A world championship title brings not only a huge prize pool to the team but also recognition on the professional Valorant scene as the strongest team of the current year. With such a proud title, the team spends the offseason and the entire following season until they either lose or defend their title at the next championship. However, this year, the world champions EDward Gaming, after the conclusion of the VCT, have shown rather poor results, and so far, most of their matches end in defeat. Therefore, today we decided to analyze the current situation with EDward Gaming and figure out whether the team truly failed this 2024 offseason.
EDward Gaming’s path to the championship
First, it’s worth recalling how EDward Gaming became world champions. After China officially joined the three other competitive regions at the end of 2023, it gained its own league and qualification stages. These included China Kickoff, China Stage 1, and Stage 2. It was thanks to their victory at the VALORANT Champions Tour 2024: China Stage 2 that EDward Gaming qualified for the last championship. Even without this victory, the team was already ranked first in the Chinese regional standings, which secured them a path to Valorant Champions 2024.
At the event itself, EDward Gaming were not clear favorites, but despite this, they confidently advanced from the group with a 2-1 record, and then just as confidently defeated all their opponents in the upper bracket. In the grand final, the Chinese club, not without difficulties, overcame Team Heretics with a score of 3-2 and became world champions. Thanks to this, the team gained the title of the strongest in the world, as well as a prize of $1,000,000.
A series of defeats in the offseason
Now that you’ve briefly reminded yourself of EDward Gaming’s history, it’s time to discuss the team’s results in the current 2024 offseason and justify the opinion that the Chinese team, for the most part, has indeed failed this stage. Primarily, this pertains to the tournaments where the Chinese champions did not show their best side. After their Valorant Champions victory, with players inspired by fan support and determined to maintain a high level of play, one might expect more—but in EDward Gaming’s case, this did not happen.
Gwangju Esports Series Asia 2024
The first event in which the team participated after the start of the offseason was the Gwangju Esports Series Asia 2024. It was a small event featuring 4 teams, and EDward Gaming did not win a single match there. First, the team lost to T1 with a score of 0-2, and then to Gen.G Esports, also 0-2, finishing among the last places at the event.
VALORANT Radiant Asia Invitational
Next came a larger offseason tournament, the VALORANT Radiant Asia Invitational, which featured 8 teams. Here, EDward Gaming’s failure repeated itself, and again, the team did not win a single match. During the group stage, the Chinese champions lost to the Pacific region underdogs, DetonatioN FM, with a score of 1-2, and then again lost to the Pacific region favorites, Paper Rex, 1-2. As a result, the team was once again eliminated early and finished among the 7th-8th places.
Shanghai Esports Masters 2024
The third offseason tournament in which EDward Gaming participated was the Shanghai Esports Masters 2024. As the name suggests, it took place in Shanghai, making it a home event for the world champions. Despite this, EDward Gaming failed once more. The team lost to XLG Esports 0-2 and exited the tournament early, placing 3rd-4th.
Thus, after the first four months and three events since the end of Valorant Champions 2024, the reigning world champions EDward Gaming have not won a single match and ended up in the last places three times, which looks very strange for a team bearing the title of the strongest in the world.
Reasons for the failure
Such undeniably poor results could not have arisen without cause, and below we will discuss what might have happened to EDward Gaming during the offseason. Note that this is only the author’s subjective opinion and speculation, and it may not coincide with yours.
Low-level events
The first reason, in our opinion, is the relatively low level of these offseason events. Yes, offseason tournaments are far from official Riot tournaments with hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money and the world’s strongest teams participating, so the attitude toward them is accordingly different. Perhaps EDward Gaming simply did not take these three aforementioned tournaments seriously and decided not to make an effort because the results would not justify the investment of time and resources.
Moral exhaustion
The second reason that may have influenced the team’s performance is exhaustion after a tense season. Throughout 2024, the team regularly participated in all qualification events as well as international tournaments such as Masters Madrid, Masters Shanghai, and Valorant Champions 2024. In total, EDward Gaming played 32 professional matches over the season, which is a lot compared to some Tier-1 teams. Such a load could have exhausted the team, and during the offseason, players naturally want to rest, so perhaps performing at small tournaments is not their priority.
Strategy development
Another reason may be that the team is working on certain strategies and agent picks and does not want to reveal them to the public before the new competitive season begins. Professional teams often practice new agents to surprise their opponents in crucial matches, so revealing new strategies at offseason events makes no sense.
Roster changes
The last and least likely reason is roster changes that occurred after the end of the championship. In late autumn, EDward Gaming parted ways with player Guo “Haodong” Haodong and coach Lo “AfteR” Wen-hsin, replacing the latter with Liu “Century” Shiji. However, this reason seems least likely since Haodong did not play in the main lineup at the championship, and there should be no issues with the team’s synergy.
What’s next for EDward Gaming
EDward Gaming are currently participating in another event, the Superb Cup. It will most likely be the team’s last event of the offseason. As of today, it is the only tournament during the offseason where the world champions have managed to win a match. But after defeating JDG Esports, the team once again lost to Xi Lai Gaming 0-2, which still allows them to secure one of the top 4 prize places. Nevertheless, even if EDward Gaming wins this event, the 2024 offseason can still be officially considered a failure for them, as the statistics of three consecutive lost tournaments without a single match won will remain with the world champions forever.
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