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In Incheon, South Korea, at the just-concluded 2024 Valorant Global Championship, EDG, the No. 1 seed team of the VCT CN division, defeated TH with a score of 3:2 and won their first championship, which is also the first championship of the VCT CN division.

Before reviewing this thrilling game, I would like to talk about a new meme in "Wa's" live broadcast during this period: "Sleeping".

When we say a player "slept", it generally means that he did not perform to the level that the audience expected. If a team has someone "sleep", it will become the team's weak link, and if things go wrong, it will lead the team to lose the game. During the game between EDG and other VCT CN teams, there were also netizens who made comments in the barrage or group chats, saying that the opponent "slept" and asked our players to "wake up" quickly.

At the Incheon site, we were lucky enough to witness something:Every EDG player is "awake".

Valorant is a game that tests the mentality and state of players. "Sleeping" is actually a common thing. Everyone has times and periods of extraordinary and abnormal performance. Even EDG will "sleep" sometimes on weekdays.

Today's EDG - or the EDG of this period of time - is no longer a team consisting of only one person. No one is "sleeping", but everyone is in the C position and everyone is making an effort.

Kang Kang (Zmjjkk) is the star player of the team and the undisputed MVP of this championship. His single-game record of 111 kills and 26 first kills in the finals is unmatched.

Kang Kang's performance is unprecedented

However, from the regional stage, the two Masters, to the most important championship, it is no longer just Kang Kang (Zmjjkk), the world's number one and most flamboyant duelist, who has been in the spotlight. Instead, almost everyone in the EDG team has stood out, relying on their own skills and outstanding performances on the field, earning the same exposure as Kang Kang, becoming well-known to audiences at home and abroad, and even like the "big star" Kang Kang, they have nicknames and nicknames passed down by word of mouth among the player community.

As we all know, Valorant places more emphasis on teamwork than any other FPS game. When everyone in the team began to perform their duties, fulfill their responsibilities, and thus stood out, it was only natural that they would reach this point today.

Kang Kang is still the same Kang Kang, the team's No. 1 attacker, and EDG's sharp knife. As a duelist hero, he must be the first to get the first kill in the game and create a numerical advantage. But he has fewer chances to win the single-game MVP; instead, he has more chances to survive after getting the first kill, or when he fails to get the first kill. By surviving, he can get more kills in the endgame and help his teammates open up the situation.

Another change is that he no longer frequently pins his hopes for victory or comeback on the high-return sniper, the Dark Horse, which is also prone to dragging the team into an economic black hole. In an interview, he said that he wanted to prove that he was better at using a rifle than a sniper rifle, and in this championship, he often pulled out a rifle.

Being safe does not mean being conservative. This is a process in which Kang Kang becomes more mature and more team-oriented than before. This does not mean that Kang Kang's personal ability has declined. He is much more ferocious than he was in the Tokyo Masters a year ago.

In the winner's bracket final against North America's No. 1 seed LEV, and in the finals, in order to suppress the opponent's top duelist, Kang Kang occasionally pulled out his usual Jett to fight against Mingju. With many instant kills and empty picks, he killed all doubts about his strength.

Kang Kang's teammates, Nobody and Smoggy, who fully adapted to the vanguard position, took over Kang Kang's MVP in many games of the championship and became the well-deserved mainstay of EDG. They repeatedly achieved remarkable success with their steady performance. Nobody also took on the command task and planned the overall situation through multi-line operations; Smoggy was like a fish in water on specific maps such as Lotus Ancient City.

Victory, nobody tore LEV duelist aspas's sniper

"Qiuqiu" CHICHOO is the "responsibility" god in the unfavorable situation. He created the popular meme "It's better to pray to the god than to pray to the god of the ball". In the endgame, he seemed to have received the script in advance. He was so magical that the director of the game formed a path dependence: just cut the camera to him, he could always create miracles of one against many, and even lead EDG to a comeback, earning the cheers and applause of the audience.

Simon, a new player promoted from the youth training team, was not as good as his teammates in killing. He was so nervous during the interview that he could not say much and did not show his emotions, so he was called a "robot" by netizens. However, his control skills were as accurate as those of a bionic man, which was the key to assisting his teammates in completing kills. He was like a rope that tied up the entire EDG team and consolidated the team's coordination ability.

Haodong, who was replaced by Simon and sat on the second line, relied on his experience to call out pauses in time for the players to adjust their mindsets, achieving a very high winning rate after pauses. He would occasionally use "cheers" and "Fuck" to fully mobilize the emotions of the entire team and the audience.

Happy to the point of blur

The EDG coaching staff, including Haodong, played a major role in the championship. In the match against LEV, they deliberately chose the new map Deep Cave, which had just been released, and let the opponent guess their best tactics.

Smoggy and Nobody's kill streak sent EDG into the finals

It also verified the results of their training

Speaking of tactics, EDG's series of changes in playing style are actually related to the objective changes in the game environment.

A series of changes in the dynamic balance of Valorant this year have ended the era of the Duelist being strong all the time. Each team's tactics rely more on props, and the double vanguard lineup with full props has risen, with different trade-offs depending on the map. It is precisely because the double vanguard lineup props seriously interfere with the low-tolerance sniper rifle, which has reduced the overall appearance rate of the Dark Horse, forcing EDG to make adjustments.

