Cover-Credits:
League of Legends Pro League (LPL) team Bilibili Gaming (BLG) and iconic bot laner Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao parted ways on 1st June. Earlier in March, Uzi had decided to take a break from pro play ahead of the 2022 LPL Spring Playoffs. Now, ahead of the 2022 LPL Summer Split, the team and the pro player have gone their separate ways. The pro player opened up on his livestream and revealed that he will not be participating in the upcoming split in the League of Legends Pro League (LPL) and also cited his reasons for the same.
Uzi wants to rest
According to HUPU Esports’ translation of Uzi’s stream, he said, “I will rest in summer for sure. There are many things that don’t have solutions. If I could be a bit stronger, then it wouldn’t be a problem now. There is no such thing as ‘ifs’ in life. Such a pity.” He will reportedly continue to stream during the summer.
HUPU Esports also pointed out that Uzi's first retirement was announced on 3rd June 2020 and two years later, the pro player is caught in a similar loop again.
Uzi, who is arguably the greatest attack damage carry (ADC) in the LPL, marked his return to pro play in December 2021 after a break of nearly one-and-a-half years. However, he had to share his role with Chiu “Doggo” Tzu-Chuan. During the 2022 LPL Spring Split, Uzi played a total of nine games across four best-of-threes as BLG’s ADC. Notably, before joining BLG, Uzi had spent most of his career with Royal Never Give Up (RNG).
When Uzi decided to take a break ahead of the playoffs while playing with BLG, the team released a statement. It said, “Since Uzi joined BLG, the club and Uzi have been training hard to return to the game in a better competitive state. After the team's continuous attempts to adapt in the spring season, the overall progress has not been satisfactory. After full communication with Uzi, we jointly decided that Uzi will rest for a period of time to adjust his condition.”
BLG added that Uzi’s enthusiasm and perseverance were respected and admired. On Weibo, Uzi also wrote, “Thanks for everyone's concern. I'll take a break. Hope you continue to support BLG.”
Uzi did not reach the same heights that he soared alongside RNG during his time at BLG. It could be due to the fact that he was not the team’s starting ADC for most of the season. It also looks like the pro player will not be playing anytime soon and can be expected to join a roster in the offseason before the 2023 LPL Spring Split.
The LPL announced that it will kick off its 2022 Summer split on 10th June but did not clarify whether teams will be competing remotely from their training facilities or if they will be traveling to the LPL Arena for the matches.
