If you have thought about winning any prize, can you think of a couple of moments robbed from witnessing something really foul? This miss of EDward Gaming, who were champions last year? Well, Paris 2024 has just pushed them hard. And there was no way close. It was nasty from front to back. In Paris 2024 rankings, EDward Gaming stood at position 13 of 16. THIRTEENTH. What is it? You scarcely deserve that if you’re ranked barely above the bottom. And they got just $20,000. With such pocket-change-worthy cash, a top team contender could hardly feel any pressure. What do you even call that? This is total collapse.
Online reactions? It was pure pandemonium. The pros are simply losing their minds on social media. Someone outrightly called them “frauds” followed by a crying emoji. That is tough, but one can almost understand why they say that. Another points out how BLG, yet another Chinese team, lasted longer. That’s embarrassing for the defending champions.
Then there was also all the hype about KangKang. The whole KangKang business is a mess. So many of the replies are just screaming in rage about the agent picks. “Kangkang shouldn’t take yoru,” says one. Then others: “I upset when kk play yoru. Its look not suit for him.” And then there’s this entire rant: “Kangkang in 2025. 0 Trophy. 0 MVP. 7 Inspirational, over-dramatic, cringe, so-called aura farmers statements. All talks, no bite.” YIKES. That’s some serious heat.
But wait, it just keeps getting messier. Cohesive talk about internal issues?? One reply suggests “an internal fight with s1mon” and that the team’s performance hasn’t been good since. That would explain a lot, right? Like, if there’s drama behind the scenes, it’s gonna show on the server. And it definitely showed. Someone else said the roster “literally disbanded” which… if true, that’s huge. But we don’t know for sure yet.
From the sounds of it, the game against Team Liquid was a complete bloodbath. One said, “TL played like irons and still won,” which is the most brutal insult in Valorant. Playing like Iron rank and still beating the defending champs? Ouch. Another said, “EDG showcased the worst Valorant of the tournament,” which is… not a great look.
Meanwhile, the rest were filming and describing the situation. “SIMON LAUGHING SOMEHWERE” said one tweet, probably a dig at a former player or something. “what a successful hate watch,” said another. It’s like everyone is just watching the downfall and can’t look away.
But like, let’s be real for a second. This is a massive fall from grace. Last year they were on top of the world, winning it all. This year they’re one of the first teams eliminated. It’s gotta be devastating for the players. The pressure of being defending champions is insane, and it seems like it might have gotten to them. One person even said “It seems overwhelmed by the pressure of being last year’s champion” which makes sense.
Strategic choices are getting massively questioned. Why are you even continuing to put KangKang on Yoru if his Neon and Raze are way better? It’s as if they were forcing something that wasn’t working. Over and over. And in a tournament as big as this one, you can really ill-afford to commit these mistakes.
Some are even calling their past victory a “fluke,” which is super harsh, but… from champions to 13th place? People will say that. That’s just how it goes sometimes in esports. The competition is downright scary and if you’re not really at sunset of your possibilities, they’ll find you out.
The earnings bit is just sad. $20,000 to split between the team and the org after becoming world champs? That’s an awful hit to the wallet and ego. Other teams are playing for hundreds of thousands now. It reminds you how fast you can fall hard in esports.
Where do EDG go from here? Who really knows? If the roster is indeed disbanding, then that’s the end of an era. If they stick together, then the work begins to get back to championship-level. The Valorant scene just keeps getting fierce, and they’re nowhere close to winning anyone’s respect with their recent performance.
So yeah. EDward Gaming’s title defense didn’t die an honorable death. It died with a whimper; an early exit; a truckload of criticism; a ton of questions about what really happened. From champs-to-chumps in less than a year. And, um, yes, esports is sometimes brutal.
Anyway, that’s all the tea so far. What a wild start for Champions. Hopefully, the rest of the tourneys will be a show all their own. Maybe we’ll get more surprises, though probably not as shocking as this one. Probably.
