| “ | I come from the mountains, bringing orchid grass
No wealth at home, no treasures in my pocket The cold wind bites to the bone, diligence leads to a good career Striving for the bright moon, trading orchids for brocade robes |
” |
| ——GAI "Orchid Grass" | ||
| “ | I want to stand on the high mountain and sing loudly without restraint | ” |
| ——KangKang at FGC Invitational Series 2023: ACT2 Interview | ||
| “ | Fourth in the group? Number one in the world!!! | ” |
| ——KangKang after the Seoul Champions | ||
ZmjjKK lifting the trophy at Seoul Champions
ZmjjKK at Tokyo Masters
China
| 2020-05-27~2021-??-?? | RNG |
| 2021-??-??~2021-??-?? | CBT Gaming |
| 2021-05-15~2021-08-14 | LIZHI |
| 2021-08-14~2021-??-?? | Qingjiu Club |
| 2021-09-09~ | EDward Gaming |
Zheng Yongkang(ID:ZmjjKK), born on March 3, 2004, in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China, currently playing forEDGas a Duelist.
History
2020 and before
Before 2020, KangKang played various FPS titles as a player, reaching the Top 500 in Overwatch and participating in the NEST APEX tournament.
In 2020, KangKang joined RNG, officially becoming a professional VALORANT player, and alongside those he would fight with throughout his career,nobodybecame teammates.
At that time, Valorant had no official domestic tournaments in China. Therefore, throughout 2020, KK and RNG participated in small-scale tournaments hosted by various platforms until 2021.
2021
After representing RNG in several tournaments in early 2021, RNG decided to exit the Valorant scene due to the delay in obtaining a game license in China, and it was rumored thatnobodyand KK were told that if they wanted to stay with the team, they would have to transfer to the CFHD division. The two immediately left the team. KK then briefly joined the Taiwanese team CBT Gaming, qualifying for the VCT Southeast Asia Challengers, but finished in the top 8. After KK returned from Taiwan, KK andnobodythe two joined the "Zhi Zai Fan Group" (LIZHI) established by Lizhi to play in some cup tournaments. Later, LIZHI was acquired by Qing Jiu (Q9). KK participated in the 2021 FGC Invitational with the team and reached the top 8.
On September 9, 2021, KK officially joined the EDG club. Afterwards, commentatorYu Tonganalyzed that this move was the key operation that allowed EDG to take off.[1]。
2022
From February to July, in the domestic FGC Invitational series, KK led EDG to the finals of ACT 1, the Spring Challengers, ACT 2, and ACT 3, winning the championships for the Spring Challengers, ACT 2, and ACT 3. They entered the 2022 East Asia Last Chance Qualifier as the top seed by points.
In August, KK led EDG to a brilliant performance in the East Asia Last Chance Qualifier, winning all four matches against strong Japanese and Korean teams without losing a single map. They defeated On Sla2ers 3-0 in the final, qualifying for Valorant Champions 2022 in Istanbul as a wildcard despite the game not having a Chinese server yet. EDG also became the first Chinese team to participate in a VCT global event.
In August, EDG lost to PRX (1-2) and TL (0-2) at Valorant Champions Istanbul, ending their run in the group stage.
In December, KK led EDG through the FGC Invitational 2022 Grand Finals, but ultimately lost 2-3 to Zhuque (FPX) in the final. They were invited to VCT 2023: LOCK//IN São Paulo as the CN second seed.
2023
In February, EDG was invited to VCT 2023: LOCK//IN São Paulo, but they narrowly lost 1-2 to 100T in the first round, finishing in the top 32.
In April, KK led EDG to the ACT 1 finals, where they ultimately lost 2-3 to ASE to take the runner-up spot. They were invited to VCT 2023: Masters Tokyo as the CN second seed and later defeated BLG 3-0 in ACT 2 to win the championship.
