EDward Gaming bounces back in reverse sweep to eliminate DRG

After suffering through early trials and tribulations at VCT China Kickoff, 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) has brought itself to within one win from qualifying for Masters Santiago with a "win or go home" win over Dragon Ranger Gaming Dragon Ranger Gaming China Rank #5 Flex1n Lo Rui (罗瑞) vo0kashu Ilya Ushakov Akeman Zhang Haoran (张浩然) Nicc Shao Yi-qun (邵逸群) SpiritZ1 Lin Dingyu (林定宇) .

The series started on EDG's pick of Split. Throughout early goings of 2026, EDG's struggles have stemmed from its Duelist approach and how to use Champions Seoul ZmjjKK to the best of his ability. After showing some discomfort in the team's attempts at using Iso, KangKang began the series on Neon, an agent that fits smoothly with his chaotic, frag-heavy playstyle.

Both DRG and EDG played with two Duelists, Neon and Yoru, but while EDG went with an Omen-Viper comp, DRG went with Omen as the lone Controller and vo0kashu on Cypher. As a map, Split went about as back-and-forth as it could. With EDG starting on attack, both teams went on short runs of their own to enter halftime tied 6-6.

Once on defense, DRG Controller Flex1n 's shots started to heat up. With vo0kashu continuing to prove himself as one of the best anchoring Sentinel players in the region, DRG kept EDG's attack just enough at bay to squeeze out a win, 13-11.

Flex1n and vo0kashu had 22 and 20 kills, respectively, leading DRG to a crucial map win while Smoggy 's 19 kills ended up being just not enough.

The series moved to DRG's pick of Pearl, a map that could be argued as a counter pick to EDG due to the team's recent struggles on the map. The map has been a sore spot in EDG's map pool since the start of the 2025 season, and now, 13 rounds away from elimination, it needed to be at its best.

Since its changes last fall, Pearl has been the host to some interesting trends across VCT. The map has had several blowouts on the map, with near shutouts for the defense and attack taking place globally. On this particular day, the advantage fell to EDG, which started on attack. cb and KangKang could do no wrong on the map, helping EDG to a near shutout in the first half. The pair combined for 31 kills in the first half, overwhelming DRG's defenses as part of an 11-1 half.

DRG won the pistol round to start its attacking half, but an anti-eco round threw a wrench into the DRG engine, hijacking any semblance of a comeback en route to a dominant 13-2 win.

The win forced a map three, which was Corrode. Both teams have their own unique approaches to Valorant's newest map. DRG uses a Gekko-centric double-Duelist comp with Omen as the lone Controller, while EDG stuck with its unique Phoenix-Yoru double-Duelist comp with CHICHOO on Sage.

Out of the gates, EDG carried over its momentum from Pearl into Corrode. After dominating the last map on attack, EDG began Corrode on defense. With cb on Yoru, EDG did not rely on KangKang heavily with the Operator, instead opting for cb.

Earlier in the event, DRG showed shades of struggles on Corrode, with moments of weakness — misused ultimate abilities, a struggle against time, and lapses in decision-making. On this day, EDG appeared to be the stronger team, as opposed to DRG beating itself. EDG forced the issue onto the attacking DRG, channeling KangKang's 4-0 record in first bloods to disrupt their opponents in the first half. A 6-0 run to open the map was responded to by DRG, but only as far as an 8-4 deficit.

Once on attack, everything flowed into place for EDG. With vo0kashu's Cypher utility often set up on the weaker side of the map, EDG pestered his setups, with cb's Fakeout and KangKang's Phoenix utility burning him up in more ways than one. While EDG couldn't find the bonus following a pivotal pistol round win, the 2024 world champs eventually closed out the map 13-6, never quite looking uncomfortable.

While cb's team-high 52 kills played a massive role in the team's success, one of the biggest proponents of EDG's win was KangKang's success in first duels. He went 13-3 in first battles, creating more early man advantages than anybody else in the lobby. vo0kashu's game-high 56 kills were not enough, as a more well-rounded performance from EDG helped send DRG home.

With the win, EDward Gaming keeps its Masters Santiago hopes alive. They will wait two days while the upper and middle bracket's finals are completed, awaiting either All Gamers All Gamers China Rank #4 Shr1mp Yang Yong (杨勇) K1ra Huang Zhihao (黄志豪) Au1 Zhu Yihao (朱逸豪) f4ngeer Roman Smirnov iamgrq Gao Ruiqi (高锐琦) , 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) , or Bilibili Gaming Bilibili Gaming China Rank #3 whzy Wang Haozhe (王昊哲) rushia Wang Xiaojie (王晓杰) nephh Marcus Tan yilai Gu Yiming (顾依铭) Knight Liu Yuxiang (刘宇翔) bud Yang Renyu (杨韧余) .