Team Liquid suffered a tough loss against Invictus Gaming after yesterday’s Worlds game. The League of Legends North American team filled the crowd with hope as they carried the fate of NA on their backs. Many fans anticipated Team Liquid to rise to the top after making the finals at MSI 2019. With previous eliminations of NA teams C9 and Clutch Gaming, Team Liquid moved on to the group stage with a 2-1 record. After defeating Tawainese team ahq E-sports Club, they found themselves crushed by their following games. As Team Liquid struggled to play against groupmates Invictus Gaming and DAMWON Gaming, they ended up eliminated from the Worlds 2019 Playoffs. Now, players like Team Liquid AD carry Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng are talking about it.
What were the reactions?
League of Legends fans criticized Team Liquid on their loss through plenty of social media posts. Many people blamed top laner Jung “Impact” Eon-yeong and mid laner Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen for making mistakes and not performing well enough. In a recently posted video, Doublelift defends his teammates stating that the criticism is “really destructive for a team.”
— Yiliang Peng (@Doublelift1) October 20, 2019
“I think this year, more than any other year, I feel like we were a strong team… that can beat anybody, and that’s why it hurts so bad this year. Cause we weren’t able to show it.”
This would be the fourth year that Doublelift misses the Worlds quarterfinals, and he expressed his frustration in his statement. The “unlucky” loss also marks the first time NA doesn’t make it to the Worlds knockout stage since 2015.
Doublelift was also interviewed by esports personality Travis Gafford:
“I think all the time about am I the one holding my team back… can I be doing more?” He said. “What are those things that, like, I should be doing that I can improve?”
Team Liquid and Doublelift moving forward
It seems Team Liquid has a lot to reflect on as North America watches other teams move forward to quarterfinals. This year’s loss may help with future preparation for Worlds 2020.
