Royal Never Give Up ADC superstar Uzi retires

Yesterday, esports superstar Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao announced his retirement from the League of Legends professional scene. After starting his career for Royal Never Give Up and playing the game for nearly eight years, Uzi’s physical condition seemed to be of concern. After a medical check-up concerning his chronic injuries, the famous bot laner decided to retire. There was an announcement on Chinese blog Weibo about his retirement.

A League of Legends Icon

Uzi was one of the League of legends poster boys. From getting international recognition at 16 years old to being considered as the greatest bot laner of all time, Uzi allocated all of his time to improve and perform. Aside from Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, he was one of the most beloved League of Legends players out there.

In 2013 and 2014, with Royal Club, he reached the League of Legends World Championship finals but lost in the end. At this time, he was the primary focus of every strategy. His playstyle earned him the surname of “puppy”, and the overall strategy of Royal Club was called “raise-the-puppy”. The failure of this strategy made Uzi question himself and Royal Club’s strategy. Between 2015 and 2017, he joined OMG and Qiao Gu Reapers respectively but saw little success. in 2017, he finally returned to his home team, Royal Club, now rebranded to Royal Never Give Up.

This decision was the turning point of his career. He won his first League of Legends Pro League split in 2018 after five years of failures. He was now unstoppable with his team who won tournament after tournament. RNG won two LPL championships, the 2018 Asian Games gold medal and the Mid Season Invitational championship, with Uzi at the top of his game. His only regret was never winning a Worlds title.

ADC Uzi Retires

Throughout his career, there was a lot of concern for Uzi’s hands and shoulders. He confessed in an interview with Nike that, according to his doctor, he has the arms of someone at least twice his age. He sacrificed his health to remain at the top of the League of Legends’ food chain. It was clearly only a matter of time before his retirement.

As of today, LPL0006 @UziRNG will officially retire. Uzi was not only the heart and soul of RNG, but also an icon in the esports world as a whole. From a teenager onwards he never gave up and worked as hard as he could to be the best he could in his role, he inspired many. pic.twitter.com/wsqqOnqE4o

— Royal Never Give Up (@RNGRoyal) June 3, 2020

In an emotional tweet, Royal Never Give Up acknowledged Uzi’s importance in its recent success. However, the organization also stated the importance of him being a role model for future generations. He will always be a point of reference for any esports player’s success in League of Legends, especially in the LPL.

Written by Charles FUSTER