Image: Riot Games
In China's debut year of the VALORANT Champions Tour, a Chinese team has incredibly claimed the world championship.
Chinese juggernauts 
EDward Gaming (EDG) have been crowned as the 2024 VALORANT world champions after they outlasted EMEA powerhouse 
Team Heretics, 3-2, in the best-of-five grand finals of VALORANT Champions 2024 in the INSPIRE Arena in Incheon, South Korea on Sunday (August 25).
With their victory, EDG claimed the grand prize of $1 million out of the tournament's $2.25 million prize pool. More than that, EDG have also made history by claiming the world championship title in China's debut year as an official regional league in the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT).
But while this is only China's first year in the VCT, EDG are no strangers to VALORANT's annual world championship tournament. They previously competed in the event's 2022 and 2023 editions, but have only managed 13th-16th and 5th-6th place finishes respectively.
Not many expected EDG to be in the title fight this year either. While they dominated the VCT's Chinese league by winning the China Kickoff and Stages 1 and 2 Playoffs, they never finished above 5th-6th place against international competition in Masters Madrid and Shanghai.
But EDG displayed incredible growth when it mattered the most, turning from almost an afterthought into a bonafide championship contender with every map they played. In their inexorable march to the world championship, the Chinese juggernauts only lost one match.
EDG's campaign to the grand finals
EDG started the VALORANT Champions 2024 Group Stage in Group D, sweeping their Opening Match against FUT Esports before falling to G2 Esports in three games in the group's Winners Match. They then defeated Paper Rex, 2-1, in the Group D Decider Match to secure the second seed of their group and a spot in the Playoffs.
EDG started their Playoff campaign by sweeping fellow Chinese team Trace Esports, 2-0, in the upper bracket quarterfinals then defeating the Americas' Sentinels in three games in the upper bracket semifinals. The Chinese squad then took down another powerhouse from the Americas in Leviatán in another three-game slugfest in the upper bracket finals to become the first team in the VALORANT Champions 2024 grand finals.
Meanwhile, Heretics made their way to the grand finals to face EDG by first securing the first seed of Group B. They then swept Fnatic in the upper bracket quarterfinals before they themselves were swept by Leviatán in their first encounter in the upper bracket semifinals.
Despite getting knocked down to the lower bracket, Heretics thrived under the pressure of constant threat of elimination. They scored back-to-back 2-1 victories over DRX and Sentinels to earn a rematch with Leviatán in the best-of-five lower bracket finals. In a massive reversal of their previous encounter, Heretics trounced Leviatán in four games to earn the right to challenge EDG in the grand finals for this year's world championship title.
EDG outlast Heretics to be crowned world champions
The grand finals opened in Haven, where EDG scored the first two rounds as the attacker side. However, Heretics responded with a fierce nine-round streak through to round 11 that eventually turned into a commanding 9-3 lead heading into halftime.
Heretics continued rolling in the second half by winning the first two rounds, though EDG showed signs of life by scoring three-straight. But back-to-back round wins for Heretics right after gave them the comfortable 13-6 victory in Haven to start the grand finals.
After getting stomped by Heretics in game one, EDG were determined to get their revenge in the second map of the series at Sunset.
The Chinese squad one-upped their opponents by starting the map with a nine-round streak of their own, punctuated by an Ace from Zheng “Zmjjkk” Yongkang in round 8. While Heretics managed to stop the bleeding by winning round 10, EDG still headed into the side switch with a dominant 11-1 lead.
EDG got to within map point by winning the first round of the second half, though Heretics did manage to claw back three-straight rounds. But EDG looked nigh-unstoppable as they won round 17 to claim the lopsided 13-4 victory in Sunset and tie up the grand finals at 1-1.
The pivotal third game of the series was held in Lotus, where both teams went blow-for-blow to end the first half in a 6-6 deadlock. This fiercely contested half saw incredible plays from both sides, including the second Ace of the grand finals from EDG's Wan “CHICHOO” Shunzhi in round 6.
Heretics looked to take control of the series by winning the first two rounds of the second half as the defender side. EDG responded with three-straight to take the 9-8 lead after round 17, though Heretics were quick to force another deadlock at 9-9 in round 18. But with control of the grand finals hanging in the balance, it was EDG who stepped up to the plate with four-straight round wins to claim the 13-9 victory in Lotus and a commanding 2-1 series lead.
The do-or-die game four at Bind kicked off with Heretics scoring the first two rounds as the defender side. Both teams then traded rounds until back-to-back wins in rounds 9 and 10 gave Heretics the lead at 6-4. However, EDG scored two-straight of their own to close out the half with both teams in another 6-6 tie.
Both sides continued going shot-for-shot to start the second half, as Heretics kicked off the action with two-straight followed by EDG taking back-to-back rounds of their own to extend the deadlock to 8-8 after round 16. Heretics then pulled off a fiery four-round streak to get within map point at 12-8 after round 20 and within touching distance of forcing a deciding game five.
A determined EDG then racked up three-straight rounds in response to try and force overtime. A chaotic round 24 then saw all Heretics players dead from Zmjjkk's second Ace of the series, but EDG were unable to defuse the spike in time to extend the map to overtime. And so, Heretics clutched out the 13-11 victory to force the battle for this year's world championship to the decider at Abyss.
Furious from letting the victory Bind slip from their fingers, EDG entered the decider at Abyss with all guns blazing to claim the first two rounds as the attacker side. While Heretics answered with two-straight rounds of their own, a 6-2 run for EDG to close out the first half gave them a commanding 8-4 lead heading into the final half of the tournament.
With the world championship within their reach, EDG handily won the first three rounds of the second half to lead 11-4 after round 15. However, Heretics scored five-straight to trim EDG's lead down to 9-11 and force the possibility of a comeback. Zmjjkk then scored a crucial 4K in round 21 to halt Heretics' momentum and get EDG to within championship point, with the Chinese juggernauts surgically closing out the series in the next round with a 13-9 victory.
Zmjjkk took home the Grand Finals MVP award, spearheading EDG's incredible run to the world championship by breaking the all-time record for kills in a best-of-five series with a whopping 111 takedowns that also included two Aces. He also had 24 assists throughout the series against 72 deaths.
CHICHOO proved to be another heavy-hitter for EDG in the championship round, putting up 85 kills and 24 assists on 24 deaths. Zhang “Smoggy” Zhao also pitched in with 71 kills and 44 assists on a series-best 63 kills.
Meanwhile, Hsieh "S1Mon" Meng-hsun also put up 60 kills and a series-best 48 assists on 66 deaths, a very admirable performance for a player that only joined EDG in June. Finally, in-game leader Wang “nobody” Senxu added 59 kills and 33 assists on 69 deaths.
