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We are the champions! Now the world is focusing on CN FPS

D. Haka

2024-08-26

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Author: D. Haka

Original Contribution

Comment:

We are the champions!

This year is just the first year that the CN region of "Valorant" was established.

But this year, the CN team EDG won the "Valorant" Global Championship in Incheon, South Korea.

EDG's dream-chasing journey from Istanbul finally ushered in the final challenge in Incheon. And along the way, almost no one would have thought that EDG could defeat countless powerful enemies, break countless doubts, create countless miracles, and finally stand on the final stage.

Since EDG's first participation in the Masters Tournament and its stunning success in Tokyo, its story has become known to us.

At the Tokyo Masters, EDG team's star player Zmjjkk used his Dark Sniper to let the whole world know that the "world's best sniper" is in the EDG team in the CN division.

Zmjjkk's personal ability has repeatedly led the team to overcome difficulties in crisis. The single-player sniper shot four kills against the enemy Rush in the Yinshi Xiusuo team topped the list of outstanding performances. EDG, which defeated many strong teams in its first appearance and reached the top six, ignited the hopes of countless Chinese fans. They believe that EDG will continue to grow in the future and eventually become a strong team that can compete with the world's top teams.

Although EDG had a dazzling performance in the Tokyo Masters, it is still a young team. In Valorant, in addition to top-notch shooting skills, the team's tactical arrangements, team coordination and discipline are also very important.

EDG's previous outstanding performance was largely due to the personal ability of the star player Zmjjkk, but this also meant that he took on all the responsibilities. Once Zmjjkk was in poor condition or was targeted, EDG would collapse.

As for strong teams, they have no shortage of star players. In world-class teams, even everyone is a star player, who can take on the responsibility and overcome difficulties in adversity. At the same time, in the tempering of many major competitions, their coordination and cooperation have been achieved to the extreme. Even if someone occasionally performs poorly, teammates can share the pressure for him. The fledgling and inexperienced EDG obviously cannot have the deep tactical reserves and team coordination of strong teams.

Therefore, in the games after the Tokyo Masters, EDG was repeatedly defeated. The "top six" was like a curse that they could never break through.

Los Angeles Global Championship lost to the defending champions of the Americas region LOUD and stopped in the top six.

In the Madrid Masters, they still lost to LOUD and were eliminated in the top six.

In the Shanghai Masters, they even lost two games in a row, ultimately falling to PRX and ending up in the quarterfinals.

After several ups and downs, the hope that EDG had ignited for the audience turned into disappointment, causing them to be constantly attacked in public opinion. Especially at the Shanghai Masters at home, EDG was sent to the quarterfinals as the No. 1 seed in the CN region, but lost two games in a row and was eliminated in the quarterfinals, which was ridiculed and abused by countless people.

During this process, EDG fell into a period of growing pains: Zmjjkk was frequently targeted, and his sniper rifle was ineffective; his usual tactics were easily interpreted by the opponent, and his strategic deployment was always one step behind; team coordination problems frequently occurred, and coordination errors often occurred...

Therefore, every member of the team was given an insulting title. Zmjjkk was "Kang÷", Nobody was "Wang÷", Smoggy was Emperor Wen of Jin...

But EDG didn't stand still. They continued to accumulate experience in big competitions, conduct tactical research, and practice props and teamwork. Although their record after the Tokyo Masters did not make a breakthrough, and they frequently made mistakes in the game, from some small game scores, we can see that in addition to Zmjjkk, other people in the team also stood out and were able to perform as well as Zmjjkk. Their teamwork became more and more proficient, and tactical research gradually took effect. They are always making progress and growing.

After years of hard work, they need a stage to prove to everyone that they have emerged as butterflies.

Then, the 2024 Valorant Global Championship began.

However, this time still no one is optimistic about EDG, and no one is optimistic about the CN region team.

Under the official account's announcement of the schedule and format, the most-liked comment said: "The dream is for us to reach the semi-finals together, but the reality is that it would be a success if we don't gather at Seoul Airport."

After all, the EDG team, the No. 1 seed in the CN region, had a terrible performance in the Shanghai Masters. Even the top team in the CN region was beaten badly on the world stage, so no one believed that a team from this newly established region could win the championship.

Moreover, since the CN region can qualify multiple Chinese teams at the same time, while other regions have multiple countries competing for qualifying spots, the CN region is also jokingly called the "guaranteed admission region" - other regions have to fight hard to get a seat, but the CN region only needs to play house to qualify 4 teams.

As for EDG, which was "admitted" to the quarterfinals of the Shanghai Masters, people's expectations for it are not even as high as those for FPX, the second seed of the CN region.

This is how EDG began its journey to the 2024 "Valorant" Global Championship amid everyone's pessimistic views.

To be honest, EDG has hardly won any game easily since the first game of the 2024 Valorant World Championship. In the group stage, they met veteran powerhouses many times, as well as their own inner demon PRX. Every time they seemed to be forced into a desperate situation, they turned the tables in the end, surpassing the score and completing the comeback.

