VALORANT - Champions 2025: EDward Gaming, a title to defend (5/16)

From September 12 to October 5, the Champions — VALORANT’s World Championship — will take place in Paris. To mark the occasion, Sheep Esports is presenting one of the 16 qualified teams each day, leading up to the start of the tournament. This Sunday, the countdown continues with the introduction of EDward Gaming, reigning champions and 3rd seed from VCT China.

Closing out 2024 in style with their victory at Champions Seoul, the Chinese powerhouse had a strong year overall, though without a major international triumph. EDG kicked off 2025 by taking first place at the Kickoff event. That victory secured them a ticket to Bangkok for the first Masters of the season. Their first international LAN of the year ended with a solid Top 3 finish, cut short by a lower bracket final loss to T1, who went on to win the event in a surprise run.

Returning to China, EDG narrowly missed out on qualifying for Masters Toronto after finishing Top 4 in Stage 1. Still, the team bounced back by qualifying for the Esports World Cup through the Chinese qualifier. However, their performance there was less convincing, bowing out with a 9th–12th place finish after a group stage exit behind Fnatic and Gen.G Esports. Thanks to the circuit points collected throughout the season, EDG were already close to securing their spot in Paris—needing only a few more points in Stage 2 to confirm their qualification.

Stage 2 proved tricky. EDG managed a Top 2 in groups but without much dominance, and they suffered an opening playoff loss to Dragon Ranger Gaming. Forced to run the gauntlet, they fought through three consecutive series to lock in a Top 3 finish, which officially guaranteed them the #3 seed from VCT China.

Looking at their map pool, the current rotation plays somewhat into EDward Gaming’s strengths—except on Lotus. The Chinese squad played the map nearly 17 times this season but could only manage a 29% win rate, with just five victories to twelve defeats.

On the other hand, EDG have been far more consistent on other maps. Corrode has been a bright spot with four wins in five appearances, while Haven (64% win rate) and Ascent (63%) have also been reliable choices. This gives the team some confidence heading into Champions Paris, even if two of their historically best maps, Fracture and Pearl, are out of the pool.

Zheng “ZmjjKK” Yongkang is widely recognized as China’s brightest VALORANT star. Even before EDG’s world title in 2024, his flashy personality and iconic mannerisms had already made him a fan favorite. That reputation only grew after lifting the trophy in Seoul.

In Stage 2 of VCT China, he once again topped his team across most statistical categories, though not necessarily standing out as the single best player of the league—a testament to the depth and cohesion of EDG as a whole.

Still, ZmjjKK ranks within the Top 5 in both ACS (Average Combat Score) and ADR (Average Damage per Round), underscoring his consistency and impact. Known first and foremost for his aggressive Jett play, particularly with the Operator, he has increasingly expanded his agent pool to include Neon and Yoru as the meta evolves, proving his adaptability while maintaining his trademark flair.