UZI: a new chapter in history

“Botlane’s eternal god is coming back.” – DOINB

Officially retired in 2020 after eight years of competitive play, Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao never let go of his passion for League of Legends. The legendary Chinese ADC, renowned for his incredible mechanical skill set, recently discussed his desire to continue competing. Although still bound by his contract with Royal Never Give Up, Uzi is hopeful as it is set to expire at the end of this year.

As he talked about it 2 days ago:
"No matter I can play or not next year, I want to scrim. Before joining the scene, I used to scrim against semi-pro and pro teams. I haven't been scrimming for 2 years. I still love LoL, and I feel I can still play."#LeagueOfLegends #LPL pic.twitter.com/bGfaQ4Prjg

— HUPU Esports (@HupuEsports) November 11, 2021

As the contract deadline nears, the League community is captivated by the discussion of the pro’s fate. It is hard to tell wild rumors and legitimate insider info apart, but one thing is sure: the
shadow of botlane is coming home.

From XiaoXiao, the previous IG support player, he mentions that the roster of BLG next year is

Bin/Tian/knight/Uzi/Ming

— Rita #BeryLfighting (@cutebchu) November 20, 2021

He thrives on mobility

Most known for his ability to dominate games by pulling off extreme feats of micro, Uzi has been an inspiration to many ADCs, professional or amateur alike. Nicknamed by the Chinese community as a “God of Botlane,” Uzi feels right at home while piloting mobility-heavy characters like Ezreal or Caitlyn and, especially, his Vayne. The signature champion for Uzi, the Night Hunter, is one of the most mechanically demanding ADCs in the game: Vayne’s short range must be compensated for by expert usage of her Tumble and her ultimate, Final Hour. A fraction of a second may mean certain death in a hectic teamfight – but that’s where Uzi feels most alive.

Just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, you don’t just walk into the botlane and proclaim yourself an “Eternal God” of it. So better get yourself comfortable as we’re going to go over the long history of the greatest ADC of all time.

A shot in the dark

Our story begins with the team Royal Club playing in the Chinese region, LPL. Although the club’s original roster was disbanded as quickly as it was founded, this name would be later brought back to relevancy by the rookies: among them, Uzi and Tabe. This botlane duo was renowned for their synergy, mechanical skill, and dominance – and rightly so. Uzi is known to be as demanding as he is gifted, and he would later say that only Tabe can match his speed on botlane.

However, the second Royal Club lineup isn’t an instant hit. Over the next year, they will undergo massive changes as they finish the 2013 LPL Spring season in fifth place, knocking themselves out of playoffs. After replacing their midlaner three times over and almost losing Tabe (who retired for two months and rejoined), Royal Club started seeing results by reaching semi-finals in two separate regional series.

Royal Club Huang Zu would make their names heard in Season 3 China Regional Finals. Dropping a semi-finals match against OMG knocked them down into the Loser’s Bracket. Which by itself wouldn’t be that scary, but for Royal Club, it meant a confrontation with their established rival – team Invictus Gaming, as they were the ones to wall Royal Club out of reaching the finals in their previous matches.

“Uzi is a walking God of League of Legends!” – Riot Jatt

Fortunately, this time Uzi and the team pulled off the impossible. They shocked the Chinese audience by defeating their long-standing nemesis, reaching the finals, and defeating the standing favorites, OMG, in the Grand Final. In doing so, they secured themselves a spot in Worlds – and completely bypassed the group stage by directly advancing to the quarter-finals.
The intergalactic shadow

Even after their Regional Finals victory, many were skeptical. “A simple chance,” they said, “this time Royal Club won’t get lucky,” they claimed while looking at OMG wreaking havoc in the World group stage. And indeed, OMG were considered one of the leading contenders for the #1 spot due to their exceptional performance in groups as they only dropped a single game so far.

These assumptions would quickly be dispelled in the upcoming quarter-final. The rematch didn’t go the way the analyst desk expected it to go as Uzi scored one of the most memorable moments of Season 3 and nailed OMG’s coffin shut with his deadly Vayne flank.

