Cloud9 White win VCT Game Changers without dropping a map

The first VALORANT Champions Tour Game Changers tournament is in the books and Cloud9 White have emerged the decisive victors. The team didn’t lose a single map throughout Game Changers and easily made their way through the upper bracket.

C9 White won two maps from CLG Red in the grand finals after starting with a map advantage to win the best-of-five matchup 3-0.

Some fans were surprised at the map advantage that was given to C9, since just a week prior in the Masters grand final, there was no map advantage given to Sentinels, who were the upper bracket winners.

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Even if they had started without a map advantage, C9 head coach Chris “Dream” Myrick said the team would have won regardless.

“If we had not had a map advantage, it still would have been a 3-0,” Dream said.

Despite fans not getting a rematch between C9 White and the surprising Moon Raccoons Black, CLG Red didn’t disappoint, and gave C9 a close map. Benita “beNITA” Novshadian in particular gave C9 a very hard time, especially when she was equipped with the Operator.

“It’s been my dream to be an opper. I’ve just never been in the right position. I always just take one for the team or do what I need to do in order to bring the team together,” beNITA said. “When I do get the chance to pick it up, I love picking it up. It’s really fun.”

Despite the tight competition in the first map, C9 were able to pull together and make the second map a decisive victory. Icebox was the first map chosen for competition and CLG Red were able to keep C9 on their toes but ultimately lost 13-11. On Haven, C9 really found their stride and were able to take that map 13-4 to take the crown as the first VCT Game Changers champions.

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C9 started the tournament against Man I Love Fwogs. The match was very short-lived since Man I Love Fwogs took only one round from C9 during the entire match. C9’s next match against Dignitas Female was similarly short-lived, with C9 taking the first map 13-5 and the second 13-3.

It wasn’t until Cloud9 faced Moon Raccoons Black that they met tougher resistance. Moon Raccoons sent them into overtime the first map, Haven, but C9 emerged victorious 15-13. The second map on Icebox was also close, and C9 won 13-11 to secure their spot in the grand final.

What was most impressive in this matchup was that Alexis “alexis” Guarrasi subbed in for Jasmine “Jazzyk1ns” Manankil after her internet went out. On Haven, alexis played Raze, an agent she isn’t used to playing in competition. Even with the last-minute swap, C9 maintained their composure.

“I definitely wasn’t expecting to play Raze on a map that I don’t play, so we weren’t expecting it to be that close,” alexis said of swapping in for Jazzyk1ns.

Many fans wanted to see the Moon Raccoons and C9 match up again in the grand final, but Moon Raccoons were ousted from the tournament by CLG Red, who had been knocked to the lower bracket by Moon Raccoons. CLG got their revenge against Moon Raccoons 2-0 in the lower bracket final before moving on to the grand final.

C9 White will ride their momentum into VCT Stage 2 Challengers and will compete in the open qualifiers for a chance to win a spot at Stage 2 Masters.

Lead image credit: Cloud9