Meet the 8 teams competing at VCT Game Changers Series 2

June 24, 2021

by Jessica Scharnagle

This past weekend, eight teams secured their spot in the main event of the second NA VCT Game Changers tournament. Those eight teams will compete to crown a winner this coming weekend.

VCT Game Changers Series 2 is an all-women’s VALORANT tournament, which is hosted by Dignitas. The tournament features a $50,000 prize pool and will feature a double-elimination bracket. The main event takes place Thursday through Sunday.

Here is a look at the eight teams competing this weekend in the VCT Game Changers tournament.

TSM Female

TSM Female had a tough run in the last VCT Game Changers, but they’ve secured their spot in the main event again and are looking to make a comeback.

The crew feels pretty confident this time around. In VCT Game Changers Series 1, they were forced to find a substitute at the last minute. This time around, the team has signed Leah “LeahPanda” Nemchin-Crossman as their fifth, and they’ve had some time to play together and gain some coherence.

“We’re feeling really really good coming into [Game Changers]. Pretty high expectations all around from all the girls, so we’re really excited to play, and I think we’re going to bring our A game no matter what,” Mirna “athxna” Noureldin said.

Dignitas Female

Fans expect Dignitas to have a good showing in this tournament amid their stay at the Verizon 5G Gaming Center in Los Angeles.

The women have been at the facility for almost a week practicing for the tournament. Dignitas have given them all the tools they need to succeed, so fans are expecting them to do well.

“Dignitas knows that we just want to win,” Emmalee “EMUHLEET” Garrido said in a press conference. “They’re giving us all the resources that we need to do that.”

Just Breathe

They had an impressive showing against CLG Red in the qualifying round, and Just Breathe will have to prove themselves yet again in their first match of the main event, which is also against CLG Red.

In the qualifying round, Just Breathe took the match 2-1 in a reverse sweep. Now, they’ll rematch CLG Red in the first match of the tournament.

“We’ve been scrimming a lot and we’ve been putting a lot of work into perfecting our maps that we struggled on [during qualifiers], so I think we’ll have a good showing,” Kiara “milk” Makua said on playing CLG Red in the first match of the main event.

Just Breathe is a beloved team to many fans, and they are hoping that making a good showing in this tournament might get them signed by an org.

Cloud9 White

The reigning champions are back to defend their title. The team’s roster has remained unchanged save for Kaitlin “Keiti” Boop’s departure after she was accused of misconduct.

The team is just as confident as ever that they will win this tournament, even after they’ve had to adjust to a roster of five.

“Previously, when we had a six-player roster, we had some players that played some maps and sat out other maps. We had a rotation based on what maps we were picking, and we no longer have that, and we get to be much more direct and get to have all players in all the time,” head coach Chris “Dream” Myrick said.

C9 White are heavily favored to win the entire tournament again, even with meta changes and one less player.

NOTHING2LOSE

Even though their first match is against the reigning champs, NOTHING2LOSE are looking to secure their reputation as a team to be feared.

“With the short amount of time we’ve been together as a team and the promising results that we’ve shown, we are hoping to get at least top three if we don’t win the whole thing,” Carolynn “artStar” Noquez said.

ArtStar was previously on Dignitas’ roster, so she is hoping to face off against them and win at some point in the tournament.

GX3

GX3 are an unsigned team that is coming to the VCT Game Changers tournament for the first time. Fans will find a familiar name among the roster though with Annie “Aniemal” Lee, who competed for CLG Red in the VCT Game Changers Series 1 tournament.

Although many fans might not be familiar with GX3, the brand has been around since 2002 when Ali “alimonstr” Lew founded it. Now the team is looking to make a name for themselves in the VALORANT competitive scene.

They have a tough first match ahead of them against TSM, who beat them in the upper bracket during qualifiers.

Shopify Rebellion

Remember Moon Racoons Black? They’re back under a different name after they were picked up by Shopify Rebellion. Their roster for this tournament isn’t quite the same as it was since Diana “diana” Zhang is currently on vacation in Hawaii with her family.

Although diana won’t be competing, the team isn’t worried, and they are elated to have the talented Kiana “KP” Lytle fill in for her.

“[Diana not playing] was big, but maybe it was a blessing in disguise because we got KP out of it,” Lorrian “Lorri” Elad said.

Counter Logic Gaming Red

CLG Red is back and ready to take the crown this time. In the last VCT Game Changers tournament, they made it to the final but lost to Cloud9 White.

“I feel like our narrative from the last VCT was really underwhelming. A lot of teams had brushed us off, even including the cast, just the whole narrative of our team, even though we placed second it seemed very underwhelming, so this time our goal is to win it,” Benita “bENITA” Novshadian said.

The addition of Melanie “rise” Tetreault is a great boon for CLG Red’s roster. She had one of the best clutches in the qualifiers against Just Breathe.

The VCT Game Changers tournament starts Thursday, and fans can watch the matches on Riot Games' Valorant Twitch channel, Dignitas' Twitch and Raidiant's Twitch.

Lead image credit: Riot Games