In June, EDG participated in Masters Tokyo. In the first round of the group stage, EDG lost 1-2 to T1 and fell into the lower bracket. Subsequently, KangKang and this EDG team began a dreamlike journey: first, they fought through two maps in the lower bracket, defeating the roster of the 2022 Masters Copenhagen champions,NaVi, securing the first victory for a Chinese team in a VCT global event. They then easily defeated T1 2-0 in the decider match to complete their revenge and advance to the playoffs. Facing TL in the first round of the playoffs, EDG kept the score close, even rallying from 7:12 to 11:12 in the third map, but ultimately lost 1-2. In the lower bracket against LOUD, the 2022 world champions and 2023 LOCK//IN runners-up, EDG won 2-0. The player who had been KangKang's nightmare in São Paulo,aspaswas defeated by his own hands in Tokyo. KangKang was slightly emotional after the match, but he posted afterwards: "Also, I didn't cry. Before winning a world championship, zmjjkk will absolutely not cry." However, in the next round, they suffered a comeback on the first map and narrowly lost 1-2 to PRX. During this Masters, KangKang fully displayed his talent and arrogant personality, engaging in friendly interactions with opponents offline multiple times.
In July, during the CN Qualifiers, KangKang led EDG to win the first official domestic tournament title, losing only one map, and was awarded FMVP. They qualified for Champions Los Angeles as the first seed.
However, at Champions, KangKang experienced the biggest upheaval of his career, even becomingUzithe biggest victim of a comeback. In the first round of the group stage, they struggled to a 2-1 victory over GIA. In the winner's bracket final, they were defeated by PRX for the third time, but then beat GIA 2-0 in the lower bracket final to advance to the playoffs. However, in the first round of the playoffs against EG, amidst the controversy surrounding the EG team, KangKang wasDemon1outclassed in their matchup, ultimately losing 1-2. In the first round of the lower bracket, an internal matchup against BLG, EDG won with difficulty. However, in the second round against LOUD, when they had a chance to win the match, LOUD countered KangKang's aggressive Operator tactics, and EDG's run ended in the top six. After the match, KangKang suffered extremely severe cyberbullying, to the point where his spirit was broken. In a post-match interview, he personally admitted that the loss was entirely his fault and that his own strength had been seriously overestimated. After the match against BLG, KangKang said something to the Riot staff backstage that would resonate throughout his career:
| “ | I love my overseas fans, but I need the support of Chinese fans even more, because this is my country, my place of honor. | ” |
After Champions, KangKang participated in the Evolution Series with the team, maintaining their domestic dominance. Aside from some tension in the first two maps of the final, they cruised through the rest of the time, securing their second domestic offline tournament title. Before Act 2, they went to Busan to participate in the TEN Invitational but failed to reach the final. Subsequently, they continued to dominate other domestic teams in Act 2 and Act 3, winning consecutive championships and achieving a clean sweep of the Evolution Series titles.
2024
To overcome the weaknesses of the Operator, KangKang began using the Vandal more in the new season, significantly reducing his frequency of picking up the sniper. During the Kickoff group stage, EDG struggled, defeating Wolves Esports 2-1 to advance to the playoffs. In the first round of the playoffs against old rivals TE, KangKang led EDG to a 2-0 victory, qualifying for Masters Madrid. Later in the finals, KangKang led EDG to a 3-1 victory over FPX, winning the first VCT CN League championship. However, at Masters Madrid, after defeating PRX 2-1 in the Swiss stage, EDG lost 1-2 to Gen.G and 0-2 to LOUD, resulting in their elimination.These two matches respectively contributed to the "classics" of KangKang being unable to win despite a 400 ACS and a total round score of 5:26 across two maps.Since KangKang's stats were still very impressive (2nd in ACS, ADR, and KPR; 3rd in FKPR for the tournament), some even suggested KangKang should "kick four," but the result was that EDG made no roster changes.
Despite the disappointing performance in Madrid, EDG returned home and dominated Stage 1. Ultimately, in the finals, EDG defeated FPX 3-1 again to take the title, qualifying for Masters Shanghai as the top seed. However, at the Masters, the "Seed 1 Virus" spread wildly; EDG, who skipped the Swiss stage, lost 0-2 to both TH and PRX in the playoffs and were eliminated. By this point, starting from Map 2 against Gen.G in Madrid—Split—EDG had lost eight consecutive maps in global tournaments.This time, it became KangKang andSmoggyanother player "kicking three."
The repeated failure in Shanghai and a series of statements from the players finally set off a fuse, and EDG's domestic dominance seemed to be wavering. Eventually, After moved to a behind-the-scenes role, muggle was promoted to head coach,Haodongwas moved to the assistant coach position, and a former JDG playerS1Monjoined. This series of changes finally set things right, and EDG defeated FPX 3-2 again in the finals, qualifying for Champions Seoul as the top seed.
