League of Legends: Team Liquid Sign Rikara to Academy, Doublelift Benched

Team Liquid has signed ADC Richard Samuel “Rikara” Oh to their Academy roster while Edward “Tactical” Ra will remain their LCS starting ADC. Doublelift will remain on the bench.

Rikara, most recently played for Clutch Gaming Academy; before the team’s rebranding to Dignitas Academy in the offseason. And he's been a free agent since, also appearing at the 2018 World Championships and 2018 Academy split for 100 Thieves.

Doublelift posted the following regarding his benching from the starting roster; “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.”

While losing Doublelift will cause some concern, Tactical’s week 6 debut will put fans minds at ease. Tactical helped his side end the week 2-0 with Tactical not looking at all out of place. Especially given the number of ADC bans in the game against 100 Thieves.

As for the long-term, we don’t know what Team Liquid has planned. Players have taken breaks from professional play in the past and come back stronger; Royal Never Give Up's Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao as an example. This, plus the lesser importance of the Spring Split in the LCS after the scrapping of the points system means Doublelift is perfectly placed to take a break.