Absolute Valorant cinema.
Edward Gaming is the best Valorant team in the world.
The Chinese team secured the Valorant Champions 2024 trophy with an epic 3-2 victory over EMEA team Team Heretics in Seoul, South Korea.
EDG’s victory is not only a milestone for the team, but also for the Chinese region and its players.
It is the first international LAN victory for China. Zheng “ZmjjKK” Yongkang was awarded the first-ever MVP trophy for Valorant Champions 2024.
It’s a fitting reward for the EDG star, who broke the record for total kills in a five-game series with a total of 111 kills in the grand finals against Team Heretics.
EDG’s Hsieh “S1Mon” Meng-hsun is the newest Royal Roader, winning the Valorant Champions 2024 in his rookie year. That’s an impressive feat considering S1Mon was playing in the Challengers League just three months before winning the cup.
Heretics took a 1-0 lead and beat Haven 13-6
The first map of the grand finals began with an Agent Comp Mirror Match, where the Heretics swapped their Duelist Agent with Neon instead of their usual Jett against Dominykas “MiniBoo” Lukasevicius.
While EDG took a narrow 2-0 lead, the map quickly changed and Heretics won nine rounds in a row. Heretics took apart EGD, especially when EDG was in the middle of executing their site pushes. Whenever the two teams met, Heretics consistently came out on top with a final score of 13-6.
Former Fortnite pro Benjy “benjyfishy” Fish on Cypher denied EDG their explosive executions on the B and C sites and spotted Lurker in the mid- to late-round scenarios.
Benjyfishy finished as MVP of the map with 17/14/5 KDA and 270 ACS.
Edward Gaming evened the series to 1:1 with a 13:4 win on Sunset.
EDG put on a tremendous performance on the second map and the Chinese team got off to a dominant 9-0 start. The half ended with a convincing 11-1 for the Chinese team.
Heretics is a team known for their strong adjustments and counterattacks during the game, but in the second game they had no time to adjust due to EGD’s explosive executions.
Heretics attempted to fight their way back onto the map, winning three rounds in a row after halftime, but EDG’s aggressive playstyle proved too much for the EMEA representatives, and they evened the finals 1-1 with a 13-4 win on Sunset.
EDG’s Zheng “ZmjjKK” Yongkang dominated on Sunset, collecting seven first kills and finishing with an impressive 22/9/7 KDA and 378 ACS.
EDG took a narrow 13-9 win over Lotus to take a 2-1 lead
The third map, Lotus, was a fiercely competitive affair, with both teams delivering hard-fought rounds, securing narrow victories and showcasing the heroics of their key players.
At halftime the score was 6:6, with both teams fighting for a narrow lead over the other.
The map was a back and forth affair, but in the end EDG took the lead, winning the final four rounds and finishing the match 13-9 against Lotus, giving them a 2-1 lead.
The Heretics continue to fight for another map with a nerve-wracking 13-11 win on Bind
EDG and Heretics continued their intense battle from Lotus into the fourth map, Bind, fighting for every part of the map to gain a narrow lead. Thanks to Miniboo regaining his form, Heretics managed to tie the score at 6-6 by halftime.
The EMEA team’s starting duelist continued to lead after halftime, scoring crucial kills that gave the Heretics the momentum they needed to pull away from EGD and take a 12-8 lead.
While EGD fought their way back into the game and was close to overtime, Heretics managed to win the final round of Bind by the narrowest of margins. Heretics prevented EDG from defusing with a Brimstone Molly setup, despite an impressive ace from Kangkang.
Miniboo finished Bind with a 23/16/3 KDA and 261 ACS.
EDG finished with a 13-9 win on Abyss
When it came to the Valorant championship, EDG stormed forward and took an 8-4 lead at halftime. In the first half, EDG maintained the upper hand by simply shooting their opponents better.
EDG extended their lead to 11-4 after halftime, but Heretics won a frugal round that sparked the EMEA team’s brief comeback.
Heretics gained momentum and won five rounds in a row, shrinking EDG’s lead to 11-9. However, a heroic round from Kangkang took the wind out of Heretic’s sails.
EDG won the championship with a final score of 13:9.
Edward Gaming’s winning team of the Valorant Champions 2024
- Zheng “ZmjjKK” Yongkang
- Zhang “Smoggy” Zhao
- Hsieh “S1Mon” Meng-hsun
- Wan “CHICHOO” Shunzhi
- Wang “nobody” Senxu (leader in the game)
- Tang “Muggle” Shijun (Head Coach)
- Guo “Haodong” Haodong (replacement)
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