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) and Xi Lai Gaming Xi Lai Gaming China Rank #1 WsLeo Huang Pinwei (黄品维) Lysoar Liang Youhao (梁优好) NoMan James Man Rarga Arthur Churyumov happywei Deng Minwei (邓闵维) both hit the VCT stage for the first time this year in China's Kickoff. Both were able to find 2-0s over their opponents, advancing closer to Masters Santiago.

XLG continue their win streak against Wolves in a stomp

XLG and Wolves Esports Wolves Esports China Rank #12 SiuFatBB Pong Gaa Hei (庞加曦) jowa Jordan Wang yosemite Wang Lei (王磊) Spring Liu Jiunting (刘俊霆) qiutiaN Bijan Moeinzadeh (慕英毕强) faced off four different times throughout the last year. Having both been two of the stronger teams from CN last season, all of their maps were fairly competitive, but Wolves has never been able to win even one. XLG have now improved their 8-0 record against them to a 10-0 record with their most dominant win over them to date.

Breeze was the first map, where XLG's Rarga wasted no time laying on the hurt with an immediate 4k on the pistol round. That was a foretelling of the map to come, as Rarga continued finding entries throughout the attack half, getting his team to an 8-4 lead. happywei came alive on the second half, clutching out any close rounds that got close, letting XLG close out a dominant 13-4 win.

Map two wasn't any easier for Wolves, as Rarga and happywei were once again indomitable. yosemite did his best for Wolves, finding an Ace and a 4k on Veto, but those were two of only six rounds won by his team. XLG swiftly won the map 13-6 to move on in the upper bracket.

EDG handles TYLOO in 2-0 win

The second match of the day featured yet another lopsided match history. Dating back all the way to 2022, across their 10 matches played against each other, TYLOO TYLOO China Rank #6 splash Moses Christophe Jonathan Scales Zhang Zhen (张震) Erv Shen Zhiwei sword9 Li Wei (李卫) slowly Kelun Sun (孙科伦) has not taken a single map against EDG. While the former world champions and kings of China have been more vulnerable recently, they held their ground against TYLOO today.

One of EDG's biggest woes of 2025 was their lack of a strong Yoru player, one they aimed to shore up this year with the addition of cb . While the new player fulfilled his role, it was Smoggy and CHICHOO that shone in this game. On Abyss, both players looked to be in prime form, helping EDG take an easy 13-5 win.

On Bind, EDG tried out a brand new, unconventional composition featuring Phoenix and the new Harbor. On their attack side, it was not working out, and they were consistently getting mopped up by splash 's Operator, leading to a 4-8 deficit going into the second half.

On that second half, however, is when things started to click for EDG. After cb's Phoenix won them an eco round, they made up the deficit from the first half, with ZmjjKK 's own Operator coming online. TYLOO was the first to reach match point, but EDG forced overtime, and completed the 2-0 with a 14-12 victory.

Today's winners will play against each other in the upper semifinals, while the losers drop to the middle bracket. Wolves will face Titan Esports Club Titan Esports Club China Rank #17 Haodong Guo Haodong (郭浩东) lucas Yunkun Lu (路昀昆) Dynamite Zhao Zihao (赵梓浩) Abo Han Bohao (韩博皓) Coco Ding Dajian (丁达建) , while TYLOO will be matched against Nova Esports Nova Esports China Rank #18 OBONE Chen Yijie (陈怡洁) Ezeir Zhao Zejun (赵泽骏) GREEN Qiu Jianzhi (邱建智) heybay Ho Shun Hei GuanG Guang Honglin (光洪霖) .

China Kickoff will continue tomorrow with Bilibili Gaming vs. All Gamers and Dragon Ranger Gaming vs. JDG Esports.