Fans of the VALORANT Game Changers North American scene were gearing up for a familiar sight as both Version1 (formerly Cloud9 White) and Shopify Rebellion seemed destined to meet once more in the Series Three grand final. Only one team—Evil Geniuses—stood in their way, and they turned the narrative on its head in a major way.
After falling into the lower bracket at the hands of Shopify during the first round of the tournament, EG GC found revenge in the lower bracket final, eliminating Shopify 3-1 including a monstrous 13-0 win on map four.
This squad has only been together for 20 days, which includes Melisa “Theia” Mundorff taking on the role of in-game leader for the first time. Despite this, the squad survived through the entire lower bracket taking down the reigning regional second-place finishers in commanding fashion.
This is likely due to a combination of Theia’s years of experience in competitive FPS games—she started as an aspiring Counter-Strike pro at age 15 and competed for Dignitas Female—and Lorrian “Lorri” Elad’s prior experience as a core member of Shopify Rebellion. She was with her now-rivals from 2021 through Series One of this year’s Game Changers season and clearly knows what it takes to defeat her former teammates.
EG GC moves into tomorrow’s Series Three grand final where they face North America’s perpetual final boss Version1. Beyond making history again if they manage to keep their winning streak up, EG GC will also qualify for this year’s Game Changers World Championship.
V1 has already qualified for the main event via circuit points, so EG GC must defeat them in the grand final to snag the winner’s automatic qualification. If they aren’t able to take down V1, Shopify Rebellion will qualify instead, making their second appearance at the global LAN.
The grand final kicks off tomorrow, Oct. 8 at 4pm CT.
