Sunday, June 11, saw an enticing and nail-biting game in the VCT Masters Tokyo series as T1 and EDward Gaming played a tense game that ended in overtime.
The two teams were level at halftime, having won six rounds each, before T1 made a big splash in the second half, winning 5 rounds consecutively and, at the same time, blocking EDG from countering its strategy.
The Chinese EDG team was close to a win after coming back to battle T1 thanks to EDG’s star duelist Zheng “ZmjjKK” Yongkang, whose different choices helped the team into an advantageous position and also put their chances down low.
EDG came out strong in the third quarter, and duelist Zheng “ZmjjKK” Yongkang chose a weapon that served him well, Operator, which he used to crack down T1. Zmjjkk’s combination with Nobody, CHICHOO, and Smoggy’s support, took EDG within a round of winning the series.
However, EDG’s chances took a bad turn when ZmjjKk tossed away Operator and picked Vandal in a move that shocked fans. After the time out, EDG was hoping to win round 24 just as they did in round 23, where they used Operator; they chose Vandal in the buy phase.
Despite the Vandal being one of the best rifles in VALORANT, ZmjjKk lost a one-versus-one fight against T1’s Munchkin in Pearl’s A Art section. EDG players subsequently lost to bring the scoreline to 12-12.
T1 eventually won overtime after coming tops in two consecutive rounds. Zmjjkk’s best performance on the day was on the second map—Haven—of the final series. He had multiple exceptional four-kill rounds while welding the Operator.
EDG has now been moved to Group A’s elimination bracket after a loss in VCT Masters Tokyo. They will face the loser of Group A’s second game between NRG Esports and Natus Vincere on June 13.
Daniel Ademiju Idowu
