We literally had this exact same leak in December and who got buffed next? None of the characters who were listed. As much as I want to be proven wrong, I don't want to believe this unless these leakers are reliable, and a lot of people are being EXTREMELY gullible about this.
Okay there wasn't a pretty Zhongli vision but Liyue Geo is basically the same almost. I can make the ornaments myself
There was so much more I could have taken but I would have gone broke TwT (but I wanted to take them)
Was commonly theorized to be square like the Geo Oculi because of the "solid" and "sharp" nature of the elements.
It's not, Zhongli continues to have the only square oculus, and the Liyue the only square vision (Monowheels are also circular, Linchpins that are not circular relate to the third descender)
Exactly what the title says, I have a Vortex Vanquisher rotting away in my inventory that I'm gonna level to 90 if 2026 ends without Liyue buffs being announced be it through leaks or officially. I made a thread on twitter counting down the days until something like that happens and it's about to reach 150 days. I know it's only July but I feel like I'm gonna have to level it to 90 prematurely so I don't have to do it when December rolls around because let's be real here Hoyo isn't gonna buff the Liyue characters anytime soon 😭😭😭 maybe during Lantern Rite they will but this year's one already passed and the closest thing we got was Lunar Crystallize
Besides the pyro gnosis which is absent, the cryo and geo gnosis are the only ones left on the board.
I'm too tired to analyze the chess board but I have a feeling someone will have an entire lore video up on this trailer within 48 hours.
The “Zhongli got played by the Fatui” reading has always felt wrong to me and I think the lore backs this up pretty clearly.
He is literally the God of Contracts. He has been writing airtight agreements for over 6000 years. The idea that he accidentally signed a bad deal with the Tsaritsa is insane.
He handed the Gnosis over voluntarily after staging his own death specifically to test whether Liyue could survive without him. That was the whole point of the Archon Quest. He already knew what he was doing.
What nobody seems to focus on is what the Tsaritsa gave HIM. The game explicitly leaves this blank. Zhongli tells the Traveler to figure it out themselves, which is a weird thing to say if the answer is just “nothing, he got scammed.” The most plausible reading is that she promised Liyue wouldn’t be touched when her rebellion against Celestia kicks off.
The Sovereign angle is where I think a lot of theories go wrong though. Neuvillette confirmed in 4.1 that no Dragon Sovereign had recovered their authority at that point, which basically kills the idea of Zhongli being the Geo Sovereign, since he held the Gnosis and never reclaimed any sovereign authority during that time. Azhdaha is actually the stronger candidate there.
What I keep coming back to is the chessboard scene from Lazzo. Removing the King from the board doesn’t end the game. He’s the only one who remembers Teyvat before the Irminsul tampering. That’s not retirement, that’s positioning.
So what did the Tsaritsa actually promise him? And is he genuinely done or is Hoyo saving him for something later?
Tldr Zhongli is going to be the one to come in at the last minute to take down the heavenly principles
So internet sleuths already found that the game is Alekhine Vs Yates 1922 (also played on August 12 which is 7.0 patch drop). In the PV they actually show the tsarista doing Kxf5 which is 1. Illegal and 2. Dooms the white king. The illegal move alludes to her 'not playing by the rules of the heavenly principles' but the situation on the board (and what Rhinedottir says about 'i hope you understand the nature of the game you're playing') means that she's going to sacrifice herself by doing this.
What's interesting is now the rook in G7, the Geo gnosis. If treated as a rook, there's still not much to be done. But what if the rook can secretly move like a king? (I.e. diagonally) Then it's gg at the same time for both kings. The heavenly principles are distracted by the illegal move the Tsarista just played that offers herself up on a platter for reaping while simultaneously our lord morax reveals the full extent of the contract and his power and swoops in (probably with the help of the traveler) and takes down someone else. So ronova isn't going to be the heavenly principle that is taken down at the end of snezhnaya but someone we're not expecting
Anyway brainworms over, thanks for listening to my rant
The Geo Gnosis is the only lit up Gnosis (other than Cryo Gnosis) on the chessboard in the latest Snezhnaya trailer, is Zhongli finally making his move?
I am planning to pull Zibai just to play Zhongli. I got him cause he is my favorute archon but literally every team he goes it is a dps loss. I still use him with Neuvillete on archaic petra.
I been forever wanting a non pyro geo team. I like lunar geo reactions as they look so clean and I have c4 illuga. Hopefully illuga comes on Zibai banner so I can try for c6.
I plan to play illuga columbina zibai and zhongli all on their best f2p weapons. Does anyone played this team, is it good for stygian fearless?