Yiliang "Peter" Peng (Chinese: 彭亦亮; pinyin: Péng Yìliàng), born July 19, 1993, is an American content creator, streamer, and former semi-professional League of Legends player. He is also known by his nickname, Doublelift. Peng played for teams such as Counter Logic Gaming, Team Liquid, Team SoloMid, and 100 Thieves. He now plays for his own team, Near Airport. Peng is widely recognized as one of the greatest North American League of Legends Championship Series players. He has earned 1 Split MVP, 5 All-Pro First Team honors, and 1 All-Pro Third Team award over 18 competitive splits. He is known for being a strong competitor and often teasing his opponents. One of his most famous moments occurred in 2013 during the League of Legends All-Star tournament, when he said, "Everyone else is trash."

Career

Peng is from California. He began playing console games and later moved to PC games like DotA, World of Warcraft, and Heroes of Newerth. Eventually, he played League of Legends professionally. In a 2013 interview with Machinima, Peng said his relationship with his parents was difficult because of his dream to become a professional esports player. He explained that he and his parents often argued, especially about his gaming. His parents believed gaming was a waste of time, and their disagreements worsened over time. Peng joined professional League of Legends after George "HotshotGG" Georgallidis, founder of Counter Logic Gaming (CLG), noticed his talent and recruited him as a substitute Support player. Later, Peng left CLG to become the starting Support for Epik Gamer. He then joined UnRestricted as the starting AD Carry, and the team was later acquired by Team Curse.

Peng's first major tournament was DreamHack Summer 2011, also called the Riot Season 1 Championship. The event took place in Sweden, but Peng needed his parents' permission to attend. At the time, his esports career was a secret to his parents. He said they refused to let him go, fearing he would be in danger. Eventually, his parents allowed him to attend after Doublelift's older brother convinced them.

Peng described himself as shy and not very social when he first joined his team. He said he was quiet and did not interact much with his teammates. In a Reddit AMA, Peng thanked Epik Gamer for giving him a chance to start his career. He said, "Without Epik Gamer, I would have never made it into the pro scene most likely."

After returning home, Peng said his parents were not proud of his success at DreamHack. They wanted him to go to college. Tensions between Peng and his parents grew until 2011, when they told him to leave the house. Peng left with his prize money and computer. He wrote about this experience on Reddit in a thread titled "Hi I'm Doublelift, formerly of team [Epik Gamer], and today I became homeless." Without a college degree or family to return to, Peng decided to focus fully on his gaming career. He began earning money by writing educational League of Legends content for Team Curse.

In November 2012, CLG Prime participated in the MLG Fall Championship in Dallas. They lost their first match to NaJin Sword and were sent to the losers bracket. They later defeated Curse Gaming and Dignitas but lost to CLG EU in the third round, finishing 4th with $2,500 in prize money.

On February 27, 2013, CLG took part in the Riot Season 3 North American League Championship Series Spring Split. In 2014, Peng and CLG finished third and fifth in the spring and summer playoffs, respectively, and did not qualify for international events.

In January 2015, CLG and Peng were fined $2,000 and $2,500, respectively, for poaching ZionSpartan. CLG was also restricted from using ZionSpartan as a player or coach for the first week of the 2015 LCS Spring Split.

During the first eight weeks of the 2015 Spring Split, CLG never dropped below second place. However, they lost a tiebreaker to Cloud9 and finished third in the regular season. CLG lost to Team Liquid in the quarterfinals and ended the split tied for fifth place with Gravity Gaming.

Peng was benched during the 2015 Summer LCS due to an injury from playing basketball. In August 2015, Peng helped CLG win their first-ever LCS Split playoff title, qualifying them for the 2015 League of Legends World Championship. At Worlds, CLG failed to advance past the group stage and finished 12th out of 13 teams. On October 31, 2015, CLG announced they would not re-sign Peng.

After CLG released a statement, Team SoloMid (TSM) announced Peng would join, replacing long-time AD Carry WildTurtle. On TSM, Peng reached the finals of the spring split, facing his former team, CLG. TSM lost 3–2 to CLG and took second place, missing the Mid-Season Invitational. In the summer, TSM added a new Support, Vincent "Biofrost" Wang, to pair with Peng. The team improved significantly, finishing 17–1 in the regular season and earning a bye into the playoffs. Peng earned First Team All-Pro honors and won the finals, defeating Cloud9 3–1 for his second title.

Before the 2017 season, TSM announced Peng would take a break during the spring split. He would remain under contract but focus on streaming until returning in the summer, where he would have to compete with his replacement to regain his starting spot. Peng had previously expressed frustration with the demanding schedule of professional gaming. In a 2013 Reddit AMA, he said, "I'm just tired of playing all day every day, and I want a goddamn break but it's not possible to get one." In a 2014 AMA, he added, "Most people think pros live the dream life, but in reality, you either practice 16 hours a day or lose and end up frustrated."

In March 2017, TSM announced WildTurtle would replace Peng for the spring split. TSM teammate Bjergsen supported the decision, saying, "I want WildTurtle to succeed and I wasn't just waiting for Peter because I wanted someone who was committed."

More than halfway through the 2017 spring season, Team Liquid announced Peng would temporarily join the team and return to TSM after the split. This decision caused controversy due to concerns about a conflict of interest. Team Liquid owner Steve Arhancet explained that Riot Games approved the trade after confirming no other player was suitable for the role.

Before the 2018 NA LCS season, TSM announced they would part ways with Peng, seeking a stronger shot-caller in the bottom lane. On the same day, Team Liquid announced Peng would return, joining his former CLG teammates Xmithie and Pobelter. The team finished 4th in the season.

Personal life

Peng was born on July 19, 1993, and grew up in Mission Viejo, California. He has a younger brother and an older brother. In April 2018, his older brother killed their mother and hurt their father after a fight outside their family's home.

Peng is close friends with esports journalist Travis Gafford. In an interview with Team Dignitas, Gafford said they first met when Peng wrote on Reddit that he was homeless and asked if he could stay on Gafford's couch until he had money to pay rent. Peng said, "Travis really helped me grow up as a person because when I'm playing games and focusing on my job, I don't have basic social skills or an understanding of the world. When I go outside, I ask questions like, 'How much money am I supposed to spend on food?' 'How do I do my taxes?' 'How do I get a bank account?' I didn't have a credit card. All I had was my wallet with cash and a PayPal account. He helped me set up a bank account and helped me set up my life."