LoL: Doublelift explains why NA is "garbage" after brutal Rift Rivals defeat

Team Liquid’s star AD Carry Yiliang ‘Doublelift’ Peng had some harsh words for the LCS after their comprehensive defeat at Rift Rivals 2019.

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North America’s LCS recently faced off against Europe’s LEC at Rift Rivals 2019, and the results weren’t encouraging for NA.

Over the entire competition, the LCS only picked up a total of four game wins, with three of them coming from Team Liquid, despite many speculating that Europe’s representatives might not have been taking the games as seriously as they could be at all times.

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In the wake of the results, Doublelift spoke frankly to Travis Gafford about the difference between the two leagues, and while he was quick to recognize Europe’s superiority, the MSI finalist also had some harsh words for the rest of North America.

“It feels good that overall we played the best. Every NA team is trying their absolute best to win right now, and I’d say every single EU team is just kind of trolling and still winning pretty effortlessly or getting really close.

“It’s really demoralizing because it just means our competition is just garbage, it’s just so bad here. The fact that we’ve been able to have a semi-decent performance at MSI just goes to show we’re literally training with the biggest weights on in the world, and those weights are NA.”

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In explaining their shortcomings, Doublelift highlighted North America’s tendency to import players from other regions. Every single team in the LCS fields at least one import on their starting roster, and for the two Spring finalists, Team Liquid and TSM, three players on each made their name elsewhere before moving to NA.

Doublelift points to this as an indictment of the North American environment for raising new talent, stating that he feels that very few North American players other than himself are currently capable of truly hitting a world class level.

Regarding what’s holding the region back, Doublelift states that players need to “try harder, just put in more effort and try to get your teammates to put in more effort as well.”

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For fans of North America, there is still hope for the region at this year’s World Championship, with Team Liquid having proven that they can keep up internationally by reaching the MSI finals with a win over reigning World Champions Invictus Gaming.

Following Rift Rivals, however, many fans believe that the rest of the LCS has some catching up to do if they’re to field more than one real contender internationally, and it seems Doublelift agrees.

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