Shopify Rebellion wins 2023 VCT Game Changers Championship 3-2 over Team Liquid Brazil
Team Liquid Brazil entered the tournament with the São Paulo crowd roaring behind them, but that didn’t stop them from losing to G2 Gozen in the first round. Team Liquid Brazil won four consecutive matches in the lower bracket – capped off by a 2-0 revenge win over G2 Gozen – to make it to the grand finals.
Shopify Rebellion, on the other hand, dropped only a single map on their way to the grand finals. Despite in-game leader Melanie “meL” Capone having to play from an isolated room due to a positive COVID-19 test, SR looked poised to take the series against whoever they were up against for the title of 2023 VCT Gamechangers Champion.
The series delivered right from map 1 with Shopify Rebellion edging out Team Liquid Brazil in overtime on Haven 14-12. On Lotus for map 2, TL Brazil looked like they might go out quietly in front of their home crowd. Instead, after being down by a score of 10-4, TL Brazil won 10 of the next 11 rounds against SR to take Lotus 13-11 and tie the series 1-1.
Photo by Bruno Alvares /Riot Games
Shopify Rebellion settled in on Breeze and took map 3 dominantly by the score of 13-5 to take the series to match point, but Team Liquid Brazil responded right back. On their pick of Sunset for map 4, TL Brazil took a 10-2 lead in the first half before closing out the map 13-7.
Both teams started out aggressively on Ascent for the final map of the series with the first half ending up in a 6-6 deadlock. Ultimately, it was Shopify Rebellion who took Ascent 13-6 to win the series and the 2023 Gamechangers Championship.
While meL is considered to be the best player in Gamechangers, the start of SR’s victory was without a doubt Ava "florescent" Eugene. The Canadian sharpshooter broke the VCT Gamechangers record for most kills in a single map and the record for most kills at a GameChangers Championship LAN event. Fittingly, florescent got the final kill on Team Liquid Brazil’s Letícia "joojina" Paiva to win it all. For her 112-kill effort, florescent – a first-time competitor on the international stage – was awarded finals MVP.
