“In every game, there are the greats.” “The first to stamp their name.” “The ones who make their mark in history.” “And then, there are those who define the
game for years to come.” “Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao was a household name
in League of Legends. The legendary AD carry was known for his signature
champion, Vayne, and his flawless mechanics that were far and above the competition, elevating
the level of play in the pro scene in its heyday.” “But since retiring in 2020 then coming
back to play years after, the mechanical god was never the same, leading to his eventual
re-retirement.” “From back-to-back World Finals to narrowly
missing Worlds in his last season, what exactly happened to Uzi?” Uzi started his career at the very young age of
15, joining the iconic Royal Club in late 2012.” “This gave way to his nickname of the ‘puppy’
which would later be referenced in a well-known strategy the team would come to rely on: ‘raising
the puppy’.” “Like the name implies, Royal Club would
put Uzi on a hypercarry and then funnel all their efforts into ‘raising the puppy’. With his mechanics, Uzi would give the team
enough firepower to go toe-to-toe with teams like World Elite and Invictus Gaming, who,
at the time, were considered to be the best teams in China.” “In his first year alone, Uzi and Royal
Club would move up from 5th in the regular spring season to second place in summer. With their momentum, the team would then go
on to make an unbelievable run at the Season 3 China Regional Finals, taking down heavy
favorites OMG after falling to the losers’ bracket at their very hands.” With their win, Royal Club directly qualified
for the Season 3 World Championship quarterfinals. There, they, once again, took down OMG to
face Season 1 world champions, Fnatic, in the semifinals.” …: “After a
decisive win against Fnatic, Uzi would then face off against Faker in the Grand Finals. But even with his signature Vayne in hand,
Uzi couldn’t stop the rise of Faker and was swept 3-0.” …: “A fateful series that would be the
beginning of a one-sided rivalry standing between Uzi and the Summoner’s Cup for years
to come.” At this point, Uzi had gotten so far, so fast
with his sheer talent. And as young as he was, Uzi still had a ways
to go before lifting his first-ever trophy.” …: “He was, undoubtedly, one of the best
players in the world, yes, but he was still immature and butted heads with teammates when
things didn’t go his way.” …: “Case in point, coming into the 2014
season, Wh1t3zZ and Tabe officially announced their retirement following the Season 3 World
Finals. Upon learning this, Uzi, the best AD carry
in the world, role-swapped to mid lane because he refused to play with a support below the
skill level of Tabe.” …: “As expected, the roster move didn’t
pan out as well as Royal Club expected with the team nearly getting sent to relegation
in spring.” …: “Come summer, however, Star Horn Royal
Club would go on to sign Korean players inSec and Zero in the jungle and support role, completely
changing the team’s dynamic moving forward.” …: “With legendary jungler inSec, the
team performed much better, finishing third in the summer season playoffs, qualifying
for the regional finals, and then Worlds once again. …: “Despite seeing much better results
this time ‘round, Uzi and the team still had conflicting opinions on how they wanted
to play the game. At that time, Uzi was notorious for his temper
being a younger player with an ego befitting a hypercarry.” …: “Of which was so severe that a mere
month before Worlds, Uzi would forcefully pick Vayne in a game against a Chinese challenger
team in Season 1 of the X Championship when they had already picked Lucian earlier in
the draft. As a result, the team was forced to play Lucian
in the jungle and Lee Sin as a support which led to a 2-0 loss against the said amateur
team.” …: “There were even rumors of Uzi not
going to Worlds following a now-deleted post on Weibo ranting about his frustrations with
the team.” …: ”Nevertheless, somehow, someway, even
with their language barrier, the team managed to come together to perform at the highest
level in the 2014 World Championship. After a dominant group stage, Royal Club made
it all the way to the finals once again after two nail-biting five-game series against EDG
and OMG.” …: “For the first time in the game’s
history, Uzi became the first player to reach back-to-back World finals, in his first two
years of play nonetheless. But, once again, that’s as far as the puppy
could hope to reach as Samsung White put a firm stop to their Cinderella run 3-1. With inSec’s Lee Sin target banned in the
jungle and an underperforming top lane in Cola, Uzi and Royal Club stood no chance against
