After ripping through a busy schedule in 2023, one of the fastest-rising professional VALORANT superstars has vented some of his frustrations around his performances, along with expressing how tired he and his teammates are after such a packed year.
In a recent stream, Edward Gaming’s Zheng “ZmjjKK” Yongkang was heard lamenting the busy schedule for his team, saying he’s “not in good health by playing too many tournaments this year,” according to translations by Valo2Asia. The 19-year-old phenom also said he was suffering from pain in his hand, along with a loss of form after playing through so many tournaments.
“Do you expect me to maintain a 100 percent competitive state after playing five offline tournaments in two months?” he said, according to translations by Valo2Asia, as he continued to voice his thoughts on the year. “To be honest, if you think you can do it, come and replace me at EDG.”
ZmjjKK also said that during this year, EDG used older strategies that were eventually studied by opposing teams, causing them to practice new plays that led to heavy criticism. As a result, the young star felt like there was nothing they could do correctly, whether they stuck with what they knew or tried to innovate.
Ever since VALORANT Champions 2023 ended this past August, many participating teams chose to get a good amount of rest to prepare for the offseason and new year. EDG, on the other hand, have been extremely busy, having played four more events over the last two months alone. Overall, ZmjjKK and the rest of his squad have played 10 total events throughout the year, whereas fellow Pacific rivals Paper Rex have only played one extra tournament after Champions.
It also doesn’t help that Riot Games doesn’t have a proper solution for VALORANT player burnout until 2025, which is when it will be implementing a more spaced-out schedule with the same amount of events across a larger time frame. Even still, a whole year with the same schedule could mean disaster for teams, especially those who are expected to pull off extended runs into every tournament they play in.
Player burnout is a massive issue in professional esports, having affected multiple different players and scenes across the industry. In the League of Legends scene, for example, the intense schedule and rising expectations have pushed players into depressive states, while others took up unhealthy habits to cope with the situation.
