Game Changers Championship 2023 Recap - Shopify Rebellion Reign Supreme

Dec 4, 2023

As the sun goes down in São Paulo following the VCT Game Changers Championship, North America’s Shopify Rebellion will be the ones riding off into the golden horizon with the trophy, defeating longtime champions G2 Gozen and the red-hot Team Liquid Brazil. It was a clash for the ages, with titans falling left, right, and center. If you missed out on any of the action or just want to breathe in the atmosphere all over again, here’s our rundown on everything that happened at the 2023 VCT Game Changers Championship. 

VCT Game Changers Championship 2023: Standings

Below are the final standings for the VCT Game Changers Championship 2023:

From the Depths of Defeat to VCT Game Changers Champions: Shopify Rebellion’s rise to glory

Despite going into the tournaments as one of the favorites, Shopify Rebellion did not have a simple path by any means. Formerly Version1, the squad has an impressive roster, featuring ex-Cloud9 White’s much-lauded Melanie ‘meL’ Capone as IGL. 

In the early stages, Shopify Rebellion tore through Chao Hui EDward Gaming and BBL Queens without dropping a map, with their victories incredibly decisive. In the upper bracket final they met their main challenger, however: EMEA’s G2 Gozen, the reigning VCT Game Changers Champions. With a point to prove, EMEA’s finest weren’t going down without a fight, taking the series to three matches. But, after a rough showing on Ascent, G2 just couldn’t pull it back on Sunset, handing their newfound rivals the first Grand Final spot.

As Shopify Rebellion conquered the upper bracket, Team Liquid (TL) Brazil worked their way through the lower one, only dropping a single map to Team SMG, and eliminating G2 Gozen entirely. The battle lines were drawn for the final: could NA beat Brazil on their home turf?

Unfortunately, Shopify faced a setback before the players even entered the server, with IGL meL testing positive for COVID-19 and having to play from an isolated room. However, the squad came out swinging, taking first-map Haven into overtime, winning 14-12 following an unbelievable 35 kills from Ava ‘florescent’ Eugene on Jett, including an amazing ace to close things out. From here, though, things continued to go back and forth, with TL Brazil taking Lotus, Shopify sweeping Breeze, and then TL Brazil making it back up on Sunset. 

It all came down to map five: Ascent. Where any team would start to tire, Shopify tapped into that inner fire and continued their march to victory, with all five players showing up, especially Alexis ‘alexis’ Guarrasi on KAY/O with 16 kills and 16 assists. With the decisive map ending 13-6, Shopify Rebellion took home the VCT Game Changers Championship 2023 title.

Talking in the post-game interview, alexis discussed her experience competing in last year’s Game Changers Championship alongside meL in Cloud9 White, believing that they ‘were a little bit complacent last year’. She followed this up by saying that ‘this year we just assumed the worst, that everyone was better than us, and we worked super super hard’, and it sure paid off for her, meL, and the rest of the Shopify Rebellion roster.

It was a competitive end to the 2023 VCT circuit, and 2024 is going to be even better. With changes to VALORANT Challengers, the introduction of Premier, and more, you’re not going to want to miss a single thing! 

VCT Game Changers Championship 2023: VODs
Until then, though, if you missed out on any of the VCT Game Changers Championship 2023 action, check out the VODs on https://valorantesports.com/vods.