2022 Game Changers Year In Review

As the Game Changers offseason kicks off, tournaments become fewer and farther in between and as players prepare for the 2023 season, it’s time to take a look back at 2022 and what it brought for Game Changers around the world.

In 2022, the second year of the Game Changers, fans saw more organizations enter the circuit, the first international LAN championship, and the first international champions crowned. We saw dynasties show cracks and new powerhouses start to write their legacies. The Game Changers circuit grows stronger by the day as the competition becomes tighter.

Beginnings: January-April

Every story has to start at the beginning, and many regions started their story with their first tournament of the year, Series 1, which took place in EMEA, and North America. Other regions utilized open tournaments culminating in a regional final. Those regions, Latin America (split into North and South sub-regions) and Asia Pacific, held their first open tournament around the same time. Brazil, which had two large tournaments, Protocolo: Gêneses and Series 2, began the qualifiers for Protocolo Gêneses during this time.

Latin America Open 1

Latin America, which is split into two sub-regions, north and south, held separate tournaments for each, with the top four teams in each receiving instant qualification to the next open tournament in addition to circuit points.

In the North sub-region, Skull Cracker Fem made a strong showing, as they only dropped one map on their way to the grand finals. After forfeiting their quarterfinals match against Akave Girls, FiRePOWER made a perfect run through the lower bracket, posting four consecutive 2–0 scores on their way to the grand final. In the grand final, they would fall 2–1 to Skull Cracker Fem.

In the South sub-region, KRÜ Fem would similarly give fans a strong showing, losing only one map on their way to the grand finals. Undead Female, who were defeated in the upper semifinals by KRÜ, made their way through the lower bracket, defeating Clowns Killer and FEMSANE on their way to a rematch in the grand final, in which KRÜ would win 2–0.

EMEA Series 1

The first tournament of the year in the EMEA region took place in late January, with rivals G2 Gozen and Guild X fighting their way through the upper bracket and meeting in the upper finals, where Guild X would fall 2–0 to G2.

Guild X would move to the lower bracket, where TENSTAR Nova lay in wait, looking for revenge from their previous matchup in the upper bracket. The rematch between TENSTAR and Guild would take place on the same three maps, with the result being the same, with the first map going in favor of TENSTAR, and the last two maps going in favor of Guild.

Guild would win their spot in the grand finals through their defeat of TENSTAR, where they would have a second opportunity to face G2. In the grand final, the first map between G2 and Guild would go to overtime, with G2 pulling ahead to win the first map. The second map would go in favor of Guild, but G2 would win the next two maps to win the finals 3–1, winning their second consecutive tournament over Guild.

Asia Pacific Open 1

The Asia Pacific region is home to Alter Ego Celeste, a team that had dominated most of 2021, and X10 Crit Female, a newly signed team previously competing under the name Mad Army who had crossed paths with Alter Ego Celeste in the Southeast Asian Game Changers Elite tournament in 2021.

In 2022, the year would kick off with the first open tournament, where both X10 and Alter Ego would win their first two matches, crossing paths in the upper finals, where Alter Ego ended victorious, sending X10 to the lower final with a chance at a rematch in the grand finals.

The Capitol Arise, who had been sent to the lower bracket by X10 in the opening round, defeated Quintuplet, Team SMG, and Siomai and Friends, all 2–0, on their way to the lower finals, where X10 lay in wait. X10 would end victorious, ending The Capitol Arise’s lower bracket run, and setting up a rematch with Alter Ego Celeste in the grand finals.

The grand final best of five would go the distance, with each team winning their map picks. The series would head to Bind as the final map, in which Alter Ego would reign victorious, winning the series 3–2.

Latin America Open 2

The second open tournament in the Latin America region would see the top four teams from the previous tournament be instantly seeded into the upper quarterfinals, with four spots open to teams from qualifiers.

In the north, the four teams from the previous tournament were Skull Cracker Fem, FiRePOWER, Unnamed Esports Fem, and LeaveNoWitnesses. They were joined by FUSION X, Deportivo Cali Esports, Soul Free Fem, and Monterrey Esports Fem. Similarly to the previous open tournament, FiRePOWER and Skull Cracker Fem would give fans a strong showing, placing first and second, respectively.

In the south, the four teams from the previous open tournament were KRÜ Fem, Undead Gaming Fem, Movistar Optix Fem, and Meta Gaming Fem, joined by NIX, Goat Crew Girls, ArtmyzRose, and P9MNM from the qualifier stage. KRÜ Fem continued their success from their last showing, sweeping the tournament with consecutive 2–0 victories over Goat Crew Girls, Meta Gaming, Movistar Optix, and Undead Gaming.

Undead Gaming, who placed second in the previous tournament, once again made a run through the lower bracket following a defeat at the hands of Movistar Optix. They had an opportunity at redemption against Movistar Optix in the lower finals, in which they won 2–0, advancing to the grand finals, where they would fall 2–0, placing second once more.

Asia Pacific Open 2

Continuing in the Asia Pacific region, Alter Ego Celeste continued their dominance over the region, as they made another clean run through the upper bracket, only losing two maps across the entire tournament, both to Bren Esports Victress, previously known as The Capitol Arise, who placed second.

X10 Crit Female, now rebranded as X10 Sapphire, placed fourth, losing twice to Bren Esports, once in the opening round, and once again in the third round of the lower bracket.

The third place finish went to Team SMG, who had placed in the 5th-6th split of the first open tournament.

North America Series 1

In North America, Cloud9 White continued their dominance over the region as they made a clean sweep through the bracket, not losing a single map on their way to winning the region’s first tournament of the year.

Shopify Rebellion would place second, and other big names in the region such as Dignitas, CLG Red, Gen.G Black, and TSM X would also secure top placements. Notably, out of the eight teams to qualify for the main event, only one were free agents: Dart Monkeys. Big names that missed the main event included XSET Purple, Immortals, Complexity GX3, and Misfits Black.

Middle: May-July

In the heat of summer, many tournaments took place with dynasties taking shape and powerhouses showing cracks. With the Game Changers Championship being announced on June 13, many teams saw higher stakes than the previous year of competition, as the chance to prove themselves against the best teams in the other regions arose. The pressure to be at the top of their region was higher than it had ever been.

Asia Pacific Open 3

The Asia Pacific region has no shortage of tournaments, with their third open tournament taking place from April 29 to May 8. The top four teams from the previous open tournament, Alter Ego Celeste, Bren Esports Victress, X10 Sapphire, and Team SMG, once again placed in the top four, although in a different order than before.

All four teams would win their opening round matchups, pitting Team SMG against Bren Esports and Alter Ego Celeste against X10 Sapphire in the second round. Bren Esports and X10 would end victorious, sending Team SMG and Alter Ego to the lower bracket, where they would face off in the lower third round. Alter Ego would defeat Team SMG and Bren Esports, who lost to X10 in the Upper Final, to advance to face X10 in the grand final.

In the grand final, Alter Ego Celeste would continue their streak of tournament wins, completing the lower bracket run with a 3–0 victory over X10 Sapphire, winning their third tournament of the year.

EMEA Series 2

The second of three tournaments in the EMEA region took place from May 3–8, with the qualifier taking place a few weeks earlier.

The rivalry between G2 Gozen and Guild X would continue, with the teams meeting in the upper semifinals after both would win their first three matches 2–0, with G2 Gozen coming out on top 2–0, sending Guild X to the lower bracket to face Supermassive Blaze.

Guild X would defeat Supermassive Blaze, Futbolist Jeff, and Rix.GG Lightning on their way to a rematch with G2 in the grand final. Unfortunately for Guild fans, they were unable to avenge their earlier loss to G2, as the house of Gozen took home another title following their 3–0 defeat of Guild.

Asia Pacific Open 4

The fourth and final open tournament in the Asia Pacific region took place from May 27 to June 5, with three of the four usual culprits in action once more: Alter Ego Celeste, Team SMG, and Bren Esports. X10 Sapphire, a usual member of this top 4 group, was notably absent from both the knockout stage and playoff stage of this tournament after being eliminated in the group stage after a close 2–1 loss to Thirsts Red.

In the playoff bracket, Bren Esports and Team SMG would be seeded into a first round matchup with each other, with Bren taking a 2–1 victory and sending Team SMG into the lower bracket. Bren would advance and face Alter Ego, who would win 2–1, and continue their success into the grand final. In the lower bracket, Team SMG would defeat Aresta and Sovereign, before winning a rematch against Bren in the lower third round. They would continue past Nigma Galaxy Female to the grand finals against Alter Ego, where they would lose in a hard-fought 3–2. Alter Ego would collect their fourth title of the year, securing their spot as the top seed in the final tournament in the Asia Pacific region, APAC: Elite.

Bren Esports Victress and Team SMG would also qualify to APAC: Elite as a result of their placements across the open tournaments, while X10’s poor showing in Open 4 would force them to attempt to qualify through to Elite through the Open Overtime tournament or Last Chance Qualifier.

Asia Pacific Open Overtime

The 16 teams in the APAC region with the most circuit points (excluding Alter Ego (1), Bren Esports (2), and Team SMG (3)) would face off in APAC Open Overtime, a double-elimination tournament with three spots in APAC: Elite on the line.

After a hot start, X10 Sapphire would face Orangutan X in the upper semifinals, with the winner qualifying to APAC: Elite, yet they would fall 3–0, moving to the lower bracket as Orangutan X would take the qualifying spot. On the other side of the upper bracket, ZOL Meraki would defeat Nigma Galaxy 3–1 to take the other qualifying spot from the upper bracket.

The remaining teams would be able to obtain a qualifying spot through the lower bracket, although only one would be available. Nigma Galaxy, looking for redemption after their loss to ZOL Meraki, would defeat Hero Zero KDA and Armory Aresta and face off against X10 Sapphire, defeating them 2–1, ending X10’s chances of qualifying to APAC: Elite in Open Overtime and advancing to the third place match to qualify.

The other half of the lower bracket saw W Streak Esports bounce back from their loss to ZOL Meraki as well, stopping BIGG SCYTHE’s lower bracket run in its tracks to advance to the third place match.

In the third place match, with the final qualifying spot on the line, Nigma Galaxy would defeat W Streak 3–2, securing their spot in APAC: Elite.

Latin America Open 3

In the second half of June, Latin America would host their final open tournament of the year, with the top eight in each subregion advancing to the finals in August.

Seeded into the playoff bracket in the North was FiRePOWER, Skull Cracker Fem, FUSION X, and Akave Girls.

The Northern sub-region once again saw FiRePOWER display their strength, as they strung together four consecutive 2–0s on their way to capturing their second open title of the year, and their third finals appearance.

Skull Cracker Fem, another powerhouse in the sub-region, placed second, although they lost twice to FiRePOWER in the upper final and grand final. They defeated Awake Gaming and Leviatan Female in the upper bracket, and Akave Girls in the lower bracket on their way to their second place finish.

In the Southern sub-region, 9z Team, KRU Fem, Movistar Optix, and Undead Gaming were seeded into the playoff bracket.

Similarly to FiRePOWER, KRU Fem showed off in Open 3 with four consecutive 2–0s, and a third open title.

Undead Gaming once again placed second, defeating AKA Team and Movistar Optix, but falling to KRU in the upper final. They won their rematch with Movistar Optix 2–1, advancing to the grand finals, but were unable to win their rematch against KRU, falling 0–2.

Protocolo Gêneses

Brazil would kick their year off with Protocolo Gêneses, consisting of four open qualifiers (Feb 24–27, March 31- April 3, May 5–8, Jun 2–5), leading up to a main event with the top 8 teams from the open qualifiers.

Each open qualifier would grant teams circuit points according to their placement, with the amount of points up for grabs increasing as qualifiers passed.

After the conclusion of the four qualifiers, the top eight teams were: Team Liquid Brazil, TBK Esports, B4 Angels, Gamelanders Purple, Stars Horizon Venus, ODDIK Bright, Cleiteam, and TropiCaos.

Team Liquid Brazil, who had placed first in all the open qualifiers, only losing two maps in the process, made a flawless run through the upper bracket, defeating TropiCaos, Gamelanders, and B4 Angels 2–0 on their way to the grand final.

After losing to Team Liquid in the upper semifinals, Gamelanders Purple began their lower bracket run against ODDIK Bright, defeating them 2–1, advancing to the next round against Stars Horizon, in which they would be victorious 2–1. Their final hurdle standing between them and a rematch with Team Liquid Brazil would be the best-of-five lower final against B4 Angels. Gamelanders reached the grand final, completing the lower bracket run after a 3–1 victory over B4.

Gamelanders’ momentum would come to a screeching halt, as Team Liquid would assert their dominance over the region with a 3–0 victory. As a result of their victory, Team Liquid would receive 60 circuit points towards the world championship in Berlin.

North America Series 2

Back in North America, Series 2 was much more chaotic than the previous tournament. Cloud9 White, who had looked nigh unstoppable up until this tournament, lost a map to Misfits Black in the Closed Qualifier stage of the tournament (24 team field). They had also been sent to the lower bracket following a forfeit to Immortals in an off-stream match.

