EDward Gaming EDward Gaming China Rank #1 S1Mon Hsien Meng-Hsun (谢孟勋) ZmjjKK Zheng Yongkang (郑永康) nobody Wang Senxu (王森旭) CHICHOO Wan Shunzhi (万顺治) Smoggy Zhang Zhao (张钊) took down Trace Esports Trace Esports China Rank #4 LuoK1ng Zhang Zhanpeng (张展鹏) Kai Lu Zhinan (卢智楠) FengF Song Xuefeng (宋学锋) heybay Ho Shun Hei Biank Zhong Jianfei (钟剑飞) in a 2-0 victory at the Champions quarterfinals, joining Sentinels Sentinels North America Rank #4 N4RRATE Marshall Massey bang Sean Bezerra Zellsis Jordan Montemurro zekken Zachary Patrone johnqt Mohamed Amine Ouarid in the upper semifinals.

This bout, a rematch of the China Stage 2 upper finals, kicked off a series of three regional encounters in the Champions quarterfinals. It was also where EDG claimed their fifth win in a row over Trace, a streak that has gone uninterrupted since late October, and a match EDG never even wanted.

"The reason is because we came from the same region. This kind of situation happened last year in Champions 2023,” CHICHOO said, mentioning their bout against Bilibili Gaming Bilibili Gaming China Rank #6 B3ar Yang Zhanxiong (杨瞻雄) whzy Wang Haozhe (王昊哲) Levius Lu Yinzhong (卢胤中) rushia Wang Xiaojie (王晓杰) nephh Marcus Tan Knight Liu Yuxiang (刘宇翔) . “I didn't want this to happen again, but it happened. We're just gonna fight it."

nobody at Champions 2024 nobody was the playmaker on Bind from start to finish. (Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)

EDG's fighting kicked off with three consecutive 3Ks from nobody , Smoggy , and ZmjjKK on Bind. They later ended as the team's best players, as the only three of EDG to claim over 30 kills across both maps — with KangKang in particular taking down 47 — while Kai was the only Trace player able to surpass that mark.

That triple-threat start set the tone for the rest for both maps. On both Bind and Sunset, the perennial Chinese champions took a 10-2 halftime lead with strong showings from their own players.

Trace bit back in the second half on both maps, though. With great focus on teamplay, they stole back five rounds on Bind before EDG were able to close it out 13-7.

A similar story developed on Sunset, which KangKang kicked off with an ace. After their 10-2 lead, Trace bundled two streaks of four rounds to recover from an eight-round deficit to a one-round deficit at 11-10. ZmjjKK stepped up in round 22 and 23, saving his team from overtime with two 3Ks and closing out the match with a 13-10 victory.

nobody's opening 3K on Bind was just the start of his stellar performance, in which he claimed a 1.60 rating and 206 ADR across 23 kills and seven multikills. He was second only to ZmjjKK's Sunset performance, where he racked up 28 kills and 214 ADR, despite a slightly lower 1.44 rating.

Life is easier when you have KangKang on your side.

Sentinels and EDG will meet at a crossroads in the upper semifinals. EDG look to go beyond the top six for the first time in their history, while Sentinels look to further their streak, solidify their best Champions run ever, and possibly achieve a second title this year.

Sentinels sit on a three-win streak. Two of those wins came against the only two Korean representatives at Champions — Gen.G Gen.G Korea Rank #1 Foxy9 Jung Jae-sung (정재성) t3xture Kim Na-ra (김나라) Munchkin Byeon Sang-beom (변상범) yoman Chae Young-moon (채영문) Karon Kim Won-tae (김원태) and DRX DRX Korea Rank #4 Flashback Cho Min-hyuk (조민혁) MaKo Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관) Athan Na Ha-jun (나하준) freeing No Ha-jun (노하준) HYUNMIN Song Hyun-min (송현민) , both by way of 2-0 — and the third one over FunPlus Phoenix FunPlus Phoenix China Rank #5 Autumn Kale Dunne Life Qu Donghao (瞿东豪) AAAAY Zhang Yang (张杨) BerLIN Zhang Bolin (張柏霖) yosemite Wang Lei (王磊) . Just like they have two wins over Korean teams, Sentinels now hold the chance to tack on a second victory against a Chinese roster.

EDG won't go down without a fight, though. North America is the only region they have not drawn blood from, and the only one to best EDG at this year's world championship. EDG look to change that against Sentinels.

EDward Gaming and Sentinels face off August 17, at 5 p.m. KST.