The Legendary Marksman of LPL and the World
June 3, 2020, was perhaps an extremely sad day for the League of Legends community in general and LPL fans, especially Uzi fans, in particular. On that day, Jian “Uzi” Zihao bid farewell to the professional League of Legends arena, saying goodbye to high-stakes matches in LPL and internationally, officially closing the chapter of a great generation, but also filled with regret for their lack of international titles, especially against the great rivals from Korea, with names like Gogoing, PDD, NaMeI… This is considered a generation that evokes nostalgia mixed with regret for those who frequently followed Chinese League of Legends.
Speaking of Uzi, there are many accolades for him such as “Legendary Marksman,” “the idol of idols”… Doublelift – another legend of North American League of Legends, known for his brash and somewhat arrogant personality, when he was at the peak of his performance in Team Liquid in 2018 and 2019, had to admit that Uzi is an “unstoppable monument” and he even stated: “My form is incredibly insane right now, if I keep this up at Worlds, I will reach Uzi’s level.”
In fact, Doublelift, when streaming, had segments discussing and commenting on his illustrious colleague. When he explained why Uzi is the strongest Marksman in history, Doublelift recounted a story that CoreJJ told him: “After being defeated by Uzi’s Royal Never Give Up, he (CoreJJ) watched the game again with Ruler. Ruler asserted that they did nothing wrong, it was just that Uzi was too perfect. They made no mistakes but could not defeat RNG. Simply put, Uzi is like a god.”
It is a fact that not many professional players can maintain their form for many consecutive years, especially since the career span of an esports player is usually very short. Chronic injuries lead to a decline in performance, slower reflexes, and difficulty adapting to the meta… If we had to name two players who could do this, the first would be Faker, and the other would be Uzi. The “Demon King” himself, upon hearing the news of Uzi’s retirement, sent a very emotional farewell video to the legend from China. Faker admitted, “My heart is heavy when I heard that Uzi retired.”
For many top teams that are using the top lane half-style (FunPlus Phoenix, DWG KIA) or resource distribution across lanes where anyone can shine and “carry” the team, the AD carry style with talented Marksmen like Uzi now likely only exists through a few players like Viper (EDward Gaming), Ruler (Gen.G Esports)… As for teams like T1 with Teddy, Gumayusi or Fnatic (Upset), MAD Lions (Carzzy), these players have yet to achieve the consistency and stability that Uzi had in his prime.
Uzi possesses all the qualities needed of a top Marksman. The former RNG Marksman has an exceptional ability to evaluate and assess opponents, allowing him to always find the appropriate play style. His cool, aggressive demeanor helps Uzi rarely face difficulties in the laning phase, and his exceptional positioning during team fights enables him to deal as much damage as possible. In summary, Uzi is a Marksman that the League of Legends community will not witness again for a very long time.
And the haunting obsession of the “World Championship title”
During Worlds season, many League of Legends fans recall Uzi along with the haunting obsession of the “championship title.” Although he had previously won an international title (MSI 2018), for Uzi and the entire Chinese League of Legends community, the Worlds championship title is what they aim for and desire above all else.
The simple reason: they are the second-best League of Legends region in the world (as of 2018), but the gap from second to the number one position held by the Koreans is vast. By 2018, the LCK region had already crowned champions five times at the highest level of League of Legends. The SKT T1 team is regarded as a legend with names like Faker, Bengi, Bang, MaRin… Only when Invictus Gaming claimed the championship title did the era of the LPL region on the world stage open up.
However, one truth is that even though IG became champions, two of their key players that year were actually Korean, namely Rookie and TheShy. The stars from China at that time (and even now) were almost on par, if not inferior, to the foreign players from their fierce rivals in the LCK. At present, among the four LPL teams participating in Worlds, only RNG has no Korean players, while the other three teams have Koreans who are key players (Doinb, Nuguri, Tarzan, Viper, scout). And RNG is Uzi’s team.
Uzi is indeed legendary, but the most prestigious title – the Worlds championship title – which he, RNG, and LPL fans yearn for the most, always eludes him. In 2017, Uzi and RNG were shut down by Faker’s Galio in a heartbreaking defeat, although RNG did not believe that Faker’s Galio was the source of their loss (while Faker played Galio in all five games). Then in 2018, Uzi unexpectedly faltered in the match against G2 Esports, leading to elimination in a year when the strongest names from Korea were also eliminated (SKT was absent, and KT Rolster was eliminated by IG).
The injuries revealed afterward only made fans feel even more heartbroken and realize one thing: now, their legendary Marksman seems to have officially closed the chapter on his glorious career. Although afterward, RNG once again went to Worlds, they sadly stopped right after the group stage, especially after the defeat to FNC – a rival they always beat when facing RNG. Uzi himself later had to admit that he “sometimes just wanted to retire because my hands were like this, I couldn’t play the game.”
The Worlds championship title has always been something that Uzi deeply regrets, yearns for but can never achieve. In a stream with Ning (the jungler who once won the Worlds title with IG), Uzi made fans feel heartbroken when he shared: “If I had won that year (2017), I would have been ready to retire immediately. Even if it meant being criticized every day, I would accept it.”
Recently, ahead of the 2021 Worlds, an account that specializes in League of Legends statistics posted on Twitter the players with the most matches in League of Legends history. Notably, the top three included Faker (101 matches), Impact (86 matches), and Uzi (81 matches). In fourth position were Rekkles (G2) and Sneaky (75 matches). And notably, in the top 10, Uzi is the only Chinese player to make this list.
Worlds 2021 is approaching, and RNG once again carries the hopes of the entire LPL for a team that “says no to foreign players” to rise at the highest level of League of Legends. Somewhere, looking at GALA, people might recall his highlight plays in the LPL Spring 2021 or at MSI 2021, but surely many will also remember Uzi. The “great runner-up” Uzi will remain a monument, a legend, but also an unending regret of a hero whose glory keeps eluding him like a cruel joke of fate.