Butting heads with Europe’s finest FNC in the next round of playoffs, Royal Club demonstrated dominant performance all across the lanes. The club’s botlane was so terrifying that it drew not one but two target bans. As FNC were forced to use their bans to take away Uzi’s Vayne and Tabe’s Annie, they opened themselves up to the abuse from other roles. As Royal Club were able to pick two of the most-banned characters of the tournament, Orianna and Elise, they made short work of FNC, closing out the series 3:1.

Coming into the final, Royal Club were facing the legendary SK Telecom T1 team. The Korean rising stars have taken the event by storm, confidently defeating one challenger after another on their way to the top. Still, they had to respect Royal Club’s botlane aggression and take away Uzi & Tabe’s greatest weapon – Annie. Even though Uzi played two games on his signature pick, it was not enough as SKT confidently beat Royal Club 3:0.

Still, an impressive debut: from a rookie to the World’s finalist in just a single year.

Royal Club Star Horn

That was the name Royal Club officially took after rebranding in Season 4. This season turned out to be quite a tough challenge for the roster as it underwent a complete rebranding. As the club’s prominent midlaner, Wh1t3zZ, retired immediately after the World Championship, the org was forced to scramble for options. What’s worse – Uzi’s right hand and the only support he would ever 100% trust, Tabe, retired as well. These changes would later on cascade into a complete restructuring of the roster. Only our protagonist would remain – and that’s one reason why he’s called the Eternal God of Botlane.

In a way, Season 4’s similarity to the previous season was uncanny. Once again, Royal Club would struggle in LPL Spring. The roster changes had the team confused and looking for solutions – and one of their attempts included moving Uzi from botlane to mid for Spring. A questionable move, but then again, hindsight is 20/20.

In the meantime, Uzi would gain international recognition for his incredible Vayne mechanics in LPL Summer 2014. The ADC made the crowd go wild as he scored a Pentakill in a game against Invictus Gaming with a sliver of health left. He calculated everything down to double-digit HP.

Once again, they would find their game and claim the ultimate prize in the Chinese Regional Finals, guaranteeing themselves a spot in the World Championship. Starting the year’s main event on a high note, Royal Club showed dominant performance in the group stage by only dropping a single match.

Facing off the two-time reigning LPL champions EDward Gaming in the semi-finals, Royal Club ultimately claimed victory after a close series 3:2. Although Uzi is known for his love for mobility-based Marksmen, he is by no means a one-trick. His performance on Twitch in the second game of the series quite possibly was the turning point of the match. His Quadra Kill on botlane turned a comfy lead for Edward Gaming into a crushing counter for Royal Club, pulling his team back into the game and tipping the scales in their favor.

The final game of the series against Edward Gaming followed a similar timeline. Although Royal Club were known for their strategy of “ADC funneling,” the sheer boldness required to lead the charge as a squishy ADC is right on edge between brilliance and insanity. But Uzi made it work, as his impact led to the massive turnaround in the toplane teamfight, closing the series after a massive struggle.

Facing off their long-time rivals OMG in the semis, Royal Club delivered another nailbiter series for the fans. Season 4 World Championship was possibly nearly the best the Chinese fans could have asked for as the two titans clashed in even combat. Ultimately, Royal Club would win 3:2 and advance to the Grand Finals, making Uzi the first player in League of Legends history to become a consecutive two-year Worlds finalist.

Unfortunately for the squad, the dominant Korean team Samsung White was on another level in that tournament. Dashing the Chinese hopes after a quick 3:1 series in favor of the Koreans, SSW once again denied Uzi’s claim to the throne. After he finished second two years in a row, some started calling him a shadow, as he always remained one step behind the champions. Although intended to be a mockery, Uzi wore this name with pride, as he never ceased attempts to perfect himself and claim victory. After all, he is the Shadow Hunter.

A valley of trials

In possibly the most surprising turn of events, Uzi left his alma mater and joined their long-time rivals, OMG. However, the hype around the star player’s transfer would soon fall short as OMG faced a long period of a slump and internal turmoil, failing to bring results in LPL Spring & Summer Playoffs and being barred out of entering the World Championship.