the Koreans.” …: “Uzi was, yet again, a step short in
his pursuit of the Summoner’s Cup.” …: “It was as if he was fated to play
second fiddle. And for years, this would be the fate of the
superstar carry even as he decided to move teams.” …: “In 2015, in one of the biggest roster
moves of the LPL, Uzi decided to join rival team, Oh My God! Hopes were high as OMG dominated the league
before and with Uzi in tow, they could definitely wreak havoc.” …: “Unfortunately, however, Uzi and the
team simply didn’t click and for the first time in his career, Uzi would go on to miss
Worlds.” VIDEO: Hype video into player cam. of Uzi
with Qiao Gu Reapers. …: “The year after, Uzi sought to rebuild
with Qiao Gu Reapers. And for the first time in a long time, Uzi
was on top of the standings and was on the verge of winning his first LPL championship.” …: “But tragedy would befall our hero
once more when the team was not able to field any of their four mid laners in the playoffs,
thereby forfeiting their playoffs match.” …: “Given how rocky the years have been
since Uzi left Royal Club, the ‘puppy-turned-mad dog’ finally thought it was time for him
to come back home.” …: “In the time Uzi left the team, Star
Horn Royal Club went from World finalist to academy team after they got relegated in 2015. So, coming into the next season, the organization
reinvented itself in the hopes of returning to its old form.” …: “Now known as Royal Never Give Up,
the team saw an overhaul on their entire roster with up-and-comers like Xiaohu and Mlxg while
recruiting the same players that took them down not too long ago, Looper and Mata.” …: “Unfortunately for Uzi, he had just
missed out on RNG’s first domestic title in Spring 2016 while he was in limbo with
the Qiao Gu Reapers. And when he arrived come summer, the team
fell 0-3 to EDG in the playoffs.” …: “This same old pattern would continue
even in the next year even as teammates came and went. Finishing first in the regular season, but
failing when it mattered in the playoffs whether it was WE…” …: “EDG…”
…: “or their immovable wall come Worlds, SK Telecom and Faker.” …: “Time and again, Uzi and RNG were thwarted
by SKT on the world stage. 2012, 2016, and then 2017. No matter how dominant they looked the entire
season, no matter if they met in the quarters, semis, or finals, Faker just had Uzi’s number. And it didn’t look like that was changing
anytime soon.” …: “It would only be in 2018 that Uzi
finally had a taste of victory and sweet, sweet revenge.” …: “Coming from a not-so great start to
the season, RNG were underdogs coming into the spring playoffs. But finally, in a time where no one expected
them to rise up to the challenge, Uzi won his first-ever domestic title, leading the
team with a mind-blowing 81.5% KP and 36% damage share.” …: “This was even in the face of Uzi’s
time being on-and-off the team because of his deteriorating health, only getting to
play around 28 out of the 46 games played in the regular season.” …: “Nevertheless, the job wasn’t finished. The apex of Uzi’s career was yet to be realized
and it all came together in Paris.” …: “RNG came out the tourney swinging,
easily making their way to the Grand Finals. After taking down Fnatic 3-0 in the semfinals,
it seemed as if the moment had finally come. All those years of trials and tribulations
all lead to this moment.” …: “Uzi was prepared.” …: “This time, Uzi had grown as an individual,
becoming more open-minded and disciplined as a player. And coincidentally, Faker was out of the picture,
no longer there to stop his ascent.” …: “Though, it should be said that Kingzone
DragonX were no slouches. They weren’t about to go down without a
fight, with exceptional players on every role, the same players in Peanut, Pray, and Gorilla
that gave the 2016 era of SKT a run for its money.” …: “But it didn’t matter. Come game day, Uzi finally overcame his demons
and finally, after five long years, took down Korea to win his first-ever international
title in the 2018 Mid-Season Invitational. A well-deserved victory where Uzi was overwhelmingly
crowned the MVP of the entire tournament, dealing an outstanding 39.4% or near two-quarters
of his team’s damage.” …: “Winless no more, Uzi held his head
high and finally took a bow winning his first international title. His next victory would soon come in the Asian
Games against Team Korea in the same year, taking home a gold medal for his country.” …: “At this point, hopes were definitely
at an all-time high as it finally looked like the year China could secure its first Worlds
victory in the game’s history.” …: “And with their win against Invictus
Gaming in the 2018 Summer Playoffs behind their backs, RNG were decidedly the favorites
to win it all in Worlds 2018.” …: “But, in what could be the biggest
