The 2024 Champions MVP would end five seasons at EDward Gaming and join d4v41 at a Xi Lai Gaming side rebuilding for its first year as a partner.
Zheng “ZmjjKK” Yongkang is set to join Xi Lai Gaming ahead of the 2027 VCT season, sources told Sheep Esports. The 22-year-old is expected to leave EDward Gaming when his contract runs out later this year.
Neither ZmjjKK, EDG nor XLG has confirmed the move. Sheep calls him “one of the region’s best players, if not the very best”, and links the move to a wider reshuffle after all four Chinese teams went out of Champions Shanghai in the group stage without winning a series.
The face of EDG’s world title
ZmjjKK joined EDG in September 2021 and grew into the team’s star duelist. In July 2024 he became the first player in VCT China to reach 1,000 kills, and a few months later EDG became the first Chinese team to win VALORANT Champions. They beat Team Heretics 3-2 in the Seoul final, where ZmjjKK finished with 111 kills and was named MVP.
That season EDG also won China Kickoff, Stage 1 and Stage 2. Since then they have reached the playoffs at two Masters and finished third both times, but the last two Champions ended in the group stage.
| Year | Event | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Champions Los Angeles | 5th to 6th |
| 2024 | Masters Madrid | 5th to 6th |
| 2024 | Masters Shanghai | 7th to 8th |
| 2024 | Champions Seoul | 1st |
| 2025 | Masters Bangkok | 3rd |
| 2025 | Champions Paris | 13th to 16th |
| 2026 | Masters Santiago | 11th to 12th |
| 2026 | Masters London | 3rd |
| 2026 | Champions Shanghai | 13th to 16th |
The individual awards kept coming. Sheep counts the Stage 1 regular season MVP this year and the China Kickoff MVP in 2025 among them.
EDG face a bigger rebuild than one player. Zhang “Smoggy” Zhao, the controller from the 2024 title team, is also set to leave for Bilibili Gaming, as we reported on Thursday. Losing both would leave EDG without two of their Champions winners.
XLG build around a new core
Xi Lai Gaming came up through Ascension and have earned a place among Riot’s China partners for 2027 and 2028. Their 2026 season started well, with second place in both China Kickoff and Stage 1, but internationally they have not gone deep.
| Event | Result |
|---|---|
| China Kickoff | 2nd |
| Masters Santiago | 11th to 12th |
| China Stage 1 | 2nd |
| Masters London | 5th to 6th |
| Esports World Cup | 13th to 16th |
| China Stage 2 | 5th to 6th |
| Champions Shanghai | 13th to 16th |
Sheep reported on Wednesday that Khalish “d4v41” Rusyaidee, who left Paper Rex last week, is set to join XLG as well. Neither move is official. XLG’s current roster also includes Sharks and Lysoar.
Sheep expects this XLG lineup for 2027, with one spot still open:
ZmjjKK (reported)
d4v41 (reported)
happywei- WsLeo
XLG are also without a head coach after Aleksandr “hvoya” Eremin left for Aurora Gaming, according to Sheep. With ZmjjKK and d4v41, XLG would add a world champion and a Masters Toronto winner to a team that reached the Champions playoffs in neither 2025 nor 2026.
