For the first time in Valorant esports, Chinese teams are in contention to attend Valorant Champions.
Edward Gaming and KONE eSports Club will be the first Chinese teams to attend an official VCT event, qualifying for the East Asia Last Chance Qualifier over the weekend.
They were the top two squads in the FGC Valorant Invitational: Act 3, beating Tales of Eastern and FunPlus Phoenix ZHUQUE respectively, which guaranteed them enough points to lock in their spots in the LCQ.
Last year, the APAC LCQ slots for Chinese teams were reallocated to Korea and Japan instead.
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Edward Gaming and KONE will battle for one spot at Valorant Champions
EDG has been active in Chinese Valorant since late 2020, making them one of the longest-standing rosters in the region.
While EDG initially struggled to find success, the addition of Wan “CHICHOO” Shun Zhi, Wang “nobody” Sen Xu, and Zheng “ZmjjKK” Yong Kang has turned the team into a deadly force to be reckoned with.
ZmjjKK in particular has been the explosive factor the team needed, racking up huge numbers on Chamber and Raze. In the recent FGC Valorant Invitational: Act 3, he sits on top of the leaderboard with a stunning 301.8 Average Combat Score (ACS) and 1.43 K/D.
Rivals KONE are comprised of the core of the former Suning Gaming roster, after the organization left Valorant in the middle of 2021. Yi “Ninebody” Ding, Lei “Yosemite” Wang, Liu “Knight” Yu Xiang, and Chen “YiHao” Yi Hao were joined by Li “sword9” Wei and Zhang “LuoK1ng” Zhan Peng, a six-man roster that has helped the team break into the upper echelons of Chinese Valorant.
The East Asia LCQ will run online from August 8 to 14, featuring eight teams from South Korea, Japan, and China. The winner will secure a spot at Valorant Champions, the culmination of the VCT 2022 season.
With the qualification of EDG and KONE, the teams in the LCQ now include:
- DAMWON Gaming (Korea)
- Maru Gaming (Korea)
- On Sla2ers (Korea)
- Northeption (Japan)
- Crazy Raccoon (Japan)
- REJECT (Japan)
- Edward Gaming (China)
- KONE eSC (China)
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