For the past couple of weeks, League of Legends fans have been enthusiastic over the return of what many consider to be the greatest ADC in the game’s history. After stepping away in 2022 due to health issues, Uzi made his return to the LPL Summer Split with EDward Gaming on June 14 and did so in style. The returning bot laner showcased all his skills and expertise in the match against Invictus Gaming to claim the win.
The sudden return of the bot lane’s king follows the recent string of scandals involving Hu “Leave” Hongchao, who had just won the award for Rookie of the Split in Spring. With Uzi, EDG had the chance to clean their image both in and out of the game starting with their match against Invictus Gaming.
Uzi’s return in the third week of the LPL Summer Split gifted EDG their second win of the competition so far after beating IG 2-1. While EDG are currently still on the lower side of the rankings of the regular season, Uzi’s comeback might have initiated their ascension toward the top—and the first game of the series showed that. Accompanied by Meiko’s Yuumi, Uzi’s Aphelios had the highest damage with 44 percent of damage share in almost 40 minutes on the Rift.
His legendary individual skills and mental resilience made for a scary one-man-army against IG, who had to use all they had multiple times just to take down Uzi, forgetting about the other four players on EDG.
But IG did not throw in the towel after game one, and thanks to their team fighting skills stole one game under their opponents’ noses after winning a pivotal fight during the late stage of the second game of the series. To close the match, Uzi picked Lucian in pair with Meiko’s Milio and the duo rained down heavy damage on their opponents right from the start. But EDG top laner Ale stole the spotlight with his performance on Sion, whose damage surpassed Uzi’s in the last game of the series.
Uzi’s return marks a turning point for EDG, who can now rely on the bot laner experience and individual prowess to lead the team to victory. But the journey back to the top has just begun for Uzi, who will have to face off against Gala in his upcoming match against LNG Esports this Saturday, June 17.
