Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
Disclaimer: Quotes in this article have been translated from Korean to English. Discrepancies in translation may occur.
After day three of Champions Shanghai, the home crowd at the Jing’an Sports Center is still waiting for a win from a Chinese team in the event’s group stage. Shortcomings from TYLOO and Xi Lai Gaming had set the stage for 2024 world champs EDward Gaming to secure VCT CN’s first win of the event, but it wasn’t meant to be against LOUD.
The team fell 2-0 to the No. 2 seed out of Americas, dropping its pick of Lotus 13-8 and then falling flat on LOUD’s pick of Summit, 13-5.
Ult Orb spoke with EDward Gaming head coach Autumn and new signing stew after the match, discussing China’s struggles keeping pace with the rest of the world, the process of integrating stew into the roster, and what lies ahead as EDG enters an elimination match against Global Esports.
“Honestly, I think our region is weaker compared to other regions,” Autumn said when asked about China’s struggles to start Champions. He looked back at Masters London, where two Chinese teams finished in the top six and EDG finished third, and brought up the meta as a central reason for why CN teams have been struggling.
“London was almost the only meta where Yoru and Neon couldn’t really be used,” he explained. “In that meta, we were actually a team with an advantage in terms of map pool and other strengths, I think that’s why we did well.”
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“Right now though, Neon, Yoru, and Chamber are all being used a lot again, and with that meta returning, I think our players are still a bit weaker compared to other regions, so I think that’s why we’re getting these results,” he added.
stew, who was making not just his EDG debut, but his debut on the international stage, echoed those thoughts as well.
“In a way, I share the same opinion,” he said. “Looking at it from the meta side, I feel like we’re still catching up.”
stew, who replaced Jieni7 in the starting lineup, joined EDG after two and a half years with JD Gaming, and made not just his EDG debut, but his debut on the international stage.
“There were a lot of fans, and it’s a big stage, so I was a little nervous,” he said. “Still, I’m focused on performing in the matches to come.”
stew’s on-stage nerves were something that his own head coach didn’t expect.
“Something I’d overlooked myself, today’s match was his first on the international stage,” Autumn said. “So I imagine there was pressure on him early on.”
stew is a player who Autumn has had his eyes on for a long time, with it even being said that he was wanted by the head coach ever since his days at the helm of T1.
“In terms of talent, he’s truly an excellent player,” Autumn said. “As for adjusting to the team, we’ve had a lot of conversations. He was on a relatively weaker team in the CN league before, and EDG has the image of being on a fairly strong team. Because of that, I think most of the players have a certain respect for each other, so figuring out how much he can show of his own ability while building synergy with the team has been the homework. Still, we’ve been finding direction together well, and I’ve been satisfied with how the practice process has gone.”
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stew praised EDG’s facilities, which he says foster a good playing environment, while also noting that his role on EDG has more to do with being a part of the team. While he says he’s been learning specific things, like utility usage and small details in communication, the process hasn’t been completely seamless.
“It hasn’t been that long since I joined, and honestly the adjustment process hasn’t been completely smooth,” he said. “Still, despite that, I tried my best to show good results, but of course today we ended up losing, which is unfortunate.”
In the loss to LOUD, EDG left the map ban process with Lotus, Summit, and Sunset as the maps to be played; LOUD’s three winningest maps in Stage 2.
“We thought it was a good veto for us,” Autumn said. “To be honest, we were hoping they wouldn’t pick Summit. We wanted them to pick Sunset instead, but they picked Summit first, so I honestly did think that map might be tough for us.”
EDG’s pick of Lotus, which the team banned seven times in Stage 2, got a “passing grade” from Autumn despite the 13-8 loss. The coach chalked up the map as a tale of two halves, but Summit was different. The team fielded a unique double-Initiator comp with stew and nobody on Breach and Tejo, while ZmjjKK was on Waylay in a solo Duelist look.
“We practiced Summit quite a bit, but we felt that we could counter LOUD well if we used things like Tejo’s Stealth Drone,” Autumn said. “I felt that we prepared the comp for LOUD, but after a LOUD timeout, the players seemed to identify that it was a counter comp and adjusted. As a result, we couldn’t find an answer for LOUD, and that’s why we lost.”
EDG, now down to just one life in Group B, will go up against Global Esports in the group’s first elimination match.
“I think GE is a really strong team — I’ve watched a lot of the Pacific matches, and I think GE is a well-rounded, fundamentally solid team,” stew said. “So I think we need to prepare more thoroughly for that match.”
EDG will play against Global, Pacific’s top seed, who are coming off a 2-1 loss to Team Vitality. The match will take place on October 2 at 5 a.m. PST/8 a.m. EST, or 8 p.m. local time.
