On the first day of the VALORANT Game Changers championship, the reigning APAC champions in Team SMG gave fans a reason to watch and a moment to remember when they locked in one of the wildest, unforgettable agent comps ever seen in a pro match.
When the agent select screen popped up today, both the analyst and commentary desk were stunned to see Team SMG lock in a Lotus comp with Phoenix, Neon, Reyna, and Raze before rounding it out with Cypher. Game Changers fans had already been treated to a surprise earlier in the day with G2 Gozen’s role swaps, but this comp from Team SMG truly caught everyone off guard. Pro players, casters, and prominent VALORANT community members flooded Twitter with stunned reactions of pure disbelief.
The strengths of this composition were instantly recognizable. On defense, Team SMG easily sent early pressure and took space, effectively forcing EG’s attack into the site where their lone non-duelist Cypher was waiting. Even if EG managed to get a plant down, the ability of four duelists to flash in and create space in a retake made holding onto a site in a post-plant nearly impossible. EG had to spend both a Raze and Viper ultimate just to get their first attack round on the board and only managed to find success by sprinting to the site where Cypher was waiting and overwhelming them.
On attack, Team SMG made their way onto sites with ease with all their space-creating utility but just kept pushing, catching EG off guard in their own spawn before they could even attempt a retake. Fans only got to watch a limited amount of this comp as Team SMG secured a 13-3 win on Lotus at a breakneck pace.
The composition almost felt like a fitting tribute to one of APAC’s best VALORANT teams in Paper Rex, who’s famous for running duelist-heavy comps at a ridiculously fast pace. In fact, one of APAC’s most beloved players in Paper Rex star Jinggg briefly played for Team SMG in 2021.