At Champions Seoul, EDG was placed in Group D with G2, PRX, and FUT. After defeating FUT 2-0 in the first round, EDG was knocked down to the lower bracket by G2 in a 1-2 reverse sweep. From then on, EDG began to follow the "CN Script," defeating PRX, SEN, and LEV one after another with the pattern of "getting crushed on Map 1, winning a close MapAlthough the Ace in the final round of Map 4 was in vain, and by pulling out a Hero Guardian at EDG's most critical moment to score a quadra kill and help the team reach championship point, he achieved a record-breaking 111 kills in the Bo5, with an average ACS of 309 and a +39 KD difference. EDG also won 3-2, bringing home the Champions trophy for the CN region in its inaugural year. With these stats, KangKang unsurprisingly claimed the first official FMVP in Champions history. During the post-match awards ceremony, host Jenn recalled KangKang's speech after defeating LOUD in Tokyo, but KangKang didn't cry; his expression was very calm. Finally, as the first player in history to wear the MVP bracelet, KangKang fulfilled his promise and sang "Orchid Grass" in front of the whole world.
Perhaps the large number of matches during last year's off-season gave the EDG members PTSD, as EDG's level of seriousness significantly decreased during this off-season, even starting to use "for-fun" compositions like five smokes or five flashes in matches, making their off-season performance less than ideal. However, since these matches were not official VCT tournaments, this series of losses did not cause much of a stir. Outside the arena, KangKang unsurprisingly won the Valorant Player of the Year award for the CN region, was nominated for TGA Best Esports Athlete, and his Guardian quadra kill once again earned him the VCT Play of the Year Top 1. Thus, KangKang concluded a surprising 2024.
2025
EDG maintained their previous form in the new season. In the Kickoff stage, although they fell to the lower bracket after losing 0-2 to TE in the third round of the upper bracket, EDG then set a VCT record of 32 consecutive round wins starting from Map 2 Bind against XLG, which included back-to-back shutouts against XLG and DRG on Haven; they subsequently defeated BLG 3-0 and took revenge on TE 3-1, achieving their eighth domestic title.
At Masters Bangkok, EDG successfully defeated TL and G2 to enter the playoffs. However, after an initial 2-1 victory over T1 in the playoffs, EDG was first swept 0-2 by G2 in a revenge match and then lost 1-3 to T1 in another revenge match, finishing in third place. Throughout the tournament, KK's performance saw a significant decline compared to his 2024 form due to factors such as Yoru proficiency, mouse issues, and personal state. Moving into Stage 1, to address the Yoru issue, EDG promoted youth player jeni7 to the main roster. After a shocking 0-2 upset loss to NOVA, they benched S1Mon and moved jeni7 into the starting lineup. However, jeni7's subsequent performances caused audience doubts and conspiracy theories to ferment. In the extremely chaotic Group Alpha, EDG entered the playoffs with a 4-1 record.
On April 14, EDG management went public with the conflict between S1Mon and the team. The following afternoon, KK and three other teammates simultaneously posted articles blasting S1Mon. All four posts were substantial in length and directly targeted S1Mon's attitude and mindset, essentially confirming the details shared by Tuantuan during his stream. These four posts instantly ignited public discourse, but some viewers questioned this "Four Palaces as One" behavior and began to worry about EDG's playoff performance. As expected, in the match against XLG, KK was suppressed by his counterpart Rarga, losing 0-2 and falling to the lower bracket. Later against DRG, KK struggled with the contradiction between putting up high stats and inconsistent utility usage, narrowly winning 2-1. In the qualification match against BLG, EDG won the first map but was reverse-swept by BLG, losing 1-2 and being eliminated, thus losing the chance to participate in Masters Toronto. This marked the first time KK missed a global event since Champions Istanbul.
During and after the playoffs, due to his hero pool issues, the controversy with famous streamer cxy before Masters Bangkok, and the long-suppressed backlash from certain groups following EDG's victory at Champions Seoul, KK suffered attacks far exceeding what was warranted, despite the negative nature of the "Four Palaces as One" incident. In particular, cxy and his fans relentlessly targeted KK with high-intensity toxicity in streams and in-game. Even "Lanhua Cao," which KK had hoped to sing upon returning home in glory on the Champions stage, became a sword used to attack him. A week later, EDG participated in the Evolution Series Act 2 with their full main roster and won the championship without dropping a single map, securing their spot for the Esports World Cup. After the match, KK seemed to have lost all his edge, as if the recent controversies had left him drained.
