GuildX dethrone G2 Gozen as the new EMEA Game Changers champion

In a nail-biting best-of-five drama, Guild overcame a 2-1 deficit to defeat G2 Gozen 3-2 and dethrone them as the new EMEA Game Changers champions. The biggest EMEA Game Changers rivalry has just taken an intriguing turn.

The female Valorant team Guild X created history by defeating their storied rival G2 Gozen in the VCT Game Changers EMEA Series 3 final. G2 took a direct upper-bracket pathway to the final, defeating Case Hydra, Rix.GG Lightning, Guild X, and Navi Celestials en route. On the other hand, Guild X advanced through the lower bracket after losing to G2 2-0 in the upper bracket semifinal the day prior. After beating Acend Rising 2-1, Tenstar Nova 2-0, then Navi Celestials 2-0 in the lower bracket, Guild booked a place in the grand final against the former champions.

The former champions came out hot on Bind (13-6) and took a 1-0 lead but they couldn’t hold the advantage much longer as Guild retaliated and took second map Fracture(13-3) in a lopsided manner. Gozen thoroughly dominated the third map in the series, Pearl, as they had total control over the game from the very first second. But in the next map, the team was unable to maintain its lead. They were behind 9:3 after a dismal first half on Ascent. Julia “juliano” Kiran of G2 made a brave effort to make a comeback in the second half, but Guild rejected all attempts and ended the map 13:9.

Both of the European teams put on their best efforts during the game, destroying one another round after round to maintain the score level at 2-2 at the conclusion of map 4. However, Guild X emerged on top, beating the former champions 13-9 on Icebox to clinch their first-ever Game Changer title. Fans selected Guild’s Neslişah “Ness” Demir as the tournament’s most valuable player after the series was over. With a 1.15 average rating and 81 percent average cast, she had the best overall performance in Game Changers Series 3.

The EMEA rivalry will take the global stage

Previously, Guild had lost many times to G2 Gozen in the VCT Game Changers women’s circuit. It was in 2021 that Guild X dropped the Gamer Changer title for the first time when Gozen defeated them in the EMEA Stage 3 grand finals. Similar results occurred in 2022 when G2 Gozen once more defeated the Guild in the Series 1 and Series 2 grand finals. Before the match even started, Guild X and G2 Gozen had already reserved their seats at the Game Changers Championship Berlin. Along with the other regional representatives, who have not yet been named, the two teams will go to Berlin in November for the Game Changers tournament.

Header: GuildX