Image credit: Adela Sznajder/VALORANT Esports
Shopify Rebellion shocked the VCT Game Changers Championship after its victory over G2 Gozen.
The only hope of North America have stunned the VCT Game Changers Championship after Shopify Rebellion GC came from behind to send G2 Gozen to the lower bracket. SR was also the second team to have made G2 work and this time, they prevailed after dropping the first map only to win the next two and book a spot in the grand finals. G2 isn't out yet though as they will await the winner between hometown favourites, Team Liquid Brazil and Team SMG Female.
Both teams were first dropped to the lower bracket at the hands of G2, so a rematch is already on the cards for them. As for SR, they will get to watch both the lower bracket semifinal and final unfold as they get a day's rest before the grand finals against one of the remaining three teams. And while they haven't even been NA's best team, this was SR's first map loss of the tournament that they still went on to win anyway.
G2 showed just why they're arguably the EMEA's best team as they absolutely stomped SR on Breeze. G2 won eight out of the 12 rounds in the first-half that also included a 3K from Vivian "roxi" Schilling in the second round as well as Petra "Petra" Stoker in the fourth. This would end up being one of her three 3Ks of the map as she got two more in the 13th and 19th rounds to seal an almost hour-long map win.
But on Ascent in the second map, SR showcased great resilience and mental fortitude to come back in style against the reigning champions. SR jumped to a quick 6-0 lead to start the first-half as Sarah "sarah" Simpson got the ball rolling with back-to-back 3Ks in the first two rounds. Alexis "alexis" Guarrasi followed that up with a 3K of her own in the third round to further cement SR's dominance during the early stages.
While G2 was able to get the seventh and eighth rounds, they weren't able to stop SR from rampaging through to take four more round wins to end the first-half 10-2. The second-half would also take just four more rounds as SR was able to win the pistol and subsequent round after to put themselves on match-point. G2 did manage to delay the victory for just one more round before SR took the 16th and final round to force the decisive map.
Sunset was the map of choice for the third game and both teams went into it with a 1-0 score in the tournament so far. And unlike game two, SR was not able to generate much control over proceedings as G2 played great defence to keep the NA squad at bay. However, SR still managed to get seven out of 12 first-half round wins as Melanie "meL" Capone was cold with her two 3Ks in the fifth and eight rounds.
She would come in clutch again in the second-half after a clinical 1v2 that allowed the rest of her team to carry the momentum forward to take four rounds in a row. SR's 11-5 lead meant that they needed just two more wins but G2 were not going to go quietly. G2 took the 17th round, but SR responded straight after in the 18th as Ava "florescent" Eugene took the game by the scruff of its neck to dish out a 4K. That's not all though as Petra replied in kind with a 4K of her own in the 19th round to get the win back for G2.
Roxi followed it up with a 3K in the 20th round to keep G2 in the fight at 8-12. Unfortunately, they could not stop the bleeding as SR went for the kill in the 21st round with florescent picking up a 3K for herself to see out the series in style. This was more than a statement series for SR as they lost last year's GC Championship grand finals to G2. While the circumstances are different this year, SR now have the chance to right the wrongs of last season's near-miraculous run.
