Doublelift's Near Airport to battle team of former LCS pros in NACL debut

The LCS may be gone, but it is not forgotten. After confirming their participation in the NACL, Doublelift's new team, Near Airport, are ready to load up to the rift and play their first match of Split 1 on Wednesday, March 26th in what will be a most special debut.

On the opening day of the NACL 2025 season, Near Airport will face off against Luminosity Gaming in a matchup that is set to bring the LCS back to our screens once more.

The LCS lives on

When Near Airport take on Luminosity Gaming to start their journey in the NACL, a total of nine former LCS players will put on a show reminiscent of the now-gone league. In fact, the only player out of the two teams never to have played in the LCS in the past is Near Airport's top laner and popular streamer TF Blade.

Here are the complete lineups for Near Airport and Luminosity Gaming heading into the NACL Split 1:

• Near Airport roster:
  • Top: Ashkan "TF Blade" Homayouni
  • Jungle: Mingyi "Spica" Lu
  • Mid: Eugene "Pobelter" Park
  • ADC: Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng
  • Support: Vincent "Biofrost" Wang
• Luminosity Gaming roster:
  • Top: Aaron "FakeGod" Lee
  • Jungle: Tomio "Tomio" Chan
  • Mid: David "Insanity" Challe
  • ADC: Edward "Tactical" Ra
  • Support: Tristan "Zeyzal" Stidam

A bot lane rivalry returns

For Doublelift, the bot lane matchup versus Tactical will be particularly meaningful. The Luminosity ADC knows what it is like to live in Doublelift's shadow, having played for the Team Liquid academy squad all the way back in early 2020 while Doublelift played in the LCS with the main team.

After Doublelift left Team Liquid to join TSM half way through the year, Tactical was immediately promoted to the main Team Liquid roster. From that point on, the two players formed a fierce rivalry, with Doublelift taking down his former pupil in a close 3-2 series in the Lower Bracket Finals of the 2020 LCS Summer Playoffs to deny Tactical a shot at the title.

At the time, Doublelift's partner in crime in the bot lane was none other than Biofrost, the very same support player with which he finds himself reunited at Near Airport.

Doublelift and Biofrost reunite once more to take down Tactical in the NACL. (Credit: Riot Games)

Following Doublelift's decision to take a break from competitive League of Legends for the following season, Tactical was quick to claim his first and only LCS trophy at the 2021 LCS Lock-In tournament.

Now, two former LCS Champions will go toe to toe in the bot lane once more when Near Airport take on Luminosity Gaming to begin their journey in the NACL. If either of these squads have hopes of returning to North America's biggest stage and play in the LTA, a win in this tough opening match would be a good place to start.

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Featured image credit: LoL Esports

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