Uzi (gamer)

Jian Zihao (, born April 5, 1997), better known as Uzi, is a former Chinese professional League of Legends player. Uzi is renowned for his mechanical prowess on champions such as Vayne, Kai'Sa, Ezreal and Kog'Maw. He was well known as the franchise player for Royal Never Give Up and its predecessors, although he also played briefly for OMG and Newbee.

Uzi has played in the World Championship grand finals twice, both times with Royal Club. He won his first international title at the 2018 Mid-Season Invitational with his team Royal Never Give Up, after defeating the LCK champions Kingzone DragonX.

Uzi officially announced his retirement from professional play on Weibo on 3 June 2020. Uzi ended his career due to personal health issues.

Uzi would sign with Edward Gaming on June 10th, 2023 to play competitively again during the summer split, but the team would place 8th and fail to qualify for worlds. November 22nd, after worlds ended, Uzi would announce his retirement once more on stream, stating that he felt defeated by reality, and that he had lost the desire to play competitively.

Career
Uzi began his professional career on the Chinese team Royal Club. Widely considered as one of the best AD carries during seasons three and four, Uzi demonstrated his great mechanic prowess and carried his team to two consecutive second-place finishes at the League of Legends World Championship in both 2013 and 2014. Despite their success at Season 3 Worlds, the departure of Tabe prompted Uzi to switch to the mid lane at the start of Season 4 before returning to the ADC role during the summer. Renamed to Star Horn Royal Club, Uzi with Korean imports inSec and Zero rose to the challenge and finished second at worlds with a 1:3 series against one of the best teams ever, Samsung White. And he left the Royal club for the communication problem with Korean imports.

Season 5 however, proved to be a slump in Uzi's career after moving to OMG. Despite being touted as one of the biggest talent transfers of the offseason, OMG incurred difficulties in integrating Uzi to the team. Coupled with the decline of Gogoing and Lovelin, Season 5 was a disappointing one for Uzi. Uzi was picked up by Qiao Gu Reapers and was their sub for Peco. QG was invited to IEM Katowice in March 2016 where they beat Fnatic in their first best of one but were then subsequently eliminated in the group stages following a loss to SK Telecom T1 and then losing to Fnatic 1 - 2.

In May 2016, Qiao Gu Reapers was acquired by Newbee. However, five days later Uzi's contract was bought out by Royal Never Give Up. <!-- Poorly written and unsourced. Do not uncomment before fixing issues. In Oct 2016, Uzi led Royal Never Give Up to the world championship Quarterfinals but was defeated by SK Telecom T1.

In the 2017 LPL summer play-off, Uzi and his Royal Never Give up played against Edward Gaming in the final.[1] He won the first two games and lost the next three games so that they became the second place. However, Royal Never Give up still win the highest points throughout the year and qualified for the world championship. Uzi and RNG cruised to the semifinals of the tournament, including a 2-0 victory over LCK powerhouse SSG, coming into the competition as the favorites for the title. However, they were defeated once again in a close 3-2 series to SK Telecom T1 in the semi-final.

In the 2018 LPL spring play-off, Uzi and his RNG win the championship by defeating Team WE, Lining Gaming, Invictus Gaming and Edward Gaming. They entered the Midseason Invitational as the champion of LPL. Uzi and his team Initially started the event 8–3 in the group stage. They defeated the EU powerhouse Fnatic by 3-0 in the semi-final. Finally, Uzi led his team to a 3-1 win over LCK champions Kingzone DragonX. In September, Uzi led RNG to defeat IG with a score of 3-2 in the LPL summer play-off final. They became China's number one seed seed for the World Championship. However, they were defeated by EU powerhouse G2 in the quarterfinal.

In the 2019 LPL spring game, although Uzi won the fourth place in the spring regular season with the depressed RNG team, he lost to the dark horse JDG team in the spring play-off and stopped in the top six. In the summer season, the RNG team recovered, they won the regular season scored third place, and 3–1 TES in the semifinals of the playoffs advanced to the final. In the finals, they lost to FPX 1: 3 which was regrettable they became the number two seed to entered World championships. The S9 group stage is divided into group C. Together with SKT, FNC, and CG, due to the participation of three world-class teams, SKT, RNG, and FNC, group C is also called the death group. They didn't do well in the group stage with 3-2 and that force they play against FNC in the last round in life-or-death situation. However, they lost. This is the first time that RNG and Uzi have fallen in the group stage, and they are also the second seed in the mainland to stop in the top 16.

After the loss at the season 9 world championship, his last professional game is play at the pre-season league of legends all-stars. After that Uzi had to take a season-long break due to wrist and hand injuries, and the RNG had to continue the season without him, which resulted in a 3-1 loss to EDG at the spring season 10 final. after that, under some consideration and doctor exam, Uzi announced his retirement after his eight-year-long career. On 3 June 2020 he officially retired at the age of 23. -->

On 3 June 2020, Uzi announced his retirement from professional gaming, citing health concerns. In a statement he said, "As a result of staying up late for years, a fatty diet and being under insurmountable stress, last year I found out that I was type-2 diabetic." He added that his mental state was "not as good as it was before". In an effort to recover, he took medication and made changes to his work schedule and exercise habits, but his situation did not change. His doctor told him there could be "serious complications" if he continued playing competitively.

On 15 Dec 2021, Uzi announced he will return to the game and join BLG (Bilibili Gaming) as AD player. At the same time, Crisp Breath and Doggo join the BLG too. Uzi himself also responded to this situation. In the past two years, exercise and fitness have become indispensable things in his daily life, so he is still relatively confident in his body. But in the 2021 Spring LPL (League of Legends Pro League), Uzi has not participated any official game yet. On 1 Jan 2021, RNG (Royal Never Give up) 2:1 BLG (Bilibili Gaming). Uzi did not participate the game.

(Star Horn) Royal Club

 * 2nd — Season 3 World Championship
 * 2nd — 2014 League of Legends World Championship

Royal Never Give Up

 * 2nd — 2016 Summer LPL
 * 5th–8th — 2016 League of Legends World Championship
 * 2nd — 2017 Spring LPL
 * 2nd — 2017 Summer LPL
 * 3rd–4th — 2017 League of Legends World Championship
 * 1st — 2018 Spring LPL
 * 1st — 2018 Mid-Season Invitational
 * 1st — 2018 Demacia Cup
 * 1st — 2018 Rift Rivals (Red Rift)
 * 1st — 2018 Summer LPL
 * 5th–8th — 2018 League of Legends World Championship
 * 9th–12th — 2019 League of Legends World Championship

Individual awards

 * MVP of 2018 LPL Spring Playoffs
 * MVP of 2018 LPL Summer Playoffs
 * MVP of 2018 Mid-Season Invitational
 * MVP of 2018 Asian Games
 * All-Star 1v1 2016 winner
 * All-Star 1v1 2017 winner