The fifth VCT Game Changers Championship gets under way in São Paulo on Thursday, with FENNEL and MIBR playing the opening match. It is the last edition held as an event of its own: from 2027, Riot will stage it alongside Valorant Champions.
Ten teams are at the Riot Games Arena in São Paulo for the top event of Riot’s circuit for women and marginalised genders. The prize pool is $500,000, with $180,000 for the winner, and the grand final is on 1 November at .
The opening match
FENNEL qualified as the second seed from the Pacific. The Japanese team went unbeaten through the upper bracket of the regional final, beating Gen.G 2-1 and Team Falcons Vega 2-0, before losing a five-map grand final 3-2 to Gen.G on 20 September. It is FENNEL’s first Game Changers Championship since 2022 in Berlin, where they left with two defeats and a shared seventh place.
MIBR GC took the last place at the event. After finishing third in the Brazil Finals, they lost 2-0 to FlyQuest RED in the round robin of the Americas Last Chance Qualifier, then beat them 3-2 in the grand final on 15 October. MIBR also came through the Americas LCQ in 2025 and finished third in Seoul. A year earlier, they reached the grand final in Berlin.
The winner meets one of the two top seeds, G2 Gozen or Shopify Rebellion Gold, in the upper quarter-finals on Saturday. The loser drops into the lower bracket.
- FENNEL: Moco, SereNa, suzu, UR, YuRinChi
- MIBR GC: meL, bstrdd, conir, mizzy, Waved
Thursday’s matches
- : FENNEL vs
MIBR GC - : SK Nebula vs Nova Esports GC
Both are best-of-three. Every series is played as a best-of-three except the lower bracket final and the grand final, which are best-of-five.
The field
Team Liquid Brazil are the defending champions. Shopify Rebellion have won the title twice, and G2 Gozen won the first edition.
| Year | City | Winner | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Seoul |  Team Liquid Brazil | Shopify Rebellion Gold |
| 2024 | Berlin | Shopify Rebellion | MIBR GC |
| 2023 | São Paulo | Shopify Rebellion | Team Liquid Brazil |
| 2022 | Berlin |  G2 Gozen | Shopify Rebellion |
The 2026 teams:
- North America: Shopify Rebellion Gold
- Brazil: Team Liquid Brazil
- Latin America: KRÜ Blaze
- Americas LCQ: MIBR GC
- EMEA: G2 Gozen,
Gentle Mates, SK Nebula - Pacific: Gen.G, FENNEL
- China: Nova Esports
The last one on its own
When Riot revealed the VCT 2027 calendar, it moved the Game Changers Championship to Austin, where it will be played alongside Champions between 16 September and 10 October 2027. Every team that qualifies will receive $100,000. That makes São Paulo the last stand-alone edition.
How to watch
The English broadcast is on Riot’s official channels: VALORANT on Twitch, Valorant Esports on YouTube and VALORANT on Kick.
