reevaluate on a weekly basis which AD carry would start.
Rikara is being brought in to play Academy so both DL and Tactical can both focus on LCS. Tactical will start this weekend, but we'll continue to evaluate week to week.
- Steve Arhancet (@LiQuiD112) March 4, 2020
In a response to LCS commentator Joshua "Jatt" Leesman about whether this decision was due to Doublelift remaining ill, Arhancet responded, "Peter is thankfully feeling better, this is not because of any illness. We will be deciding week to week the roster that will play on game days."
Doublelift confirmed in a tweet that he had indeed been benched, saying, "I had no motivation until very recently."
I'm benched because I had no motivation until very recently. Being sick and unable to compete gave me my passion back, but too late. I'm sorry towards every one of my teammates and I'll be working from now on to regain their trust.
- Yiliang Peng (@TLDoublelift) March 4, 2020
Doublelift hasn't had his best split, particularly games on Senna, with whom he is 0-4. And Team Liquid's problems extended further than that, with Mads "Broxah" Brock-Pedersen only recently joining the team following visa issues.
Read more: This week's League of Legends Power Rankings | LCK postponed due to coronavirus
Tactical received a call-up from TL's Academy team, which he has been a part of since December 2019. In two games with TL, Tactical has gone deathless, with a K/D/A of 8/0/6 on Kalista and Miss Fortune.
In the latest edition of Team Liquid's official documentary series, "SQUAD," Doublelift talked about his recent struggles in the 2020 LCS spring split.
"After the [game against Golden Guardians on Feb. 10], I had a meeting with the coaches, and they were telling me that they think I'm playing really bad and that the Doublelift of 2018 is, like, gone," he said. "The player who was like screaming every single game at his teammates, who was impossible to kill ... I was basically quarterbacking the whole team by myself. And I agreed with them, I don't feel that same motivation right now."
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