The grand finals of the inaugural #VCTGameChangers worldwide tournament on Sunday brought an unbelievable week of #VALORANT to an end. The North American #Shopify #Rebellion and their Cinderella lower bracket run competed against the #EMEA titans #G2Gozen.
The game today was a rollercoaster and, to be honest, one of the most exciting games in 2022. The first best-of-five reverse sweep in VCT history was achieved by G2 after Shopify Rebellion made a strong start. G2 won 3-2 to take home the Game Changers trophy.
The Match Recap
G2 started off strong on Pearl, winning the first four rounds, but after that, Shopify dominated the map. On the first map of the day, Flowerful relied on her tried-and-true Chamber mechanics to lead her side to a clear victory. After gaining momentum, Shopify didn't let up and won the map choice of their rival, Pearl, 13-9.
Another big clash between Mary and Flowerful in the Chambers was the fight of Bind. Although Mary has been lighting up the stage the entire tournament and G2 was ahead at the half, G2 made multiple errors on Bind that allowed Shopify to capitalize. For Shopify, KP and Lorri held down the fort behind the scenes. The team won six rounds in a row to take Bind and surprisingly made it to tournament-point after just two games.
G2 entered Ascent in desperate need of victory after their defeats on the first two maps. With their backs to the wall, the team's errors on Pearl and Bind vanished, and they appeared to be playing against a Shopify that had appeared unstoppable the previous two days in Berlin.
Before Shopify recorded even one round on the board on their defensive side of the map, G2 earned 10 rounds for themselves. Despite some good reads from Shopify, Mimi and Mary came out with huge technical plays to keep their team in the lead. Ascent was quickly defeated by G2 by a score of 13-3.
The steamroll persisted in entering the Icebox. Earlier today, Shopify held sway over this map thanks to Lorri's outstanding fight performance as the Sage. However, G2 outperformed today in their onslaught. With outstanding frags, including an ace in round 10, Flowerful once more gave her side reason for optimism, but the NA team still trailed by a significant margin at the half.
Shopify was continually punished by G2's defense, and Icebox was defeated 13-2. Mary once more was the squad's star, but Juliano and Mimi's seasoned presence also helped to keep the team together.
Since G2 hadn't lost the map going into today, Shopify needed its players to perform well going into Breeze. Sonder mirrored juliano's selection of Reyna on the map; this was a surprising move from the flashy player who typically plays Neon on Breeze.
Unfortunately, things didn't quite turn out the way Shopify had hoped. Juliano won the Reyna mirror match after Sonder consistently lost the first round in a row. Petra stepped up on Sova to significantly reduce Shopify's prospects of winning the map and the championship by playing an aggressive defensive side. The score at the half was 9-3.
Even though Shopify received a much-needed pistol round in the second half and it appeared for a brief moment that bENITA would be able to recover with a 3K, it was too late. G2 was in the zone and prepared to win it all.
G2 accomplished the first-ever VCT Finals reverse sweep with a 13-5 triumph over Breeze.
The participants were overcome with emotion as they accepted the first VALORANT Game Changers trophy on stage. Five nations are represented on the team: Denmark, Russia, Sweden, The Netherlands, and Bahrain. Following veteran zAAz's retirement midway through the 2022 season, Mary joined G2's lineup and delivered an impassioned message to other Bahraini women on stage.