upset in the history of competitive League of Legends, G2 Esports put their name on the
map by taking down the seemingly unstoppable RNG 3-2 in the Quarterfinals. …: “With that loss, all hope that Uzi had of lifting the Summoner’s
Cup along with the impossible feat of securing the first-ever grand slam was dashed in an
instant. And if in Uzi’s best year he couldn’t
do it, perhaps it was never meant to be.” …: “After their heartbreaking defeat,
Uzi would go on to play his last year with RNG.” …: ”Despite rotating top laners throughout
the season, they managed to clinch yet another second-place finish in the summer playoffs
to qualify for Worlds. But, this time, they couldn’t come clutch
like they used to as they got eliminated in the Group Stage after failing to take a game
off SKT in their group’s second round robin.” NARRATION (VO): “After a long and winding
road, nearing the end of 2019, Uzi decided it was time to take a step back and focus
on his well-being after years of battling severe body pain alongside complications with
Type 2 Diabetes.” VIDEO: Continuation of Uzi’s retirement
“My health was indeed the most decisive reason…I couldn’t even use a mouse…” [SG14]
…: “With his long history of substitutions going back as far as May 2017, it was, according
to Uzi himself, almost inevitable for his retirement to come sooner rather than later.” …: “But without a World Championship under
his belt, the AD Carry was still rather hesitant to call it his actual ‘retirement’ because
of his burning desire to keep on playing.” V. SECOND WIND (2021-PRESENT) NARRATION (VO): “Just as he predicted, Uzi
returned to pro play in 2022. But this time, with Bilibili Gaming.” …: “Even before he came out of retirement,
there were already countless rumors of his eventual return. But, all that hype was short-lived with the
superstar carry only playing nine games in the LPL’s 2022 Spring season.” …: “While one would think this would still
be because of his deteriorating health, it was actually because of in-team conflict regarding
‘team synergy’ which left both parties no choice but to go their separate ways.”[SG15]
…: “The following season, despite all the controversy, hope was still aplenty for
Uzi as he was still being touted by former pros and analysts as one of the best players
in solo queue and scrims.” “Reality, however, was much harsher as Uzi
would go on to have an unremarkable split with the next team he joined in EDward Gaming.” …: “Barely making it to playoffs in the
2023 Summer season, Uzi had a middling record against the better teams in the league and
couldn’t quite compete with the newer generation of ADs like Elk, Ruler, and Jackeylove.” …: “After somehow pulling off an upset
against Oh My God in typical Uzi fashion, the mad dog had one last opportunity to qualify
for Worlds through the regional finals. Alas, EDG would fall to both LNG and Weibo
Gaming, who as we know, made it all the way to the World Finals facing T1.” …: “Thus, Uzi saw an early end to his
season and was forced to take a hiatus once again.” NARRATION (VO): “Come 2024, Uzi was still
without a team he thought could go the distance and lift the Summoner’s Cup. Facing his stream early in the year, Uzi explicitly
mentioned that he no longer had the desire to play competitively.” VIDEO: Snippet of Uzi ranting “I really
can’t handle professional play anymore….”[SG18] …: “As he would further explain, he could
no longer keep up with the demanding schedule of being a pro player as he is now a father
to his child. Alongside taking good care of his health,
Uzi now has more responsibilities that are more important to him now.” NARRATION (VO): “For the longest time, Uzi
was the best to never win a title. And while he never was able to win Worlds
in his career, over the past decade, Uzi has shown the entire world that he was one of
the best to ever play the game in its history.” …: “Perhaps in a timeline without Faker
playing spoiler to Uzi, we would have seen him lift the Summoner’s Cup at least once. Unfortunately for him, Uzi just happened to
play League of Legends at a time when competition was much stiffer, a time when Faker dominated.” …: “Nevertheless, throughout his entire
career, he persevered and competed to the best of his ability, even at the cost of his
own well-being. Back-to-back World finals, domestic titles,
and an MSI trophy under his belt, truly, Uzi, the puppy, the mad dog, is one of the all-time
greatest and deserving to be in League’s Hall of Fame when it does come to be.” …: “And if there’s one thing that Uzi
will always be known for, it will be his legacy of defining what it means to be a great AD
Carry and teaching us that just because you didn’t win the title, doesn’t mean that
the entire journey’s been a complete failure.”