EWC VALORANTShortly before the tournament began, EDG announced that former ASE veteran and TYL playerhfmi0dzjc9z7joined the team, changing his ID to zjc and replacing Jieni7 for EWC. However, EDG suffered a crushing 4-13 defeat to GEN in the first round. After a narrow victory over 100T in the second round, they lost to GEN again in the elimination match, exiting the EWC stage. After TH eventually won the title, as one of TH's nightmares in 2024, EDG's key was also embedded into the base of the championship trophy. Public criticism surged once again.
In Stage 2 of the league, after losing to TE, EDG brought Jieni7 back to the starting lineup and benched zjc. Surprisingly, Jieni7's synergy with the team significantly improved, while KK's "overpowered" stats remained a constant threat to everyone. EDG finished the regular season with a 3-2 record, advancing to the playoffs as the second seed in their group. However, in their first playoff match, EDG was swept 0-2 by DRG and sent to the lower bracket. After narrowly defeating TE in the lower bracket, EDG's form improved, and they defeated TYL and XLG in succession to secure a ticket to Champions. But in the lower bracket final, KK delivered what might have been the worst performance of his career, and the team was eliminated after a 1-3 loss to BLG.
At Champions Paris, in the first match against NRG, the first map wasAbyssUsing a Sage system and starting with a 10-2 lead on attack, they allowed NRG to reach 11 match points in the second half, ultimately suffering a massive 15-17 comeback defeat. The second map wasSunsetEDG suffered a major communication error in the final round of regulation while holding a 4v3 man advantage, resulting in a 0-2 loss and being sent to the lower bracket. In the lower bracket, facingTL, after both sides won each other's map picks, on the third mapBindEDG held two match points but were forced into overtime by their opponents. In the end,Mugglecalled a timeout, but they still failed to score, losing 13-15 and being eliminated 1-2, becoming the first team to be knocked out.
Peripherals and Settings
| Mouse | eDPI | DPI | Polling Rate | In-game Sensitivity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VAXEE ZYGEN NP-01S Wireless Pink |
160 | 1600 | 4000 Hz | 0.1 |
| Mouse | Mousepad |
|---|---|
| VAXEE ZYGEN NP-01S Wireless Pink |
Artisan Ninja FX Zero XSoft |
| Monitor | Keyboard |
|---|---|
| ZOWIE XL2566K |
Wooting 60 HE |
Crosshair Code:0;s;1;P;c;8;u;000000FF;h;0;b;1;0l;3;0v;5;0o;1;0a;1;0f;0;1b;0;S;c;4;s;0.6
Meme
- ZmjjKKOrigin of the name: Derived from his older brother Zheng Minjia's game ID "ZmJJ" and his own "KK", in memory of his brother who most supported his esports career.
| “ | Zheng Minjia, I'm going to carry your name with me! | ” |
| —ZmjjKK before the rematch against T1 at the 2023 Masters Tokyo | ||
- Utaite Content Creator: Kangkang's account on BilibiliZmJJKKHe frequently uploads cover videos from his regular livestreams, and there are even more of these than content related to his matches—the latter of which consists almost entirely of materials edited by the club's operations team or collaboration videos with others. Netizens jokingly refer to him as a "Utaite Content Creator."
- Eroge: After rising to fame at Masters Tokyo, Kangkang's account on the gaming community "HeyBox" was also uncovered by netizens. On August 16, 2023, while Kangkang was in the United States for Valorant Champions Los Angeles, netizens discovered playtime records for eroge under his account, sparking jokes among the community. Kangkang himself responded on his account, stating that he often lends his account to classmates and friends, that he wasn't the one playing the eroge, and added, "Stop saying you'll send me eroge" and "The matches won't be affected by this."
- Interestingly, at the same time, Kangkang's teammateHaodongalso posted on his own HeyBox account asking "how to hide Steam records," drawing ridicule from many netizens.
- 👇🤓👆: As a fan of the Hunan rap group "C-BLOCK," Kangkang has long posed with C-BLOCK's "Yi Xia Fan Shang" hand gesture in his official profile photos, and he displays this pose whenever he wins MVP after a match. Netizens have abstracted this into these three emojis; whenever his profile photo appears, the bullet chat starts spamming these three icons.
