​ Team Liquid defeated FlyQuest on Saturday and moved on to a 4-1 record in the third week of the NA LCS Spring Split. We caught up with Yiliang "Peter" "Doublelift" Peng after the win to talk franchising, his thoughts on newer teams and how he feels about TSM and his current Team Liquid teammates.

Nathan Fusco: We were just talking to Jensen and Cloud9 and I asked him, what’s it like going into an off-season when franchising is about to happen? For you did you feel like “Eh I’m good.”





Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng: No one feels safe. If Jensen didn’t feel safe, I definitely didn’t. Franchising is crazy but it's different. I didn’t feel safe that my position on my team would stay but I knew I would get a job and it’d be probably a very very nice offer.





NF: Also with the offseason, you had totally different teams coming into the scene. Why Team Liquid and not a new brand like those sponsored by the NBA?





Doublelift: All these NBA teams are really bad actually. Pretty much just Clutch and Golden Guardians are just total garbage. I just didn’t want to join a team that would ruin my legacy. I want to be known as a good player who leads good teams and is generally fun to root for. People who are rooting for Golden Guardians are masochists or something. I’d rather be a streamer. I’d rather entertain people and not just be the laughing stock.





NF: Before you joined TSM, TSM hater. Then you’re a part of them, you became one, now you’re back on the outside. Do you hate them a little bit less than when you were on CLG and you hated them or is it about the same level?





Doublelift: When I was on CLG, they were just this nameless behemoth. It was like David and Goliath, they’re Goliath. I just wanted to take them down and I don’t really know why. I just know we were the underdogs so it would feel nice. Now I want to beat them because I think they have the superteam thing going on and it’d be pretty insane if they were taken down. I know them personally too and it’s always nice to beat your friends at something.





NF: Is there a little extra joy in seeing their start so far?





Doublelift: I don’t think anyone cares about the start. It’s just the start of NA LCS regular split, it’s nice to beat them but when I see a good team lose, I’m like, they’re going to be better next time. When I see a good team win, I’m like, they probably learned nothing. For us I know we have to work extra hard because we’re not taking those loses now. If I don’t want to take them later, I need to work harder than TSM.





NF: You’ve been on quite a few rosters. You have no trouble succeeding in NA, do you think this roster has what it takes when it comes to Worlds?





Doublelift: Yeah, for sure. One of the things I realize on this team, and it’s reflected in the way we play now is we are a team that’s not afraid to make plays and take fights. I think that sort of gut instinct and that intuition was just missing on TSM. We were too scared, we were too calculated. Openings to take a fight are fractions of a second or one second, and if the team isn’t ready to jump on those opportunities or they’re not willing to, then that sort of hesitation is going to cost you a lot at Worlds. It didn’t cost us a lot in NA but it did at Worlds.





This team, I’m really happy to see that everyone on the team has the right mix of calculation and heart for the game. They just feel it and so we go for it and most of the time it works. We’re always going to fine tune it but I think that baseline, it really make me happy to see. I’m glad I’m on a team that’s as aggressive as I envision my team to be.

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