Following their exit at VALORANT Masters Santiago, EDG coach Autumn outlines the team’s key areas for improvement ahead of the next stage.
After a difficult loss to his former team, EDward Gaming (EDG) head coach Yoon “Autumn” Eu-teum spoke with esports.gg about what the team lacked, the double-duelist composition in the current meta, cb’s international debut, and the ongoing language barrier challenges.
Despite the tough elimination, the coach remains confident in the team’s potential and believes Stage 1 will bring a much stronger performance. He also sees this tournament as a valuable learning experience, one that helped identify key issues and clarify what the team needs to improve ahead of their upcoming matches.
“I can teach them in-game strategies and help with meta adaptation, but one of my key strengths is guiding players through their emotions, and right now I can’t do that because I don’t speak Chinese.”
EDG Autumn
EDG Autumn highlights the team’s map pool concerns
Historically, Bind is not a bad map for EDG. In 93 matches across all regional and international events, the Chinese team had a 65% win rate, with 60 victories and 33 losses. However, for the coach, Bind has not been a good map for the team lately.
“We know our Bind has some problems,” he said.
T1 banned Corrode, their weakest map, while EDG banned Breeze. This left T1 to select Bind and EDG to pick Haven, making Split the decider after the teams banned Abyss and Pearl.
Autumn confessed that he would like T1 to pick Pearl since the team is well prepared for it, but they ended up going for Bind. Although there was a game plan for Bind, the match didn’t unfold as intended, whether due to pressure or other factors. “We didn’t play our game the way we discussed it and practiced before. That was a big problem,” the head coach explained.
During the timeouts, the players pinpointed their issues, but T1’s composition proved too powerful thanks to their snowballing potential and strong ultimates. While Bind was a stomp, with EDG losing by 1-13, they still brought some firepower to Haven. Nevertheless, they couldn’t change the outcome of the series and lost the second map. With this loss, EDG was eliminated from the VCT Masters Santiago. VCT China Stage 1 starts on March 31.
This match also marked the coach Autumn’s first match against his former team, T1. He was with the Korean organization from 2022 to 2025, winning a Red Bull Home Ground in 2024 and the Masters Bangkok in 2025.
The absence of the double duelist composition
The current meta has shifted significantly from last season. In 2025, the game favored an ability-heavy, utility-based style, which led to nerfs for initiators. In 2026, the meta emphasizes shooting and raw aim, with faster tempo and teams relying on aggressive entry duelists like Yoru, Waylay, and Neon.
However, EDG has not played a single series in the double-duelist composition, considered one of the strongest strategies of the meta. According to coach Autumn, it has to do with how comfortable the players are with the champions.
“We discussed it internally, and some players were uncomfortable, especially with the Waylay. We didn’t have much time to prepare a good composition, and I think the one we used was very good during the Kickoff stage,” EDG Autumn explained. “I put KangKang [ZmjjKK] on Chamber because he is insane with that agent and cb on Neon. He played a lot before joining EDG, so we wanted to find a comfortable pick for him.”
In the end, the head coach attributed the result to a lack of time to prepare and build cohesion with the team, especially while integrating a new player into the roster.
EDG cb international debut
Wang “cb” Qingchuan signed for EDG during the 2025 off-season, coming from NOVA Esports. Without any prior international experience, he had his debut at the VALORANT Masters Santiago. EDG Autumn couldn’t be prouder of his performance, even though the team didn’t get the result they wanted.
“He did very well in the tournament, especially because he was not a duelist before. He did some initiator and also some IGLing in his former team. But here we needed a duelist because of the meta, and he was down to play it,” the coach added. “This is very new for him, but he tried his best, and I know cb is a very hardworking player. The first matches were very hard for him, and there is still a lot of room for improvement, but he did his job, and I’m happy. I can see a bright future for him.”
Transitioning from T1 to EDG
As a Korean coach, Autumn revealed there are still ongoing challenges with his transition to a Chinese team, especially with the language barrier. While his main direction and philosophy are the same, it’s very hard to communicate certain things with the players.
“I can teach them in-game strategies and help with meta adaptation, but one of my key strengths is guiding players through their emotions, and right now I can’t do that because I don’t speak Chinese,” he explained. “Sometimes, I need to communicate more about mindset than in-game mechanics to motivate them, and I can’t. That’s my only disappointment in myself. Managing their emotions is harder because they need clear instructions from someone who speaks their native language, which worries me. I’ll have to learn more Chinese, but that will take time.”
For EDG Autumn, maintaining clear communication with his players is a top priority, so he has been making a conscious effort to speak with them frequently and avoid misunderstandings. Although he is disappointed with the loss, he believes the team is making progress and will soon adapt to the playstyle, ultimately delivering better performances.
Ahead of Stage 1, coach Autumn emphasized that the team needs to focus more on the finer details, cleaning up individual mistakes, and reinforcing the fundamentals of the game. “We already know our problems and fixing the micro needs a really long time, so that’s what we are going to be focusing on in the upcoming months,” he said.
“I can see that the players have been improving already, but we need to practice and trust each other more. Learning this during Masters Santiago is already a huge achievement,” the coach added.
EDG Autumn leaves a message for the fans
“I’m truly happy to be here because I can see how much EDG fans and VCT China supporters care about their league and their team. The level of support has been incredible.
Of course, this isn’t the result anyone wanted, especially after winning a tournament before, so I understand the disappointment. But I want to be clear and promise our supporters that everyone on EDG, from the players to the staff, knows we can improve day by day. That’s our goal for this year, especially with Champions taking place in Shanghai. It’s an important moment for the VCT China fans, and we want to perform at our best.
I truly believe Stage 1 will be much better than our Kickoff. Thank you for always supporting us. We’re determined to show a stronger performance in Stage 1 and beyond.”
EDG Autumn