In order to adapt to the lineup changes, EDG went through a long period of pain.From the Madrid Masters to the Shanghai Masters, EDG has been in decline for almost half a year, and occasionally had to make temporary changes and let players try heroes they were not good at, but the effect was not good. This decline also once caused people to speculate how far EDG could go in the championship. When they lost to the second seed G2 in North America in the group stage of the championship, this speculation also evolved into doubt.

But once they got through the darkest moment, EDG's magic skills were perfected, and they really went a long way:

First, they defeated PRX, the third seed in Asia-Pacific and a team with a long history of relationship with EDG, and advanced to the quarterfinals; they remained undefeated in the knockout stage, defeating the American teams Sentinels and LEV one after another, breaking the best record in the history of the Tokyo Masters in reaching the top six, and launched a continuous and fearless attack towards the top three, runner-up, and championship.

In fact, they are still adapting, and the process they have gone through is far from being a triumphant success. The two games against strong American teams were not very smooth. In both games, they lost 1-2 and came back from a BO3 deficit, repeatedly staging exciting "domestic drama" reversal dramas.

Domestic live broadcast comments often complained that EDG and their opponents played a "niche abnormal game." Because EDG fought hard for every point, and whenever they were at a disadvantage and on the verge of collapse, there was always someone, someone, not necessarily Kang Kang or the "God of Ball," but could be "Bati," "Son of Heaven," or "Bionic Man," who stepped up to save the situation in time and equalize the score, while challenging the audience's heart rate limit.

EDG seemed to have already understood that they were slow to warm up, and when choosing the map, they deliberately picked a map where the team had a lower chance of winning. According to the post-match interview, this game was purely for practicing shooting.

The same was true when they faced TH, the third seed in the EMEA region, in the finals. Although they were the third seed, the team that could come to the championship match was never an ordinary team, not to mention that it was TH that repeatedly tore through the champion Gen.G in the Shanghai Masters with precise tactical deployment and made it to the finals from the loser group in the championship match. Four of the five team members were "kids" with quick reactions and accurate shooting. After the experience of this year's competition, they also became a team that few people could stop when they started to feel good.

However, EDG is also a team composed of a group of young people. When they are in good shape, their shooting skills are not bad at all. Ace vs. Ace, this 3:2 game contributed countless scenes that can be recorded in the history of Valorant events, and it is worth watching the game recording for any FPS player.

Since they had the advantage of being able to ban two maps and choose one after qualifying from the winner's group, EDG also deliberately released the first map and put Sunset City on the second map. Although the first map seemed to be a failure, it was enough for EDG to warm up. Once they came to Sunset City, which was as familiar as their home, it was time to blow the horn of counterattack. In the next two games, Kang Kang and Qiu Qiu played brilliant performances one after another. The former completed 5 kills with 5 drops of blood left, and the latter completed 5 kills with full blood.

Simon used a double jump to help Kang Kang attract fire and help him get a pentakill

Although EDG had a very difficult time in the last two maps. Not only was it because EDG was under great pressure, but even Simon showed obvious nervousness; TH's tactics also played a big role. Whether EDG planted or removed the bomb, they were always unable to do so because of the remaining props in TH's point, and even lost the opportunity to drag map 4 into overtime.

Kang Kang's two teammates unpacked but both died from the props

There is nothing more desperate than this

But EDG never relaxed, let alone "sleep". This picture contributed a shot that was even more exciting than the kill streak: two teammates used their bodies to form a flesh and blood wall to help Simon, who was dismantling the blaster, block the enemy's grenade and bite off a point.

The Great Wall of Flesh and Blood

If such a united team doesn't deserve to win the world championship in the team-oriented Valorant event, I can't think of anyone who deserves it more.

The fifth map is Deep Cave, which EDG has been hiding and practicing for a long time. The tactics and techniques are in place, and after getting the match point and being chased by TH, the EDG players' mentality is finally in place.

As long as the mind, skills and body are all in place, the job will be done.As Kang Kang got a quad kill and exceeded his duties, it also boosted the morale of the entire team. EDG then took advantage of the victory and completely ended TH without any regrets.

EDG’s victory was like a script from a novel, fulfilling their dream of winning the championship, VCT CN’s dream of winning the championship, and the dream of all Chinese FPS players to win the championship.

Their victory proved that their top six performance in the Tokyo Masters was not a flash in the pan. The Chinese server was launched just over a year ago, and the VCT CN region was only in its first year, but this region, which was previously called the "weakest" in terms of overall strength, won the world championship that the Asia-Pacific region had not been able to win for many years in just one year.

This championship may not stay in VCT CN for long. The competition environment will change next year, and new heroes and maps will change the strong lineups and tactics in the game. After carrying the burden of defending the title this year, EDG may not perform as well as before - as Andy, the global executive producer of "Valorant" said in our interview not long ago,The biggest appeal of a Valorant match is its unpredictability.

But at the moment, EDG's championship will bring new hope to VCT and VCT CN.

They will bring the experience and lessons learned from winning the championship back to the VCT CN competition, so that more domestic teams can learn advanced experience;

They will carry forward the tradition of "the lower class conquering the upper class" in the Fearless Contract competition, and give more domestic players or prospective players with dreams the motivation to move forward;

They will spread the unique charm of VALORANT to every corner, allowing every player to immerse themselves in the ever-changing game and become as daring as champion players to show their style - this is the championship miracle created by EDG.

The Chinese server of Valorant is very crowded tonight