EDward Gaming claims Champions 2024, ZmjjKK breaks records
EDward Gaming claimed VCT China’s first international trophy after the record-breaking VCT Champions 2024 grand final against Team Heretics.
During this match, breakout star Zheng “ZmjjKK” Yongkang broke the kill record in a single best-of-five series with a total of 111 kills. This was previously held by Gen.G Esports’ Kim “t3xture” Na-ra with 105 kills. After the championship, ZmjjKK (pronounced “Kangkang”) was voted the grand final MVP by talent, co-streamers, media, and other community members.
EDG’s journey to the Champions trophy
EDward Gaming won VCT China Stage 1 and only dropped two matches in the entire split. Both were against FunPlus Phoenix: once in the group stage and a second time in the playoffs. They promptly bounced back, taking down FPX in the Stage 1 grand final 3-1. EDG began Stage 2 with a rookie, Hsieh “S1Mon” Meng-hsun, pushing Haodong to the bench. Their dominance continued, and another grand final against FPX told a similar story, 3-2.
EDG’s consistency throughout the year meant they entered VCT Champions 2024 Seoul as China’s first seed. They were drawn into Group D alongside G2 Esports (Americas #2 seed), Paper Rex (APAC #3), and FUT Esports (EMEA #4).
The first matchup was against FUT and was as one-sided as expected. FUT fought back, but EDG eventually swept them 2-0. Afterwards, the Chinese squad buckled against G2 Esports, 1-2.
They successfully survived elimination, beating Paper Rex in the do-or-die match 2-1. It looked like PRX had the upper hand after they opened with a 13-3 win in the first map, but EDG struck back with equally authoritative wins, 13-8 and 13-4, in the following maps.
The win versus PRX qualified them for the playoffs. In the infamous “Civil War” draw, EDG’s first obstacle was fellow Chinese team Trace Esports. Trace could not find a map against them even in the regional season, and this matchup was no different. EDG dropped Trace to the lower bracket, where the latter team would eventually get eliminated by DRX. After this elimination, EDward Gaming were left as the final VCT China representative.
They would go on to blaze a trail through the upper bracket. EDG beat fan-favorite Sentinels and Americas #1 seed Leviatán to punch their grand final ticket.
Ultimately, they met Team Heretics, who trudged through in the lower bracket in the VCT Champions 2024 grand final. The two would meet for the first time in this event and the second time in history after Masters Shanghai 2024, which TH took 2-0.
The VCT Champions 2024 Seoul grand final
The maps that ensued from the EDG vs. TH final could be in the running for some of the best professional VALORANT games this year. Clutches, aces, thrifties – this series had no shortage of content and enjoyment.
Map 1 was Haven, EDG’s pick. They started the first half with only three wins as Heretics seemed to have their number. This continued into the second half; TH looked strong with a 1-0 lead in the series after taking Haven 13-6.
The Chinese squad completely flipped the script on Sunset. They made quick work of Team Heretics and took the map 13-4.
Lotus was less one-sided, and the two teams started trading blows. ZmjjKK took control of Neon for the third consecutive time and once again achieved over 20 kills, marking his third straight performance at that level.
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Despite topping the leaderboard in the past two maps, CHICHOO overtook him in the kill department for this game with 27 kills. Heretics’ struggle netted them a 6-6 half, but EDG stomped them in the second half to take Lotus, 13-9.
Team Heretics found another 6-6 half in Bind. However, the remainder of the map was more labored, and EDG failed to win the final round to force overtime. TH took Bind 13-11, bringing the grand final to Map 5.
Abyss was where the two settled the score. By this time, ZmjjKK already had 92 kills under his belt for the entire series. This meant he only needed 14 kills to beat texture’s previous record of 105.
And beat it he did. He added 19 kills in this decider map, breaking the record and the hearts of Team Heretics in the process.
EDG lifted the trophy after taking Abyss, 13 to 9.
This is the first trophy for VCT China since it was established this year. This was not EDG’s first rodeo, though. They were already present as far back as Champions 2022, qualifying through various non-China regions. Prior to VCT China, EDG’s highest finish in an international competition was in Champions 2023 and in Masters Tokyo 2023, where they exited at 5th-6th.
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