In the second upper bracket semifinal game of the VCT 2025 China Kickoff, Trace Esports Trace Esports China Rank #8 LuoK1ng Zhang Zhanpeng (张展鹏) Kai Lu Zhinan (卢智楠) FengF Song Xuefeng (宋学锋) Viva Lifan Ran (冉立凡) deLb Delbert Tanoto looked to upset EDward Gaming EDward Gaming China Rank #2 ZmjjKK Zheng Yongkang (郑永康) nobody Wang Senxu (王森旭) CHICHOO Wan Shunzhi (万顺治) cb Wang Qingchuan (王庆川) Smoggy Zhang Zhao (张钊) for a spot in the upper bracket finals.

This matchup featured the two strongest Chinese teams at Champions 2024. Trace shocked the world with their win over LEVIATÁN LEVIATÁN North America Rank #12 spike Rodrigo Lombardi blowz Guilherme Oliviera Neon Bruno Rodríguez Sato Eduardo Kenzo Nagahama Sato kiNgg Francisco Aravena PxS Josh Brunelli , while EDG won the whole event with an upper-bracket run to remember. However, this series was about which team was better to start in 2025, and Trace swept EDG to secure their spot in the upper bracket finals of Kickoff.

The matchup began on Lotus, with Trace going for a composition focused around Vyse on their map pick. EDG brought back the Smoggy Clove while putting ZmjjKK on Neon. Trace secured the first pistol round, but CHICHOO got four kills on the bonus round to get EDG their first round win. Trace was stopping any aggressive plays from EDG while using the lack of a sentinel agent from their opponent to flank easily.

There were plenty of close rounds in the first half, but Trace was the team that got ahead more often than not, ending the half up 8-4. Trace won its pistol round on the attack half to increase the pressure on EDG, and a heybay ace converted the bonus round to put EDG in a pickle.

heybay wins a 1v4 and completes his ace against EDG.

Trace confidently closed Lotus out 13-4 and made a statement by breaking down the EDG Lotus composition to take the series lead.

After winning its map pick dominantly, EDG had to rebound on Bind. Trace stuck with the Vyse but added a Deadlock into the mix, while EDG ran another sentinel-less composition with Tejo. EDG needed a strong start, and a pistol win developed their first lead of the series.

Trace was still showing prowess with the Deadlock similar to their run at Champions 2024, and some clean shots from FengF put Trace back in the lead. FengF was hitting all his shots both with the Operator and his rifles and significantly winning the Raze duel over ZmjjKK. Trace was up 8-4 at the half, and in position to sweep the world champions in their first matchup.

Winning the second pistol on the map only put Trace in a safer position, leaving EDG with a comeback as their only hope. As Kai and LuoK1ng converted another bonus round, it was curtains for EDG as they lost the map 13-4 and were officially sent to the lower bracket of Kickoff.

Kai and LuoK1ng convert a crucial bonus round.

It was a standout performance across all players on Trace, but both heybay and FengF were crucial in the dismantling of EDG. Heybay had 22 kills as Viper on Lotus, while FengF had 15 kills on Bind to prevent EDG from even winning five rounds on either map.

EDG is still alive in the tournament, now needing to go on a lower-bracket run to return to international competition. As for Trace, they will face Bilibili Gaming in the upper bracket finals to try and earn their spot at Masters Bangkok.

The next matches in the China Kickoff are: