One year ago, 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) put China on the map by taking the region's first win on the international stage at Masters Tokyo and going on to place top six at Champions 2023.

Today, EDG triumphed over Team Heretics Team Heretics Europe Rank #1 MiniBoo Dominykas Lukaševičius Wo0t Mert Alkan RieNs Enes Ecirli benjyfishy Benjamin David Fish Boo Ričardas Lukaševičius 3-2 in the grand final of Champions 2024 and conquered the Valorant Champions Tour in one of the greatest matches of all time.

The five-map series played out on Haven, Sunset, Lotus, Bind, and Abyss. EDG leveraged their double map ban as the upper bracket finalists to remove Ascent and Icebox. Heretics won Haven 13-6, EDG won Sunset 13-4 and Lotus 13-9, Heretics won Bind 13-11, and EDG took Abyss 13-9.

Both teams suffered disappointment in Masters Madrid and heartbreak in Masters Shanghai, but returned home and continued to build consistency and resilience. Both blazed fiery paths through Seoul, taking down every challenger to meet in the grand final for the first time since Shanghai.

The ultimate prize. (Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)

For EDG, to win would mean truly shattering the ceiling for China and taking the region's first international trophy after an undefeated playoffs run.

For Heretics, winning would mean avenging the pain of falling short at Shanghai and proving the growth and potential of a team with four faces fresh out of Challengers.

“I have always dreamt about this moment,” nobody said in the pre-match teaser. “This time, I will realize my dreams.”

Heretics controlled Haven

After their unusual Sage composition failed against Sentinels, Heretics shifted all five agents to mirror EDG's more standard Neon and double initiator on EDG's first map pick. EDG took the first of many pistols, but Heretics dominated the buy rounds with the steadfast trading and varied defensive setups that brought them to the final in the first place.

Heretics secured a resounding 9-3 half by consistently burning down the clock. They then chained a pistol of their own into an eventual 13-6 win.

Both Neon players demonstrated impressive fragging performances; ZmjjKK picked up 22 kills to 15 deaths while MiniBoo found 17 kills to 12 deaths. However, it was RieNs who topped the scoreboard as Sova with a 1.52 rating, a 95% KAST, and an outsized 205 ADR.

Sunset was pure EDG domination

The players of EDG recovered immediately after dropping Haven. A surgical 4K from CHICHOO won the bonus round for EDG, snowballing into an overwhelming 11-1 half. Heretics were unable to find an answer to ZmjjKK's constant Neon slide entries and multikills, which included an ace in round 8. The duelist ended the first half with as many kills as all of Heretics combined at 18.

Smoggy 's 1v2 in the second pistol round slammed the coffin shut for Heretics as EDG won Sunset 13-4. ZmjjKK crushed the opposition with a tremendous 1.87 rating, 22 kills to 9 deaths, 248 ADR, and seven first kills.

Lotus was chaos, but EDG thrived in it

While the previous maps had been one-sided, Lotus was a back-and-forth brawl. The first six rounds alone saw three thrifties and perhaps the most impressive ace of the tournament by CHICHOO in round 6. Neither team could shake off the other, resulting in a 6-6 first half.

The defining moment came in round 20. S1Mon found himself in a 1v2 postplant against benjyfishy and MiniBoo. benjyfishy placed his Killjoy Lockdown to flush him out, but the Breach player stood his ground and sprayed down both seconds before detainment in a tournament-defining clutch.

Spurred on by their rookie's heroics, EDG ran away with Lotus to a 13-9 win. Still, it was CHICHOO once again putting up impossible numbers with a 1.71 rating, 339 ACS, and 27 kills to only 13 deaths.

Heretics dug deep on Bind

A do-or-die lead for EDG demanded even greater heights from Heretics. Both teams refused to yield for even a moment as every single round produced higher tempos, sharper frags, unlikelier thrifties, and yet another 6-6 first half.

The breakaway moment for Heretics seemingly came in round 19, where MiniBoo won two crucial duels with the spike in hand to take Heretics to an 11-8 lead that turned into 12-8.

But EDG refused to lose. The next three rounds consisted of magical plays from the Chinese squad: a tense 1v1 from S1mon, a Brimstone Incendiary body block from CHICHOO, and an Operator collateral from ZmjjKK. Just when it seemed that another ZmjjKK ace had secured overtime, Boo 's postmortem Incendiary burned down the time and stole away the map 13-11.

EDG decided it all on Abyss

An entire year of victories and defeats came down to Abyss, and it was EDG who took early control with a blend of unbreakable postplants, startling mid pushes, and both pistol rounds to take a 10-4 lead.

Heretics attempted to mount a comeback, bringing the score back to 11-9, but ZmjjKK broke the hearts of Los Niños with four tournament-winning Guardian kills in round 21. EDG brought Abyss home 13-9 along with the entire championship.

With this victory, EDG deliver Heretics yet another second place finish and make history as the first global champions from China after the region received official access to the game two years later than everyone else.

ZmjjKK made his own piece of history by breaking the VCT best-of-five kill record of 105 with a generational 111 total kills, 26 of which were first kills, and was crowned the first ever official Champions MVP. S1mon also finds himself a world champion at his very first international event.

To EDG, this victory means that China will never again be underestimated.

“Why can't we get the championship? And now, the whole world [is going to] focus on VCT CN FPS,” ZmjjKK declared.

They are your 2024 Valorant Champions. (Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)