After successfully entering the knockout round of the quarterfinals, EDG happened to be grouped together with TE, which is also a Chinese team - therefore, some people joked that they were "supposed to be sent to the top six."

After defeating TE, EDG will face SEN, a top team that once won the championship. After seeing the group, almost everyone began to sigh that EDG could not break the curse after all and could only stop in the top six.

But to everyone's surprise, after being defeated by the opponent, EDG relied on their tenacious will and wonderful team performance to come back from 1-2 to defeat the former world champion and secure a top three spot.

In addition to Zmjjkk, more EDG players stood out, including Smoggy, Chichoo, Nobody, and Haodong. They all relied on their excellent personal abilities to help the team win one victory after another. EDG continued to evolve in the game, and its tactical reserves and team coordination gradually showed the level of top teams.

After securing the top three, many people returned to the highly praised comment under the schedule announcement to express their excitement. EDG has repeatedly refreshed everyone's expectations through its amazing performance in the game.

However, everyone thinks that EDG's victory over SEN and making it to the top three can already be called a miracle. Their next opponent, LEV, is still a strong rival, the champion of the Americas, a strong region of "Valorant". Luck may not favor EDG again.

Once again, to everyone's surprise, EDG defeated LEV, the seeded champion, and directly locked in the top two. EDG once again proved that it is a strong team that can compete with first-class teams, proving that the CN region is not as weak as everyone imagined.

The excited audience returned to the comments section and left messages such as "Change of plan, get ready to win!".

This comment accompanied EDG's progress before the finals, and was repeatedly praised hundreds of times.

Along the way, EDG created countless miracles and broke countless doubts. They changed from being a dark horse that no one was optimistic about to a strong team that no one could underestimate.

And now, EDG is only one step away from the championship.

TH, who played in the final with EDG, also had the same curse that imprisoned themselves. They had always been runner-up and needed this championship to prove themselves more than EDG.

So, these two top teams started the final battle in Incheon.

This final BO5 was a brilliant match. The situation changed rapidly, the players' wonderful moves were overwhelming, and the clash of the two top teams tore the emotions of all the audience. Every reversal and every score received heart-wrenching cheers from everyone present.

Although TH lost at the beginning of the first game of Hidden World Monastery, they quickly reversed the score while EDG was still not in form, and won the first game 13-6.

The second game was TH's self-selected map Sunset City. This map is a strong map for both teams. Since the championship match, EDG has a 100% winning rate on this map. TH chose this map obviously because they were confident that they could compete with EDG, but they still underestimated EDG's dominance in Sunset City. EDG almost shut out TH with a score of 11-1 in the first half, and finally won with a score of 13-4 without any suspense.

The third game came to Lianhua Ancient City, and the game fell into a tense situation. Both sides won in turn, and the score was closely tied. But when it was 10-9, EDG player S1Mon fought back and won a double kill in the endgame despite the enemy's ultimate move "Full Blockade", widening the score to 11-9 and breaking TH's psychological defense.

EDG came back from a 1-0 deficit to win the third game 13-9. With one more win, EDG will be able to win the 2024 Valorant Global Championship.

In the fourth game, the game was also tense in Yuangong Town, and the scores of both sides were always tied. But when the score reached 11-12, even though Zmjjkk got a pentakill through wonderful operations, TH's incendiary grenade blocked the unpacking area first, and the blaster was still detonated. EDG lost the game 11-13. TH's resilience made the game a draw again, and the two sides were tied 2-2.

The game has come to an end, and the two sides will decide the winner in a new map, Deep Cave. The first four games have exhausted the players' energy, and the last game is a test of everyone's endurance.

The score in the first half was 8-4, with EDG taking a 4-point lead on offense. However, for a top team like TH, this small gap could easily be quickly overtaken by them through snowballing after a reversal in a certain round. Although EDG won the first three rounds of the second half, TH scored one point with three big moves and MINIBOO's personal performance, and the situation was reversed again.

Under TH's fierce attack, EDG lost five points in a row, and the score came to 11-9. The next round was EDG's money-saving round - which means that in the next round, EDG is very likely to lose another point due to the economic gap, and the score will be chased to 11-10. Now that TH is chasing points continuously, the momentum is high, and the hand feeling is hot, it is not impossible for them to catch up and win the game.

But at this moment, EDG made a risky move, allowing Zmjjkk to use his only spear to press forward, catching TH off guard and grabbing a quad kill. TH's winning streak was interrupted, the score came to 12-9, and the championship point appeared. EDG only needed to win one more round, and they would take the championship.

After a strong start, the team gradually weakened and finally ran out of steam. In the last round, TH's BOO was in a disadvantageous gun position. The coordinated gun pulling of the opponent's Nobody and Smoggy was powerless to save the situation. Finally, the blaster was released and EDG won the game.

The last comment on that post was: "We are the champions!"

EDG finally overcame the hurdle of "top six" and even the mountain of "champion". They proved that Zmjjkk is the "world's best breakthrough", proved that EDG is the "world's best team", and proved that the CN region is the "world's best region".

The knight breaks the limit and aims at the peak.

Now, the world is focusing on CN FPS.