While the headlines belong to the main Valorant circuit, the women’s and marginalized-gender scene is in the middle of its biggest week of the year. The Game Changers 2026 Championship in São Paulo started on October 22 and runs through November 2, with a $500,000 prize pool, a double-elimination bracket and ten teams from around the world. The event is held at the Riot Games Studio in the Brazilian city, and the winner takes home $180,000.
Who is in the field
The ten-team field covers every major region: Team Liquid Brazil, Nova Esports GC from China, EMEA’s G2 Gozen, Gentle Mates GC and SK Nebula, Latin America’s KRÜ BLAZE, North America’s Shopify Rebellion Gold, Pacific’s Gen.G GC and FENNEL GC, and MIBR GC, who came through the Americas Last Chance route.
The upper bracket so far
MIBR GC opened with a 2-0 win over FENNEL GC and then beat G2 Gozen by the same score, a result that sent the EMEA number one seed into the lower bracket. Gentle Mates GC swept Team Liquid Brazil, Shopify Rebellion Gold swept SK Nebula, and KRÜ BLAZE needed three maps to get past Gen.G GC. Those four teams were set to play the upper semifinals on October 27: MIBR GC against Gentle Mates GC, and Shopify Rebellion Gold against KRÜ BLAZE. The winners advance to the Upper Final on October 30.
Lower bracket drama
The elimination matches have been where the surprises happened. Team Liquid Brazil beat Nova Esports GC 2-0, while FENNEL GC edged Gen.G GC 2-1 in a rematch of the Pacific final. Then came the next round: SK Nebula beat FENNEL GC 2-0, ending the Pacific region’s run, and Team Liquid Brazil beat G2 Gozen 2-0 on Split and Sunset.
SK Nebula’s win was the more unusual one. On Lotus they ran a composition without a Sentinel, using two Duelists and two Controllers, and won 13-5. On Sunset they trailed 4-0 early before taking it 13-11, with rezq finishing on 24 kills with Yoru. Liquid’s own comeback against G2 featured a 9-0 attack half on Sunset after G2 had opened 8-2 on attack. For G2 Gozen, the loss means a 7th-8th place finish, their lowest placement in the event’s history.
What comes next
With both teams now in the top six and in the lower bracket, Team Liquid Brazil will face the loser of Shopify Rebellion Gold versus KRÜ BLAZE on October 28, and SK Nebula will meet the loser of MIBR GC versus Gentle Mates GC. The Lower Final follows on October 31 and the Grand Final on November 1, with $100,000 for the runner-up and $70,000 for third.
For fans who follow the main VCT, the event is a reminder of how deep the talent pool is in Brazil and Europe in particular, and a home crowd could matter for Liquid and MIBR. Anyone thinking about placing a wager on Game Changers matches should keep in mind that markets for the event are usually thinner than for the main tour, and it is worth reading up on how welcome bonuses and their terms work before using one. Always bet responsibly and only if you are of legal age.
Related:
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
