Team Liquid didn’t need to look far for its new starting ADC. Liquid CEO Steve Arhancet announced today that the team is moving forward with Tactical to replace Doublelift, who left to join TSM.
Tactical will get his first shot at playing in the LCS full-time. He subbed in for Doublelift for three games last split when the legendary ADC was benched for poor performance and a lack of motivation. This gave the organization a taste of what the 19-year-old prospect could bring to a squad filled with prolific names like Impact, Broxah, Jensen, and CoreJJ. The shoes he’ll fill are immense, though, since Doublelift accomplished a lot during his time on Liquid.
Doublelift helped Liquid capture its first LCS title, the first of four straight. He also was named the LCS MVP in the 2018 Summer Split, LCS Finals MVP in Spring 2019, and First-Team All-Pro in three straight splits (Summer 2018, Spring 2019, and Summer 2019).
Despite that, Doublelift’s play dropped in the 2020 Spring Split. He also addressed a number of issues that ultimately led to the prolific ADC’s departure from Liquid.
TL can’t expect Tactical to quickly replicate the level of play Doublelift brought to the team. But here are some of the reasons why this move makes sense and why fans should hold their breath.
Tactical played well in his short LCS stint alongside CoreJJ, showing synergy between the pair and against strong competition like Cody Sun and Kobbe. In those three games, Tactical had a 5.5 KDA, which would’ve put him at the fourth-best for an ADC in the LCS, along with going deathless in two wins for the squad.
His first game and first LCS win came against TSM, laning opposite of Kobbe and Biofrost. At 15 minutes, Tactical held a nearly 800 gold lead. Tactical rotated well with the team to play around objectives, something Liquid struggled with in a lot of games during the Spring Split.
Against 100 Thieves, Tactical and CoreJJ got an early kill in a two-vs-two fight and secured the bot tower at the 12-minute mark. That game showed that the young prospect isn’t afraid to skirmish to get wins.
His last game as a sub saw CLG focus ganks and roams to the bot lane, not allowing Tactical to get going. But Tactical was able to secure first blood on a bad tower dive and only ended up six CS behind Oh “Wind” Myeong-jin, who subbed in for Stixxay.
Already being on the team and practicing with and against the main squad makes this an easy choice for familiarity’s sake. When you add how the coronavirus pandemic continues to keep travel restrictions in place, it may be the safest option for adequate practice time and for building chemistry with the other starters ahead of the Summer Split.
Tactical has also been playing a lot of duo queue with CoreJJ, which should help build synergy between the pair—something that can’t be overlooked when analyzing bot lane duos.
While Tactical is not the best ADC in the region, he is young and can grow to become one with Team Liquid’s infrastructure. All we have to do is wait and see the rookie develop and perhaps he might be the next Doublelift.
