EDward Gaming
EDward Gaming
China
Rank #1
ZmjjKK
Zheng Yongkang (郑永康)
nobody
Wang Senxu (王森旭)
Muggle
Tang Shijun (唐时俊)
CHICHOO
Wan Shunji (万顺治)
Smoggy
Zhang Zhao (张钊)
Haodong
Guo Haodong (郭浩东)
upset
Natus Vincere
Natus Vincere
Europe
Rank #5
ANGE1
Kyrylo Karasov
Shao
Andrey Kiprsky
Zyppan
Pontus Eek
SUYGETSU
Dmitry Ilyushin
ardiis
Ardis Svarenieks
2-0 in the group stage of Masters Tokyo. EDward Gaming now advance to a rematch against
T1
T1
Korea
Rank #3
Sayaplayer
Ha Jeong-woo (하정우)
Rossy
Daniel Abedrabbo
Carpe
Lee Jae-hyeok (이재혁)
iZu
Ham Woo-ju (함우주)
xccurate
Kevin Susanto
to qualify for playoffs, while NAVI have been eliminated from the event.
With this win, EDG have earned China their first international victory.
“It means a start,” EDG star player ZmjjKK (also known as KangKang) said.
As a result of NAVI's loss,
FUT Esports
FUT Esports
Europe
Rank #3
MrFaliN
Furkan Yeğen
yetujey
Eray Budak
AtaKaptan
Ata Tan
cNed
Mehmet Yağız İpek
qRaxs
Doğukan Balaban
,
FNATIC
FNATIC
Europe
Rank #1
Leo
Leo Jannesson
Derke
Nikita Sirmitev
Boaster
Jake Howlett
Chronicle
Timofey Khromov
Alfajer
Emir Ali Beder
, and
Team Liquid
Team Liquid
Europe
Rank #18
Jamppi
Elias Olkkonen
nAts
Ayaz Akhmetshin
Enzo
Enzo Mestari
Mistic
James Orfila
Keiko
Georgio Sanassy
are locked into Champions 2023. Meanwhile, NAVI must now participate in the EMEA Last Chance Qualifier.
The EDG players credit much of their success to teamwork and communication. (Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)
“I feel like I was only using half of my strength,” KangKang said of his performance against T1 in a pre-match interview. “Today I will bring the other half of my strength against NAVI.”
Going into NAVI's map pick of Pearl, EDG were looking to turn their narrative on the map around. They had lost Pearl in overtime 14-12 in their previous two international matchups. To make matters worse, Pearl was the decider map in both those series.
KangKang certainly kept his word on Pearl, going 30/25/7 and getting three memorable 4Ks over the course of the map. But he didn't do it alone. Fellow teammate Smoggy also turned it on, topping his team's scoreboard at 31/19/3 and clutching a 1v2 and a 1v3 to help take the map to overtime.
IGL Haodong delivered his own 1v2 to take the first round of overtime and break EDG's Pearl overtime curse. NAVI managed to stay in the series with a 4K by Shao . After an unlucky 1v1 loss to CHICHOO , cNed popped off with a 3K and a 2K to secure a 15-14 lead against EDward Gaming.
Unfortunately for NAVI, EDG's own Jett player KangKang had something to prove. He summoned up the other half of his strength to deliver a 4K and a 3K on the Operator to take the map for his team 17-15.
KangKang, who is 19 years old, celebrates after his performance on map one. (Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)
“I think we were stressed in some situations where we should be much calmer and play together,” NAVI coach Erik said afterward. “A lot of these moments should be our rounds, in my opinion. And that was really it. Otherwise, it was a pretty simple game.”
On Bind, EDG played an off-meta comp with KangKang on Gekko and Smoggy on Jett. Despite playing an initiator role, KangKang was still consistently on the Operator. “[Gekko] is very flexible,” EDG coach AfteR said. “His utility on this map can boost or maximize what KangKang is capable of.”
The first half of Bind ended 6-6 despite a 4-0 start by EDG. NAVI took the lead on the map for the first time after winning their eco and bonus round, but Kangkang won back-to-back 1v2s to regain the lead for EDG.
After EDG reached matchpoint 12-10, NAVI held onto their life in the tournament and took the game to overtime with two round wins. However, they failed to get a grasp of the game in overtime and ultimately lost the map 14-12.
EDG won a staggering number of clutches on Bind, a combined total of seven compared to NAVI's singular 1v1 clutch on round 18.
“We are obviously going to review a lot. Maybe change how we prep,” doombr0s said. “But now it's rest. Rest, and try to enjoy Tokyo for a bit.”
It was T1 that beat EDG in their opening match and put the Chinese squad on the brink of elimination. But this time, T1 will have to play against an EDG squad riding the confidence and momentum of their first international win.
Their win is already giving KangKang a little extra swagger.
“We're ready to send them home tomorrow.”
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