Series 2 Grand Final Briefer

Day 1, Part 1 | Upper Bracket Quarterfinals

The first round of the Series 2 Main Event was full of excitement and surprises, with three out of four matches resulting in an upset. This is the greatest number of upsets that have ever occurred in a North American Quarterfinals round since the establishment of the Game Changers circuit.

The only matchup that went according to seeding was the Version1 versus Overkill Black rematch. Like the previous series in the closed qualifier, Version1 once again emerged with a comfortable 2–0 victory (13–7, 13–2).

On the same side of the bracket, Complexity GX3 defied expectations by defeating Shopify Rebellion GC in two maps (13–9, 13–9), marking the first time in Game Changers NA history that Shopify Rebellion has fallen before the upper finals. Moving past the quarterfinals, the team has matched their previous best finish of 5th-6th place with the opportunity to improve upon it.

Next up, the freshly minted roster of Disguised GC shocked audiences by upsetting XSET, the third place finishers of Series 1. DSG successfully completed a reverse sweep, losing the first map of Pearl and winning the subsequent maps of Bind and Split (6–13, 13–3, 13–9). As such a new roster, DSG GC appears to have amazing potential as Disguised Toast’s best performing team.

The final matchup of the Quarterfinals was between FaZe Clan GC and Evil Geniuses GC. EG had defeated FaZe in both of their previous encounters, but this competitive series saw FaZe pulling off the 2–1 win in another reverse sweep (3–13, 13–8, 13–8), securing FaZe their best GC finish ever and advancing them to the Semifinals.

Day 1, Part 2 | Upper Bracket Semifinals, Lower First Round

In round one of the Series 2 Main Event, we saw the victors advance to the Semifinals, and the vanquished fall to the lower bracket. In round two, we saw the triumphant fight it out for a top 3 finish and the defeated fight for a chance to stay in the competition.

The first matchup of the Semifinals saw Complexity GX3 and Version1 facing head-on. The first map of the series, Lotus, set the record for the most rounds ever taken away from V1 in a Game Changers tournament. With amazing performances from both L4CE and clawdia, COL just fell short of the map win, losing 12–14 in overtime. The second map, however, was a complete mow-down as Version1 swept their way through Pearl, winning 13–5 and advancing to the Upper Finals.

On the other side of the bracket, XSET and Evil Geniuses GC were battling it out to proceed in the event. Although XSET put up quite a fight on Ascent (9–13) and won Split in convincing fashion (13–5), they failed to find solid ground on Bind and lost again in another 5–13. This ended the team’s run at 7th-8th place, which is this roster’s lowest placement to date.

The other lower bracket match was between Shopify Rebellion and Overkill Black. Although expectations weren’t high for OVK, they still managed to offer resistance on Pearl versus SR, taking away 10 rounds, yet were still dismantled on Lotus, losing 4–13. Although OVK finished only 7th-8th, they can still consider Series 2 a success, as they were the only F/A team to qualify for the Main Event in over a year.

At the same time, another upper bracket match was happening between FaZe Clan GC and Disguised GC. Although a fairly new team, DSG showed yet again why they aren’t a team to be messed with — they won FaZe’s map pick, Ascent, in a tight 13–10 and emerged victorious on their own map pick, Bind, making a statement by shutting FaZe down 13–3 and sending them to the lower bracket.

Day 2 | Lower Second Round

The second day of the Main Event would take place entirely in the lower bracket. Following their survival in the first round of the Lower Bracket, Shopify Rebellion and Evil Geniuses would attempt to continue their tournament run against FaZe Clan and Complexity, respectively.

FaZe Clan, who were knocked into the lower bracket by the red-hot Disguised GC, would face a Shopify Rebellion determined to return to the Grand Final. FaZe would not be statistically favored in this matchup, as Shopify, since their creation, had only lost a series to a handful of Game Changers teams, including the Cloud9 (now V1) core, the TSM (now FlyQuest RED) core, and Complexity GX3.

FaZe Clan would be unable to add their name to that list, as they fell 9–13 on Shopify’s pick of Pearl, and 3–13 on their pick of Ascent, ending their run. Shopify would advance to the lower third round, facing the winner of the other lower bracket match between Evil Geniuses and Complexity.

Complexity, starting their lower bracket run after a defeat at the hands of the defending champions Version1, now looked to continue their run in the lower bracket, with Evil Geniuses the first obstacle standing in their way.

Complexity had not beaten Evil Geniuses since Series 3 of 2022, with two best-of-three matchups and a best-of-one matchup all going in favor of EG since then.

The series would open first on Pearl, with Complexity taking a 13–8 victory on their opponent’s map pick, stealing the map pick advantage as the series shifted to Lotus, wherein Complexity would win 13–7, taking the series 2–0 and advancing to face Shopify.

Day 3 | Upper Finals, Lower Third Round

Day 3 of the Main Event was the last hurdle before deciding which two teams would clash in the Lower Final and who would meet in the Grand Final of the Series.

Disguised GC were on a miracle run so far, winning both of their matchups and looking to take a third. They weren’t dealt a good hand, however, as they faced the titans of NA Game Changers: Version1. The series would open on Haven, where V1 stole DSG’s map pick and won 13–5. DSG put up more of a fight on the second map, Pearl, but still couldn’t convert it into a win and lost 7–13, setting them up for another series in the Lower Finals, as Version1 returned to the Grand Finals.

The second and last series of the day was a rematch between Shopify Rebellion GC and Complexity GX3 for a spot in the Lower Final. Shopify had been looking to take revenge on COL after losing to them in the Upper Bracket Quarterfinals and being sent to the lower bracket. This intense series went the distance, with Complexity winning Haven (13–9), Shopify winning Fracture (13–11), and finally COL coming out as the victors yet again by winning Pearl (13–6) and denying SR a Grand Finals run for the first time in almost two years. Complexity secured themselves a minimum of 3rd place in Series 2 and kept their run alive to make it to the Lower Final versus Disguised GC.

Day 4 | Lower Final

In the highly anticipated Lower Bracket Final, Complexity GX3 and Disguised GC battled it out in a best-of-five thriller for a spot in this series’ Grand Final. In the end, Complexity defeated the underdogs of DSG in a 3–1 series. On the first map of Fracture, DSG started strong with a 13–9 win over the higher seeded Complexity roster. However, Complexity retaliated by winning the next two maps, Pearl and Haven, in competitive games of 13–7 and 13–10, respectively. On the fourth map of Ascent, Complexity continued running hot as they secured the victory in a dominant fashion, 13–2. Under the new in-game-leadership of ex-Cloud9 White Jazzyk1ns alongside a standout performance from flex player L4CE, the Complexity roster looks stronger than ever heading into the Grand Final.

Though the series did not go in their favor, credit must be given to DSG’s incredible first tournament run. Even within Series 2, they showed improvement from match to match, and many are eagerly awaiting their participation in Series 3. For Complexity, their victory secures them a minimum of 2nd place, the best finish in the organization’s history.

In the Grand Finals, Complexity will face off against Version1 in a rematch, hoping to continue their upward trajectory against the titans of North American Game Changers and take home their first Game Changers title.

You can watch the Grand Finals on Twitch at valorant_americas, and on YouTube. The series will begin at 2pm PST or 5pm EST, and will be a Best of 5. Version1, as the upper bracket team, will receive two map bans whereas Complexity will not ban any maps.