In the main event, Cloud9 would once again be sent to the lower bracket, this time at the hands of Shopify Rebellion who, with new addition Benita, would get revenge for the 3–0 defeat they suffered in Series 1. Shopify defeated TSM in the upper finals to advance to the grand finals. Cloud9 would make a lower bracket run for the ages, defeating Dignitas and TSM on their way to a rematch in the grand finals. Cloud9 would get their revenge, defeating Shopify 3–1 to claim their fifth straight title.

End: August-November

As the weather cooled and the leaves turned, the intensity of the competition across the globe burned brighter than ever before. Regions began to wrap up their year, as the top teams in each region fought for their chance to represent their region in Berlin.

Japan

With the announcement of the Game Changers Championship and one spot for an East Asian representative, Japan began their Game Changers journey with a tournament to decide who would represent them in the East Asian final.

The 16 team open qualifier would be sorted into four groups of four teams each, with the top team in each group advancing to the playoff bracket. The qualifier would utilize a single elimination, best-of-one format, with teams needing to win two matches in a row to advance.

The teams topping their groups were: FENNEL, Focus e-Sports, ZETA DIVISION, Insomnia Female. However, ZETA DIVISION withdrew from the tournament following internal issues resulting in them dropping a player. The spot vacated by ZETA DIVISION was filled by REIGNITE Lily, who came in second in their group, losing to ZETA 13–11 in the group final.

The playoff bracket kicked off with FENNEL facing Focus e-Sports, with FENNEL advancing to the grand final, 2–0. The other semifinals match pitted REIGNITE Lily against Insomnia, with REIGNITE defeating Insomnia 2–1. As there were two slots in the East Asia final up for grabs, both FENNEL and REIGNITE received bids, and faced off in the grand final, a best-of-five in which FENNEL was victorious, 3–2.

Asia Pacific Last Chance Qualifier

The penultimate tournament in the APAC region: the APAC Last Chance Qualifier gave teams one final shot at APAC: Elite, with two spots up for grabs.

Teams with previous success in the open series would not receive any favors, as they would have to play through the group stage, knockout round, and playoffs to acquire a spot in Elite. X10 Sapphire, BIGG SCYTHE, and W Streak entered the tournament looking to wash the taste of Open Overtime from their mouth by qualifying to Elite. All three teams would top their groups and qualify to the knockout stage, where they would also continue their success, advancing to the playoffs.

In the playoff stage, X10 Sapphire would put on a show, not dropping a single map, defeating ARF Starlight, W Streak, and X Team Bo on their way to securing a spot in Elite.

BIGG SCYTHE and W Streak would play each other in the first round of the playoffs, with W Streak emerging victorious, although they too would move to the lower bracket one round later after their loss to X10. BIGG SCYTHE would be eliminated from the lower bracket by ARF Starlight in the first round of the lower bracket, clearing the way for W Streak to make a flawless run through the lower bracket past Black Magic, BASISSIX, and X Team Bo, as they joined X10 in APAC: Elite.

Latin America Finals

Wrapping up the year in Latin America, both the north and south held a final tournament, bringing together the top eight teams in each sub-region, ranked by the circuit points accumulated throughout the three open tournaments. The field of eight teams would compete with a trip to the regional finals on the line.

In the north, the eight teams were: FiRePOWER, Skull Cracker Fem, Akave Girls, FUSION X, Deportivo Cali Esports, Leviatan, Atrenun Venus, and Awake Gaming.

Fans in the north would be treated to more of the same, as both FiRePOWER and Skull Cracker Fem would win their first two matches, facing off in the upper final. FiRePOWER would again be victorious, advancing to the grand final, while Skull Cracker moved to the lower final against FUSION X.

FUSION X, after losing their first round match against Leviatan 1–2, went on a lower bracket run for the ages, defeating Awake Gaming, Deportivo Cali, and Akave Girls to advance to the lower final against Skull Cracker Fem.

Unfortunately for FUSION X, their lower bracket run would end at the hands of Skull Cracker, who defeated them 3–0 en route to a rematch in the grand final, which would mark the seventh time FiRePOWER and Skull Cracker would cross paths, and the fourth time they had faced off in the grand finals.

FiRePOWER would once again be victorious in the grand finals, winning the first two maps by two rounds apiece (13–11, 14–12), and closing out the third map 13–5 to claim their title as the best team in the north, and advancing to the regional final to face the representative from the south.

In the south, the eight teams with the most circuit points were: KRU Fem, NOORG (previously Undead Gaming), Movistar Optix, 9z Team, Cruzados Esports, Maleficas, AKA Team, and CUY Gaming.

KRU Gaming and NOORG, habitual finalists, would win both their quarterfinals matches and their semifinals matches, facing off in the upper final, where KRU would win 2–1.

In the lower bracket, 9z Team cut Cruzados Esports’ lower bracket run short, advancing to the lower final against NOORG.

In a nail-biting best-of-five, 9z Team and NOORG won their opponent’s map picks, entering the fifth map, Split, with a trip to the grand finals on the line. 9z Team would come out on top, riding an 8–4 opening half to an eventual 13–9 victory, winning the series 3–2 and advancing to the grand final against KRU.

The grand final would begin with 9z Team continuing their momentum by stealing KRU’s map pick, Breeze, 13–9. The series would continue to Haven, 9z Team’s pick, where KRU would strike back 14–12. All momentum for 9z Team would be lost, as KRU snowballed their first map win into a 13–4 win on Ascent and a 13–5 win on Bind, winning the series 3–1. KRU advanced to the regional final against FiRePOWER as the best team in the south.

Korea

As Japan launched their Game Changers circuit by holding a tournament to determine their representatives in the East Asia qualifier, so would Korea. The four teams advancing past the open qualifier to the playoff bracket were SPEAR GAMING, MBTI, Cherish Girls, and Lone Way E-SPORTS.

The playoff bracket would follow the same format as the Japanese tournament, with four teams playing through a single-elimination bracket. The semifinals were best-of-three and the finals were best-of-five, with the top two teams advancing to the East Asia qualifier.

The opening matches pitted MBTI against Cherish Girls and SPEAR GAMING against Lone Way E-SPORTS. Both MBTI and SPEAR GAMING would win their semifinals matchups 2–0, securing their bid to the East Asia qualifier and advancing to the grand final. In the grand final, SPEAR GAMING would end victorious, winning 3–1 to claim the title of best in Korea.

Summer Gauntlet Valorant Invitational

The Chinese region would host a similar qualifier to their Japanese and Korean counterparts, however in the Summer Gauntlet, six teams would fight through a double elimination bracket with two teams starting in the upper semifinals.

The first round of the upper bracket began with Bubble Girls playing Normal Player Gaming and Urban Beauties playing Oxyg3niOus. Normal Player Gaming and Oxyg3niOus would advance to the upper semifinals to play ShanXi Gaming Girls and Lady Killer, respectively, with Bubble Girls and Urban Beauties moving to the lower bracket for a shot at redemption.

In the upper semifinals, ShanXi would advance 2–0 over Normal Player, and Oxyg3niOus would defeat Lady Killer 2–0. ShanXi and Oxyg3niOus would advance to the upper final, with the winner automatically qualifying to the East Asia qualifier.

ShanXi would defeat Oxyg3niOus 2–1 in the upper final, locking down the first spot for China in the East Asia Qualifier.

The lower bracket would kick off with Lady Killer taking down Bubble Girls 2–1, and Urban Beauties defeating Normal Player Gaming 2–0. In the second round of the lower bracket, Urban Beauties would overcome Lady Killer 2–0 and advance to the lower final, wherein the victor would not only advance to the grand final, but would gain a spot in the East Asia Qualifier.

In the lower final, Oxyg3niOus, looking to bounce back from their defeat against ShanXi, would face Urban Beauties, a rematch of the first round of the upper bracket. The result of this matchup would be the same as the first time, as Oxyg3niOus would be victorious 2–0, acquiring the second spot in the East Asia qualifier and advancing to the grand final.

In their second rematch, Oxyg3niOus proved their ability to learn from their past, as they defeated ShanXi 2–1, winning the tournament.

EMEA Series 3

EMEA would wrap up regional play with their third tournament of the year, EMEA Series 3. With an immediate qualification to the Game Changers Championship and circuit points on the line, the field of teams would make sure to compete at their peak, fighting for the chance to represent the region in Berlin.

Returning champions G2 Gozen would make sure to show their dominance in the Swiss stage, qualifying to the 32-team main event with a 6–0 record. Other teams that previously placed in the top 8 breezing through the Swiss stage included GODSENT IRIS, Guild X, Rix.GG Lightning, SuperMassive Female, Case Hydra, Alliance Coven, and Natus Vincere Celestials (previously FUTBOLIST JEFF).

G2 and Guild, the finalists of the previous tournament, would meet in the upper semifinals, both teams entering without yet losing a map in the playoff bracket. Ultimately, G2 would advance past Guild 2–1, advancing to the upper final and sending Guild X to face Acend Rising in the lower sixth round.

On the other side of the bracket, the upper semifinals would pit Natus Vincere against TENSTAR Nova, both teams having dropped a map in their upper quarterfinals matchups. Natus Vincere would advance past TENSTAR 2–1, sending them to the lower bracket to face Rix.GG Lightning in the sixth round of the lower bracket.

Both Guild X and TENSTAR would advance to the penultimate match in the lower bracket, in which Guild X would advance past TENSTAR 2–0 and move forward to the lower final.

In the upper final, G2 would continue their dominance, taking down NAVI 2–0, advancing to their fourth straight grand final in a row.

The lower final pitted Guild X, looking to make another grand final, against NAVI, looking to give themselves a second shot at G2. However, NAVI’s hopes of a rematch with G2 would be quickly extinguished, as Guild swept them on their way to a rematch of the Series 2 grand final against G2.

The best-of-five grand final, which would mark the tenth meeting between G2 and Guild, would kick off on Bind, G2’s pick. Following a 8–4 first half, G2 would hold serve, closing out the first map 13–6. Moving to Guild’s pick, Fracture, G2 would seemingly lose momentum as they only tallied three rounds in the first half and none in the second half, falling 3–13 as Guild tied the series 1–1. The next map in the series would be the newest map introduced into the pool, Pearl. Although Guild had a 2–1 record on the map heading into the matchup, G2 would give their fans a strong showing, winning the map 13–6 and bringing the series to 2–1 in their favor, with only one map win standing between them and sweeping the EMEA 2022 circuit. Before that, however, Guild would hold their map pick, picking up a 13–9 victory on Ascent. The series, knotted up at 2 maps apiece, would move to the decider, Icebox. Both teams entered with only one loss on Icebox in the event. Guild, who were not favored by many to win the matchup, would start strong on their attacking half, winning nine rounds before the switch. Members of the house of Gozen would not be concerned yet, as the scoreline invoked the dreaded 9–3 curse that had crushed the hopes of many before. As Guild approached 12 rounds with a 12–5 lead, G2 made a final push, winning four rounds in a row to bring their score up to 9, but it was not enough. Guild won their final round through the round timer, and took home the Game Changers Series 3 title, and the EMEA first seed in the Game Changers Championship. G2 Gozen, as they had accumulated many circuit points throughout the year, would receive the second seed.

Asia Pacific Elite

The final tournament of the year in the Asia Pacific region would bring three teams from the circuit points leaderboard, three teams from Open Overtime, and two teams from the Last Chance Qualifier together to compete in an eight team, double elimination bracket, with only one spot in Berlin on the line.

Tournament favorites, Alter Ego Celeste, showed off their usual dominance, as they defeated W Streak and Orangutan X on their way to the upper final. On the other side, X10 Sapphire, who qualified through the Last Chance Qualifier, defeated Bren Esports and Team SMG, the second and third ranked teams by circuit points, on their way to the upper final against Alter Ego Celeste.

In the lower bracket, ZOL Meraki would bounce back from their loss at the hands of Orangutan X, defeating W Streak, Team SMG, and Bren Esports to reach the lower final. Bren Esports would have their lower bracket run cut short by ZOL Meraki after defeating Rising Hope (previously Nigma Galaxy) and Orangutan before falling to ZOL Meraki 1–2.

The upper final between X10 and Alter Ego would be their seventh time facing off, with X10 holding only one win. However, X10 would obtain their second win, bouncing back from a 5–13 defeat on Pearl with a 14–12 victory on Fracture and a 13–11 victory on Haven to advance to the grand final and sending Alter Ego to the lower bracket to face ZOL Meraki.

The lower final between ZOL Meraki and Alter Ego Celeste would begin tied at 1–1, with each team winning the other’s map picks. The decider in this series would be Ascent, in which Alter Ego would win 13–7 behind a strong 9–3 first half, taking the series 2–1, and advancing to the grand final with a shot at redemption against X10 in their eighth matchup.

