EDG re-sign entire world championship roster

The 2021 World Champions decide to run it back. With Park “Viper” Do-hyeon and Li “Flandre’ Xuan-Jun being signed into the organization for the 2021 season, fans and analysts knew that Edward Gaming would be a title contender. However, as we now know, it took some time.

In the spring, they only finished third, even after a brilliant regular season. Things simply did not come together for this talented squad. Upon recognizing that it does take time for rosters to come together sometimes, EDG returned for the summer with no changes. At times, Yu “JunJia” Chun-Chia subbed in, and for one series, Ming “Clearlove” Kai subbed in as well. But in the end, they went with Zhao “JieJie” Li-Jie as the starting jungler.

Best team in the world

This paid off as they won the LPL summer championship, even though in the eyes of many, Edward Gaming seemed to lack the “killer instinct” or “x-factor” that some analysts often looked for. Even going into the World Championship, some experts did not have a good opinion of them, claiming that FunPlus Phoenix or Royal Never Give Up were more likely to win it all. After losses against South Korean powerhouse T1 and LCS champions 100 Thieves, it looked as if EDG were in very shaky form. In addition, they’ve had very close best of fives in the knockout stage against Royal Never Give Up and Gen G.

In the end, they had another very close best of five, but they won the grand final against Damwon Kia anyway. Despite the close matches, it is undeniable that at that point of 2021, they were the best team in the world. That is why it comes as no surprise that the organization decided to re-sign the entire Worlds starting roster.

Even with coaching staff departures in Zhu “Kenzhu” Kai and Cheng “CorGi” Pin-Lun, and with JunJia going over to Rare Atom, it is undeniable that the raw talent in the roster is still very high. In terms of mechanical talent, each of these players are among the best in their positions. With this in mind, though, it should be thought that metas following World Championships are designed to bring heavy nerfs to the particular play style that the World Champions won the tournament with. The true test for any World Champion is the ability to stay at the highest level even after the game changes.

EDG keeps their entire roster

The org has also decided to keep Huang “Xiaoxiang” Xiang as a top lane substitute, probably to serve as a possible strong side top laner, or to be there in case Flandre dips in form as he did at times during the season. The focal points of this roster, however, are Lee “Scout” Ye-chan and Tian “Meiko” Ye. Meiko has been with the organization since 2015, and has always been a top-tier support.

In terms of vision control and team fight initiation, Meiko has proven himself to be excellent. Scout, from his time in solo queue to becoming world champion, has always been a mechanical monster. He is capable of securing leads under any kind of matchup in the mid lane, and is able to spread the said lead into the rest of the map.

While there is currently a lot of buzz in the LPL as several strong rosters have formed, with one of them even bringing back Jian “Uzi” Zi-hao from retirement, it should be remembered that Edward Gaming are the current World Champions. Look out for the current kings of the Rift as they plan to claim even more for themselves.