Cover-Credits:
The Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) Game Changers was created by Riot Games to provide new opportunities and exposure for women and other marginalized genders within Valorant esports. After the conclusion of the first-ever world championship, one can confidently say that the program has become a success as fans witnessed amazing plays, performances, and storylines emerge from the tournament. G2 Gozen (G2) took a thrilling victory against North America’s (NA) Shopify Rebellion (SR) in the grand final and cemented its name as the first-ever VCT Game Changers Champion. The final series was a rollercoaster ride and it went down to the wire as G2 prevailed and turned it around in a reverse sweep as it lifted the Game Changers trophy with a 3-2 win.
At the end of the series, during the post-match interview, G2 Gozen’s Maryam "Mary" Maher gave a heartfelt speech. She gave a shout out to her country Bahrain and said, “I am so happy to represent the Middle East. Especially my country and all the Middle Eastern girls. You can make it! If you put something in your head: a vision, a goal, or whatever it is, you can always do it. Just believe in yourself because I made it today and I can’t believe it.”
G2 Gozen’s reverse sweep recap
The two teams were comprised of the following players:
G2 Gozen
Julia “juliano” Kiran
Petra “Petra” Stoker
Michaela “mimi” Lintrup
Anastasiya “Glance” Anisimova
Maryam “Mary” Maher
Shopify Rebellion GC
Kayla “flowerful” Horton
Diana “sonder” Zhang
Kiana “KP” Lytle
Lorrian “Lorri” Elad
Benita “bENITA” Novshadian
The first map of Pearl actually started well in favor of G2 Gozen and notably, this map was G2’s pick. However, the team started to falter and Shopify closed in on the round scores quickly. It looked like it would be over in Round 19, but a resounding play from mimi and Petra and gave G2 three more rounds to fight. In Round 22, flowerful secured three crucial kills and sealed the deal in Map 1 for SR.
The second map of Bind also went in favor of Shopify Rebellion (13-9) which capitalized on every mistake made by Gozen. Notably, G2 Mary had an incredible performance on Chamber on Bind. Mary had the highest average combat score (ACS) in G2 with 241 and her KDA was 18/18/3. Whereas, flowerful on Chamber for Shopify topped the charts on the other side. Flowerful’s ACS was 251 and her Chamber performance pulled a KDA of 19/6/4.
G2 Gozen’s resilience and mental fortitude really showed on Ascent where the team mounted a huge comeback and started the reverse sweep. The third map was dominated by Gozen who picked up a 13-3 win.
The EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) squad continued its stampede onto Map 4 Icebox where it led the charge into a 10-2 half. However, Shopify’s flowerful had a crispy ace that made everyone turn their heads in Round 10. G2 comfortably won the second half with a 13-2 score.
The decider map was Breeze and G2 Gozen had a real advantage going into it since it had not lost the map in over a year. Sonder’s Reyna pick did not go as planned and the player faltered very early on in the match. G2’s defense on Breeze was impeccable as it ended the first half with a strong 9-3 scoreline. While everyone believed in the 9-3 curse, G2 soon would smash it into smithereens as it concluded the series with a 13-5 victory, making it the first VCT finals reverse sweep.