In the grand final best-of-five, X10 would win their first map pick, Breeze, with a dominant 13–4. Alter Ego would strike back by taking their map pick, Ascent, in a close 15–13 double overtime thriller after overcoming a 5–12 deficit. Alter Ego would build upon their previous win, flipping X10’s second pick, Fracture, 13–8, to go up 2–1 in the series with a chance to close the series on their pick, Haven. However, X10 would flip a switch, running over Alter Ego on Haven, 13–5, forcing the series to its final map, Icebox.

On the final map, after going down 5–7 at the half, X10 won six rounds in a row to reach 11, and reached map (and series) point with Alter Ego only at eight rounds. Alter Ego, with their backs against the wall, would win three in a row, with all the momentum looking in their favor to tie the map at 12 rounds apiece and send it to overtime, but X10 pulled the map back into their favor, winning the final round of regulation behind three kills from Poly and two from Muffyn, winning the map 13–11, and winning the series 3–2 to claim the right to represent APAC at the Game Changers Championship in Berlin.

East Asia Qualifier

After the conclusion of the tournaments in Japan, Korea, and China, the six regional representatives would compete in the East Asia qualifier, with the winner heading to Berlin as the sole regional representative.

The East Asia qualifier would utilize a group stage leading into a four team, single elimination knockout stage. Each group would consist of one representative from each tournament. Group A consisted of Oxyg3niOus, REIGNITE Lily, and MBTI, while group B consisted of SPEAR GAMING, FENNEL, and ShanXI Gaming Girls.

The top teams from the group stage were Oxyg3niOus and SPEAR GAMING, who won both of their games in their group stage to advance as the first seed from their group. Joining them in the knockout stage would be REIGNITE Lily and FENNEL GC, with each team winning a match and losing a match. Eliminated, and going 0–2 in the group stage, was MBTI and ShanXi Gaming Girls.

The top seeds from the group stage would be seeded opposite each other and play the second seed from the other group, as Oxyg3niOus would play FENNEL, and SPEAR GAMING would play REIGNITE Lily. FENNEL would pull off an upset, defeating Oxyg3niOus 2–1 to advance to the grand final, while on the other side of the bracket, SPEAR GAMING would take down REIGNITE Lily 2–0 to advance as well.

The grand final, where in their previous matchup in the group stage, SPEAR won 2–0. However, this would be quite different, as FENNEL would flip SPEAR’s map pick, Haven, 13–4 to go up 1–0 in the series. Continuing onto FENNEL’s pick, Pearl, the score would be much closer, as FENNEL would win in double overtime, 15–13, extending their lead in the series 2–0 with three opportunities to close it out. The third map, Ascent, was the first map the teams had already faced off on. Previously, SPEAR defeated FENNEL 13–8 on Ascent, but FENNEL once again flipped SPEAR’s pick, winning in overtime 14–12, taking the series 3–0, and advancing to Berlin as East Asia’s representative.

North America Series 3

The final regional tournament in North America would have higher stakes than usual, as following the announcement of the Game Changers Championship, teams would have the opportunity to qualify directly to the Championship by winning Series 3. More hype would subsequently surround this tournament, and in addition to the higher stakes, the competition gap seemed closer than ever, with the rise of teams like XSET and Complexity alongside the continued success of Evil Geniuses (formerly Dignitas) and TSM.

Series 3 officially introduced North American Game Changers to florescent, the star duelist of Misfits Black who had finally passed the age requirement for competition. Many teams had also made roster changes in the time between Series 2 and 3, including but not limited to: TSM, Gen.G, Complexity, XSET, and VersionX.

The eight teams that made the main event of Series 3 were: Cloud9 White, Misfits Black, Complexity GX3, TSM X, Evil Geniuses, Immortals, XSET Purple, and Shopify Rebellion. Notable teams to miss the main event included Gen.G Black, CLG Red, and VersionX.

The eight teams would compete in a double elimination bracket, with teams that qualified in the first part of the closed qualifier playing teams that qualified in the second part.

Cloud9 White, regaining form after their dynasty over North America showed cracks in Series 2, won their first two matches against Immortals and XSET Purple 2–0, advancing to the upper final, where who else but Shopify Rebellion would be waiting for them, defeating Misfits Black and Complexity GX3 2–1 in their first two matches.

In the lower bracket, the teams that were defeated by Cloud9 and Shopify in the first round, Immortals and Misfits Black, made lower bracket runs, eliminating all other teams on their way to facing each other in the third round of the lower bracket, where Misfits Black would be victorious, advancing to the lower final.

