AL’s manager predicts Uzi will come back next season.

Since Uzi declared his hiatus, insiders have repeatedly leaked news about his potential return during each LPL transfer window. This year, many insiders again hinted that Uzi could make a comeback next season. However, after Uzi and his wife Aomimi publicly denied these rumors, many LPL fans considered the comeback news false. Yet, unexpectedly, AL’s manager Aixiang and the LPL veteran Ruofeng recently discussed the possibility of Uzi’s return during an interview show.

AL’s Aixiang openly admitted that he tried to sign Uzi back in 2018, but due to Uzi’s injuries and contract issues, it didn’t work out. Now, with no injury or contract problems, Aixiang speculates that Uzi has a strong chance to return next year and might join either JDG or LNG. (Personally, I think the chances of Uzi joining these two teams are slim since JDG has already signed GALA, and LNG’s sponsor competes with Uzi’s endorsement sponsor.)

Uzi truly loves playing League of Legends.

After Aixiang revealed the hope for Uzi’s comeback, many fans noticed an interesting fact: Uzi has been continuously playing ranked games recently. Although Uzi himself denied it, saying he was just addicted to ranked, he consistently plays over ten high-intensity ranked matches daily. Many fans doubt it’s just an addiction and speculate that Uzi might be using ranked games to regain his form. Once he feels satisfied with his ranked performance, he might decide to return to competitive play.

Many fans speculate that Uzi might follow the pattern of other LPL players by resting during the first split and then joining a team in the second or third split. Since the first split offers low points and prize money, joining a weaker team just to play then wouldn’t benefit Uzi. Therefore, if Uzi plans to return, the second or third split would be the optimal timing. (The first split champion only gets 20 points and a prize of 300,000 RMB, while the second split champion earns 90 points and 1.1 million RMB, and the third split offers more than twice those rewards.)

The difference between LPL and LCK lies in mentality.

Besides predicting Uzi’s return next year, Aixiang also discussed the gap between LPL and LCK. He stated that LPL players are not weaker than LCK players in terms of skill; the biggest difference is in mindset. He cited the fifth game between AL and T1 as an example, where AL players were very nervous before the decisive match and barely spoke in the locker room. In contrast, T1 players were laughing and relaxed. Seeing T1’s confident state, Aixiang guessed AL might lose that critical game.

T1’s support player Xiaok also talked about AL’s strength during a recent livestream. Xiaok said every AL player is very strong, especially their teamfight ability, which left a deep impression on T1 at the World Championship. Xiaok even admitted that playing against AL was more stressful than facing KT. Many viewers felt sorry for AL after Xiaok’s sharp comments, thinking if AL had overcome T1 this year, they might have won the Worlds, considering KT showed clear hero pool weaknesses during the finals.

Conclusion

What do you think about AL manager Aixiang’s prediction? If Uzi truly has no injury or contract issues, his return would be highly anticipated. I personally believe Uzi joining IG is the most likely scenario since neither GALA nor ELK finalized contracts with IG. IG just needs a strong AD carry now, and if Uzi joins, IG would once again become the top LPL team in terms of popularity.