Uzi (gamer)

In this Chinese name, the family name is Jian.

Jian Zihao (Chinese: 简自豪, born April 5, 1997), better known as Uzi, is a former Chinese professional League of Legends player. Renowned for his mechanical prowess and influence on the metagame, Uzi is widely regarded as one of the greatest bot laners in League of Legends history despite never winning a World Championship.^[2][3][4][5]

Uzi
Jian in 2022
Personal information
Name	简自豪 (Jian Zihao)
Born	(1997-04-05) April 5, 1997 (age 28) Yichang, Hubei, China[1]
Career information
Game	League of Legends
Playing career	2012–2023
Role	Bot Laner
Team history
2012–2014	Royal Club
2014	Star Horn Royal Club
2014–2015	OMG
2015–2016	Qiao Gu Reapers
2016	Newbee
2016–2020	Royal Never Give Up
2021–2022	Bilibili Gaming
2023	Edward Gaming
Career highlights and awards
MSI champion (2018) MSI MVP (2018) 2× LPL champion 2× LPL Playoffs MVP LPL MVP of the Year (2014) 4× LPL Best ADC (2014, 2017, 2018, 2019) 2× LPL First All-Pro Team 2× LPL Second All-Pro Team LPL Third All-Pro Team Rift Rivals champion (2018) 2× All-Star Invitational champion (2016, 2017)
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	簡自豪
Simplified Chinese	简自豪
Transcriptions Southern Min Hokkien POJ Jiǎn Zìháo
Medal record Esports Representing  China Asian Games 2018 Jakarta–Palembang League of Legends

He was well known as the franchise player for Royal Never Give Up (RNG) and its predecessors, with whom he won two League of Legends Pro League (LPL) titles and played the World Championship six times, finishing as runner-up twice in 2013 and 2014. He won his first and only international title at the 2018 Mid-Season Invitational after defeating the LCK champions Kingzone DragonX.^[6] He also represented the Chinese national team at the 2018 Asian Games, earning a gold medal.

In 2025, he was inducted into the LoL Esports Hall of Legends alongside Faker as the second inductee.^[7]

Professional career

Uzi began his professional career on the Chinese team Royal Club. Widely considered as one of the best AD carries during 2013, Uzi demonstrated his great mechanic prowess and carried his team to a second-place finish at the League of Legends World Championship. Despite their success at the Season 3 Worlds, the departure of Wong "Tabe" Pak Kan prompted Uzi to switch to the mid lane at the start of the 2014 season before returning to the AD carry role during the summer. Renamed to Star Horn Royal Club, Uzi rose to the challenge along with Korean imports Choi "inSec" In-seok and Yoon "zero" Kyung-sup and finished second at Worlds once again after a 1-3 series defeat against Samsung White. Following this, he left Star Horn Royal Club due to the communication problems with their imports.

The 2015 season 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 integrating Uzi to the team, coupled with the declining performance of teammates Gao "Gogoing" Di-Ping and Yin "LoveLing" Le. Leading to 2016, Uzi was picked up by Qiao Gu Reapers. QG was invited to the IEM World Championship in March 2016 where they beat Fnatic in their first match but were subsequently eliminated in the group stage 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, four days later Uzi's contract was bought out by RNG. Jumping back to his debuting team, Uzi led RNG to the 2016 World Championship quarterfinals where they were defeated again by SK Telecom T1.

After a successful four-year tenure with RNG, Uzi announced his first retirement from professional play on Weibo on June 2020, due to personal health issues.^[8][9] 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.^[10][11]

Following a brief stint with Bilibili Gaming between 2021 and 2022, he went on to sign with Edward Gaming on June 2023 to play competitively again during the summer split. However, the team ended up at 5th-6th place at playoffs and failed to qualify for Worlds through the LPL Regional Finals. On November 2023, Uzi announced his final retirement on stream, stating that he felt defeated by reality, and that he had lost the desire to play competitively.^[12]

National team career

Uzi represented China in the League of Legends demonstration event at the 2018 Asian Games.^[13] The tournament took place at BritAma Arena at Mahaka Square in Jakarta, Indonesia, from August 27 to 29, 2018.^[14] The Chinese team earned a gold medal after a 3–1 win to South Korea in the finals.^[15]

Legacy

Riot Games announced on May 19, 2025, that Uzi was chosen as their second entry into the Hall of Legends, an honor reserved for the most legendary players in League of Legends esports history.

He was officially inducted in a private ceremony in Shanghai, China on June 6, 2025. A documentary on his career was released on June 11, 2025, in partnership with Mercedes-Benz.

Seasons overview

Team	Year	Domestic			Regional	International
		League	Split		Rift Rivals	Mid-Season Invitational	World Championship
			Spring	Summer
Royal Club	2013	LPL	5th	4th	—	—	2nd
	2014	LPL	6th	—			—
Star Horn Royal Club		LPL	—	3rd			2nd
OMG	2015	LPL	5th-8th	7th		Did not qualify
Qiao Gu Reapers	2016	LPL	4th	—		Did not qualify	—
Royal Never Give Up		LPL	—	2nd		—	5th-8th
	2017	LPL	2nd	2nd	Did not play	Did not qualify	3rd-4th
	2018	LPL	1st	1st	1st	1st	5th-8th
	2019	LPL	5th-6th	2nd	Did not qualify		9th-12th
Bilibili Gaming	2022	LPL	7th-8th	—	—	Did not qualify	—
Edward Gaming	2023	LPL	—	5th-6th		—	Did not qualify

Awards and honors

International

• One-time Mid-Season Invitational champion – 2018
• One-time Mid-Season Invitational Finals MVP – 2018

Regional

• One-time Rift Rivals champion – 2018

LPL

• Two-time LPL champion – Spring 2018, Summer 2018
• Two-time LPL Playoffs MVP – Spring 2018, Summer 2018
• One-time LPL MVP of the Year – 2014
• Four-time LPL Best ADC – 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019
• Two-time LPL Most Popular Player – 2016, 2017
• Two-time LPL First All-Pro Team – Spring 2017, Spring 2018
• Two-time LPL Second All-Pro Team – Summer 2018, Summer 2019
• One-time LPL Third All-Pro Team – Spring 2019
• Top 10 Greatest Players of the LPL – 2023

Chinese national team

• Asian Games gold medal winner – 2018

Halls of Fame

• LoL Esports Hall of Legends inductee – 2025

Media

• Weibo Person of the Year – 2019