The upper final between Cloud9 and Shopify would go in favor of Cloud9, 2–0, and they would advance to the grand final, while Shopify would have to play Misfits Black to continue.

In the lower final, Misfits Black and Shopify Rebellion would have a rematch of their opening match. The series would begin on Icebox, Shopify’s pick, in which Misfits won 13–4. Shopify would strike back, however, as they would steal Misfits Black’s pick, Haven, from them 13–8. Moving to Shopify’s second pick, Pearl, Shopify would hold on to their pick by winning 13–11, going up 2–1 in the series. With elimination threatening Misfits, the series shifted to their final pick, Breeze, in which Misfits would send the series to a decider following a 13–8 map win. The final map in this series, Fracture, would be a match of runs, as Shopify Rebellion would win five rounds in a row twice, alongside an 8–4 half. The halftime deficit proved too large for Misfits to overcome, as Shopify took the map 13–10 and the series 3–2, handing Misfits a third place finish and eliminating their chances of attending Berlin. With this win, Shopify Rebellion locked in their spot in Berlin, and would advance to the grand finals against Cloud9 to determine seeding.

The grand finals would go in favor of Cloud9 White 3–0, as they never gave up more than seven rounds in a map. Cloud9 secured their spot as the North American first seed in the Game Changers Championship, while Shopify Rebellion received the second seed.

Latin America Regional Finals

The Latin American regional finals would pit the best team from the north against the best team from the south in a best-of-five match with the victor advancing to the Game Changers Championship in Berlin as the Latin American representative.

The northern representative, FiRePOWER, would face the southern representative, KRU Fem, on Oct 22, with both teams looking to continue the success they had in their respective sub-regions.

The first map in the series would be Ascent, with KRU taking an early 7–2 lead, and continuing their success into a 13–6 victory and drawing first blood in the series. The series would then pivot to the frigid Icebox, with KRU showing out again, holding FiRePOWER to only four rounds, winning the second map 13–4. The third map would be Fracture, wherein KRU would continue their snowball of success to a 13–6 victory, winning the series 3–0 and advancing to Berlin as the Latin American representative.

Throughout the entire series, KRU never lost more than two rounds in a row, and at most won 10 rounds in a row, spanning two maps.

Brazil Series 2

The second tournament for Brazil would take place in late October, with the qualifiers spanning from mid-August to early October.

Once again, Team Liquid showed extreme dominance throughout the qualifiers, placing first in all three. Joining them in the eight-team main event at the Riot Games Brazil Studio in São Paulo.

Familiar names joined Team Liquid in the main event, including ODDIK Bright, Gamelanders Purple, TBK, B4 Angels, and MIBR.

Not unlike in the qualifiers, Team Liquid burst out to an early lead, taking down MIBR, B4 Angels, and ODDIK Bright to advance to the grand final, only losing two maps in the process.

After suffering a 1–2 defeat at the hands of Team Liquid, B4 Angels began their lower bracket run against DELIRA Female, defeating them 2–0, and advancing to face MIBR, who they also defeated 2–0. In the lower final, which was a best-of-five, B4 completed the lower bracket run, defeating ODDIK Bright 3–1 to face Team Liquid Brazil in the grand finals.

The grand finals, B4’s second best-of-five in two days, gave Team Liquid an advantage in the picks and bans, as they would ban two maps before the map pick would take place, a result of their status as the upper bracket representative. The series would kick off on Icebox, wherein B4 would ride a 10–2 first half to steal Team Liquid’s pick, 13–6. The second map, Bind, would continue B4’s momentum, as they won 11 rounds in the first half, putting Team Liquid on the brink of a series loss as they took the second map 13–5. With Team Liquid on the back foot, B4 Angels once again put up a strong showing on their opponent’s pick, Ascent, as they tied the map 12–12 at the end of regulation, although they were unable to close it out, as Liquid won both rounds of overtime to take the series to a fourth map, down 1–2. Team Liquid would ride their own momentum into the fourth map, Breeze, as they surged ahead 9–3 at the switch, and closed the map out 13–4 to tie the series 2–2 and send it to the decider, Haven. Team Liquid would continue their momentum from the previous two maps, winning the first four rounds, but B4 would strike back and tie the map at four rounds apiece. After some back and forth, Team Liquid would go up 11–7, before closing out the map 13–8 and completing the reverse sweep, winning the series 3–2, securing their spot as the top team in Brazil and earning the right to represent Brazil in Berlin at the Game Changers Championship.