Acend Rising knock out defending EMEA VALORANT Game Changers champs in lower bracket run

The final EMEA VALORANT Game Changers series is in full swing as the top teams battle it out to take the final slot at the World Championship for their region. Acend Rising wrote their names in the history books today by defeating defending champions G2 Gozen in the tournament’s lower bracket. 

While Acend Rising took the match 2-0, it was a nailbiter with both maps going into overtime – 16-14 on Bind and 15-13 on Split. In another somewhat surprising turn of events, G2 Gozen were knocked into the lower bracket by another up-and-coming EMEA squad, Falcons Vega. 

This is the first time G2 Gozen has been completely eliminated from a Game Changers series since Guild X defeated them for the 2022 EMEA series 3 title. They have sat as the undisputed queens not just of their region, but of the entire world since 2022 when they defeated Shopify Rebellion in a wild reverse sweep to take home the first-ever Game Changers World Championship title. 

All that said, G2 Gozen have still accumulated enough circuit points to qualify for this year’s Worlds, so this loss won’t derail their post-season plans.

For their part, this Acend Rising squad has been performing consistently well in GC series so far this year, taking third in both of the previous tournaments. Though they’re still fighting it out in the lower bracket, with G2 Gozen’s heads under their belt, Acend are looking dangerous right now. 

Their next opponent is the very same squad who sent G2 Gozen to the lower bracket, Falcons Vega. Only time will tell if these giant killers will be able to take down another team that managed to make the old dynasty bleed.