EDward Gaming, unfortunately, will be leaving the competition but with their heads up high.
Champions Istanbul 2022 is about one-third of the way to completion and with the Elimination match from Group B, another milestone has been reached by players and the tournament alike. The second Elimination Match of the competition was between EDward Gaming and Team Liquid. The winner of this match will be able to fight for another day, and the loser will be heading back home after going through the Group stage.
The first map was Bind, where EDward gaming started strong, but Team Liquid immediately took over the narrative and did not let up on their barrage of attacks against EDG – and eventually led the first half with a four-point lead. In the second half, EDG tried to retaliate but Team Liquid was just too strong, and they ended the match by round 18 with a score of 13-5.
Breeze was not a breeze for Team Liquid as EDG finally woke up and gave a worthy fight in the match. Both teams played to a draw all the way to round 24, and thus overtime was called for the map. Unfortunately, Chinese lads may have run out of stamina as they could not catch up with Team Liquid, who took two wins, and eventually the overall win with a 14-12 score.
EDward Gaming made history as the first Chinese team to play on an international stage – they did not even qualify for any of the Masters, but they made their mark At Champions Istanbul. Their fairytale run was cut short by Team Liquid, and they will be heading back to China soon.
Team Liquid will face Paper Rex to see which team will be heading into the Playoffs with Leviatán.
VCT Champions Istanbul is happening from 31 August until 18 September in Istanbul, with the Playoffs set to be played in front of a live audience at Volkswagen Arena from 9 September 2022.