On top of that, Uzi’s intense playstyle started taking a toll on his body, as well. The prominent ADC complained about shoulder pain during his bootcamp with OMG. The pain was so great that he actively considered retiring, yet he pushed on and continued pursuing his passion – or perhaps duty.

Despite the 2015 Season being fruitless and facing deteriorating health, Uzi does not give up that easily. After experimenting with Qiao Gu Reapers for half a year, the ADC joins his old org rebranded – with a fitting name Royal Never Give Up. RNG’s LPL run was neither cold nor hot – dominant in Groups, yet slacking in Playoffs, they still managed to qualify for the World Championship due to the point system.

Their passable performance in the group stage allowed them to advance to playoffs, where they would reignite their old rivalry with SK Telecom T1. However, the soon-to-be two-time champions were looking as sharp as they did in 2013, closing out the series in a show of dominance in favor of Koreans.

The new apprentice

A new season always means new faces. For Royal Never Give Up, that included the new support, Ming, who Uzi would personally mentor over the season. The botlane chemistry was there, indeed, as RNG went on to finish the 2017 LPL Spring Season in the first place and reach the playoff finals.

The Summer Season was remarkably similar: same groups score, same #1 group placement, same playoffs run ending one step away from the first place. Facing off against Edward Gaming in the Grand Final, RNG were soul-crushingly reverse-swept 2:3.

“I go wherever Uzi goes.” – Ming

Still, their performance was by no means poor, and their placement guaranteed RNG a spot in the 2017 World Championship. The home turf buff allowed RNG a beastly performance in groups, dropping only a single match once again. Yet, RNG’s dominant performance was once against halted by their old rival – SKT T1. A close series adorned by Uzi’s signature picks were not enough to overcome RNG’s old nemesis as the Korean champions claimed victory 3:2.

Tumbling down

The 2018 Season looked promising for Uzi’s squad: their dominant showing in the LPL finally paid off. Scoring a Pentakill against a powerhouse of Invictus Gaming, Uzi once again demonstrated his devotion to his craft.

RNG went on to claim the champion’s title in the LPL Spring Split playoffs. With Uzi’s curse of going second in finals broken, things were starting to look up for the star player. Once again, the team proved that their earlier performance was not a fluke by repeating their success in the LPL Summer Split after a grueling 5-game-long match against IG.

In the meantime, Uzi would show respect to FNC’s ADC by “stealing” his name while on the LPL bootcamp. Although these two never met, they held a great deal of mutual respect towards each other.

“Ever since I saw your Vayne play at Worlds 2013, I’ve looked up to you. You’ve been a huge motivator for my growth as a player.” – Rekkless

As they approached Worlds as a dominant force in the region, RNG’s reputation traveled further than they did. In shocking upset, the European squad G2 managed to take down the Chinese giant in the quarter-finals, ending their claim to the champion’s throne before it even started.

Royal Never Give Up never recovered after such a crushing defeat. Failing to claim any meaningful titles in the coming tournaments, the team barely qualified for the 2019 Worlds by reaching the LPL 2019 Summer Finals playoffs, where they lost to FPX 1:3. The Worlds run did not bring any inspiring underdog stories, either, as RNG were eliminated from the group stage.

Seeing his hopes dashed and facing ever-increased health problems, as well as having some bad blood between the player and the org, Uzi eventually retired in 2020. SKT T1’s Faker honored the star ADC with a kind farewell upon hearing the news, telling the world that their rivalry was nothing but brotherly competition all along.

Hello everyone, I’m T1 Faker. When I heard the news of Uzi’s retirement, speaking for myself, he’s been an excellent player who’s competed against me on the same stage for so many years. And at the same time, he’s also an extremely popular Chinese player [1/3] pic.twitter.com/pd77vbXGWx

— Linda Pro League ? (@iCrystalization) June 6, 2020

And the rest is history. However, now is the time for Uzi to push on. Let’s hope his new arrival will be in good health and with the same old skills!