- Chaotianmen: Kangkang is a fan of the famous rapper GAI and has performed GAI's well-known song "Chaotianmen" at match venues, livestreams, and various other occasions.
Now, "Chaotianmen" has become Kangkang's support song.When Kangkang performs exceptionally well or poorly, the bullet chat will spam classic lyrics from "Chaotianmen" such as "I'm too wild," etc. - Wang Kang Construction Team: Kang Kang andnobodyare old teammates who have known and accompanied each other to this day since their time in the original RNG. And in the official variety show "Duo Duel," Kang Kang andnobodyteamed up once again to face off against the TH team'sBooandbenjyfishywho formed the "'Real' Brothers Duo"MiniBoo: Then I'll leave?. Since the competition format was assembling a bunk bed, andnobodythe meme originated from a duo name mentioned offhandedly.17shou[3]: Didn't expect to see me here, did you?
- In this bunk bed assembly showdown, referee GoldenBoy announced that the instruction manuals for EDG and TH would be swapped, meaning the four players from EDG and TH had to face manuals they couldn't understand at all—Spanish(Note)Because Team Heretics is an esports club from Madrid, Spain,and assemble using Chinese manuals. benjyfishy pressed GoldenBoy's red button with 15 minutes remaining, causing the manuals of both teams to be swapped.However, neither of the two TH players are Spanish,[4]so they still couldn't really understand them after the swap ()Due to building an extra section of the ladder, EDG's "Wang-Kang Construction Team" eventually defeated TH's "'Real' Brothers Duo" with a narrow 1-point lead and a total score of 22:21, winning the first championship medal of "Duo Showdown."They also won the first world championship for the CN region in VCT global events.。
We are the champions! - Widescreen ModeShow Video
- In this bunk bed assembly showdown, referee GoldenBoy announced that the instruction manuals for EDG and TH would be swapped, meaning the four players from EDG and TH had to face manuals they couldn't understand at all—Spanish(Note)Because Team Heretics is an esports club from Madrid, Spain,and assemble using Chinese manuals. benjyfishy pressed GoldenBoy's red button with 15 minutes remaining, causing the manuals of both teams to be swapped.However, neither of the two TH players are Spanish,[4]so they still couldn't really understand them after the swap ()Due to building an extra section of the ladder, EDG's "Wang-Kang Construction Team" eventually defeated TH's "'Real' Brothers Duo" with a narrow 1-point lead and a total score of 22:21, winning the first championship medal of "Duo Showdown."They also won the first world championship for the CN region in VCT global events.。
- Team Bullying (80): Perhaps considering S1Mon's introverted personality, EDG placed him next to the team's most active member, ZmjjKK, when arranging seats. The entertainment value of these two together during streams is incredible; when they duo queue, Kangkang often orders S1Mon around in the tone of a team leader, including but not limited to dropping guns, throwing flashes,and refusing to throw flashes,while S1Mon, though a man of few words, always delivers gold quotes and often intentionally throws utility with shocking entertainment value to make Kangkang tilt. The two also interact frequently outside the game; during the group interview after winning the championship, Kangkang was also joking with S1Mon, so fans call this relationship "EDG Team Bullying (80)."
- As other team members were suspected of having discord with S1Mon due to training issues, leading toS1Mon Incidentbroke out, memories of this relationship and the meme are gradually no longer mentioned.
- Gui Kang: After winning the championship, Kang Kang continued to maintain great form, often achieving jaw-dropping results in ranked matches. If it weren't for the prominent "Radiant" rank in the Traditional Chinese server, one might mistake it for smurfing. Therefore, borrowing from the famous Counter-Strike
smurfingstreamer Gui Ju (Ghost Sniper), Kang Kang earned the nickname "Gui Kang." Whenever Kang Kang starts dominating the field, the bullet chat will start saying "Gui Kang, stop smurfing on my Radiant/pro brothers."
Notes
- ↑ https://www.bilibili.com/read/cv24324293
- ↑ [1].ProSettings
- ↑ The real name of former PUBG pro player 17shou is Wang Kang.
- ↑ Boofrom Lithuania,benjyfishyfrom the UK, and Team Heretics has always followed a pan-European mixed roster approach, with limited understanding of Spanish.
External Links
- Bilibili:https://space.bilibili.com/20682845
- Huya Live:https://www.huya.com/126518
- Weibo:https://weibo.com/5931630841
- Twitter:https://twitter.com/zmjjkk
