One of China's best and brightest at the moment.
China has always been one of the top regions when it comes to esports. In Riot Games' League of Legends, China's LPL is seen as one of the world's best, having witnessed three different Chinese teams lift the Summoner's Cup. And with the VCT finally coming to China as well, it's only a matter of time before it becomes the number one region for VALORANT as well.
The VCT China qualifiers will determine which of the top three teams in the region will qualify for the VALORANT Champions, which will take place in August. And of the 12 teams that will be competing in the VCT China qualifiers, one of the teams that many will keep their eyes out for will be EDward Gaming.
EDG ended in the top six of the recently concluded VCT Masters Tokyo, the team's highest finish after just three international tournaments. To add some further context, EDG was the second-seeded team coming from China with Attacking Soul Esports being the first. However, ASE ended up in last place having failed to win any of their group stage matches.
As for EDG, their run during the group stage featured critical victories against the likes of heavyweights like NAVI and T1. And despite losing to Team Liquid in the first round of the upper bracket, EDG would eventually eliminate LOUD, one of the best teams in the world and the current VCT Champions title holders. Unfortunately, their run ended against Paper Rex, who would go on to come in at a respectable third place.
And while EDG's run only saw them finish in the top six, it was how the team went about the tournament that got everyone's attention, especially when it came to Yonkang "ZmjjKK" Zheng. The famed duellist from China had hit his stride during the tournament, putting up enough plays to have his very own highlight reel by the end of it.
And if it wasn't his clutch flicks and plays that wowed the crowd, it would be his creative monitor setup, which many pointed out during the livestream. While many professional FPS players would prefer to have their monitors straight with very minimal tilt and close to their face, ZmjjKK opted for a different approach, which you can check out below.
But aside from his unique monitor setup, it made no difference to ZmjjKK's overall performance in the tournament. According to VLR.gg, ZmjjKK had the fourth-highest overall player rating during the VCT Masters Tokyo with 1.15, despite being the only one in the top five to play the most rounds. He also had the highest average combat score (ACS) of 273.8 to go with plenty of other achievements.
This includes having the highest average damage per round at 169.7, the most highest average kills per round with 0.96, the best average first kill per round at 0.24, as well as having the highest kill count at 329. ZmjjKK also came in at the top five for most kills in a single map with 30 as well as the best average K/D rating of 1.30. He also boasted the most Operator kills during the tournament with 103, which is more than what the second- and third-placed had combined.
Unfortunately, given how VALORANT is a five-versus-five team game, there is only so much ZmjjKK can do against five others. While his team performed well overall, there is still plenty that EDG as a whole can address to ensure the team finishes in the top three of the VCT China qualifiers. And with VALORANT Champions just around the corner, it will be the perfect opportunity for ZmjjKK and co. to showcase what they can do on the biggest stage of them all.
