STYZ: UNBANNED AND BACK IN BUSINESS By Kelsey Moser

Tis the season of unbanning, and Qu “Styz” Ziliang has joined Alfonso "Mithy" Aguirre Rodriguez and Erlend "Nukeduck" Våtevik Holm in returning to competitive play. But Styz’s story is different from theirs, as the talented AD carry was banned by the League of Legends Association of Chinese Esports (LACE) for trying to prematurely break his contract with LGD Gaming at the end of 2014 LPL Spring to join another team. Acfun, the team in question, was fined $64,000 for attempting to poach 16-year-old Styz, as well as inciting him to behave poorly in the LGD house so his contract would end earlier.

Despite the initial year-long ban, Styz was allowed to return to competitive play after only six months due to good behavior, and has now been signed to Team WE. With the excitement that surrounded him during his first split in LPL, anticipation is high. It’s time to figure out just what spectators should expect from Styz in the 2015 LPL season.

THE HIGHS

Perhaps Styz’s most memorable moments came in Week 4 of the 2014 LPL Spring season. In LGD’s games against Royal Club, he racked up a pentakill and a quadrakill on Caitlyn, and against OMG, he sniped two dragons on Ezreal.

In these fights, his mastery of positioning allowed him to get into the fight and out, taking minimal damage and bringing down multiple targets. Before long, he and LGD’s Chen “Pyl” Bo became known as one of the most fearsome bottom lanes in the League with Pyl’s shrewd sense for fight-picking and Styz’s split-second reaction time.

Opponents began banning Caitlyn or Ezreal regularly against LGD to keep Styz’s powerhouse champions out of his hands. Fan’s began to put Styz on the same lists as Gao “WeiXiao” Xuecheng, Zhu “NaMei” Jiawen, and Jian “Uzi” Zihao as LGD took games off the teams to which these powerful opponents belonged.

Styz has already begun playing again for Team WE, and he first appeared in The Demacia Cup Quarterfinals. From there, WE climbed to the Finals against year-long rivals, Edward Gaming. Styz started off the final series ready to impress by pulling off a lane kill against NaMei with a flashy Lucian dive. Then, as the tournament progressed, he reminded spectators just why his play came with so much fanfare in 2014 LPL Spring. He and Lee “Spirit” Dayoon appeared to be the primary carry forces for WE, and the brand-new team took EDG to five games before going down.

THE LOWS

Styz, for all the hype surrounding him, does not come without his flaws. One reason opposing teams frequently banned Caitlyn or Ezreal is that Styz seemed to have noticeably less success without them. When Twitch became popular in the meta, some of his positional flaws on less mobile AD carries shone through. Since joining Team WE, Styz hasn’t shown off any champions without a repositioning tool, but so far the meta doesn’t prominently feature any either. But as history shows, the meta is anything but stagnant, and these champions could very well return to the limelight.

In addition, when LGD would fall behind in games, Styz had a tendency to solo push the bottom lane without vision, often getting caught out and causing the team to fall further behind. In the last two games of Demacia Cup, Styz seemed to fall back on old habits, and WE took a handful of unsuccessful team fights while their AD carry was bottom lane and out of position.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Styz isn’t one of the LPL AD carry greats -- yet. Coming off from his ban, he shows the same flashes of brilliance he did in 2014 LPL Spring, capable of individual outplays in the midst of great havok. It seems he also is showing some hints of his same old flaws, but these flaws are fixable, especially for a player as young as Styz.

The unbanning represents just another reason to watch LPL this year. If Styz can continue to improve, he can make a name for himself against some of the greatest AD carries in the world, including one Gu “imp” Seungbin who has found a place on his old team, LGD Gaming. If Styz’s half year away from the competitive scene has helped him refine his attitude and find his focus, WE is in for an exciting 2015 Season.

#esports #lol