ZmjjKK had an incredible series, with many highlight reel moments, against NAVI at VCT Masters Tokyo to stay alive in the Group Stage.
In perhaps the biggest upset of VCT Masters Tokyo thus far, EDward Gaming eliminated Natus Vincere. Even though NAVI came in as EMEA's 4th Seed, they are still regarded as one of the top teams in the world. That did not faze Zheng "ZmjjKK" Yongkang and the rest of EDG, though.
Both maps of the Group A elimination match up went to overtime, and both maps saw EDG take the win. They still have the Decider, a rematch against T1, before moving onto the Bracket Stage, but it was a proud victory.
ZmjjKK's final KDA was 48/45/13 and on Pearl, the Jett player netted a slew of multikill rounds. This included a 3K at the end that saw him stand and shout once the outcome was decided. In the post-match press conference, we asked him about that moment in particular, how he stays on top of his game in a lengthy contest, and what the energy he showed does to the team's overall vibes going forward.
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ZmjjKK discusses his performance against NAVI and how he kept the energy up across multiple overtimes
You can watch the clip in question. ZmjjKK takes out three NAVI players, the remaining is cleaned up, and EDWard Gaming take Pearl against NAVI. The broadcast showed ZmjjKK get to his feet and let out an intense gesture to the crowd.
It was a lengthy overtime map, yet he showed no signs of slowing down throughout. We asked his thoughts on maintaining that high performance when a match goes long and how the energy he brought to the stage rubs off on his EDG teammates.
ZmjjKK: "For me, I think every game, I have to burn myself, to really use all my energy for each game. Personally, I think every time, I really use all my energy to boost the atmosphere within the teammates. As long as I make it, we can take the victory.
"It is very crucial for our team. For me, I think it is essential that a team needs this kind of passion, this kind of energy. I should take that responsibility, to be this kind of role on our team. To present more passion within the games. And everybody can play games, play matches, in this very high tension."
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*Note: The question and subsequent answer were through a translator.
