The penultimate day of the Game Changers Championship saw two lower bracket elimination matchups. Cloud9 White Cloud9 White Inactive Bob Bob Tran alexis Alexis Guarrasi Jazzyk1ns Jasmine Manankil katsumi Katja Pfahnl meL Melanie Capone and Shopify Rebellion GC Shopify Rebellion GC Inactive faced off for the 12th time in their careers, but for the second time in their tumultuous history, and when it mattered most, Shopify triumphed with a 2-1 victory. They went on to play the lower bracket finals against Team Liquid Brazil Team Liquid Brazil Brazil Rank #5 Bizerra Vitoria Vieira Joojina Letícia Paiva isaa Isabeli Esser daiki Natalia Vilela bstrdd Paula Naguil and were able to qualify for the grand finals with a 2-0 win.

Shopify won against C9 when it mattered the most. (Photo by Adela Sznajder/Riot Games.)

Shopify Rebellion GC will face off against G2 Gozen G2 Gozen Europe Rank #3 rezq Eda Naz Akçocuk amy Amy Lai Vania Aleyna Keskin Petra Petra Stoker mimi Michaela Lintrup to decide who will be the winner of the first Game Changers Championship.

Shopify Rebellion GC vs. Cloud9 White (SR GC 2-1)

The first game of the day saw the two NA teams clash against each other yet again this year. In their past 11 previous encounters, SR had only won once. Before the event had started, C9 would have been the favorite to win, but based on tournament performance, the favorites weren't so clear-cut. SR GC had almost won 2-0 against Team Liquid in the upper bracket, until a seeker saved TL from that fate and pushed the series to a map three. They were in the best shape and were almost eager to confront their regional rivals where it mattered the most.

SR chose Fracture as the first map of play, where C9 started on attack. This was one of SR's best maps statistically and one of the maps they had managed to beat C9 on before. Even so, C9 were more than prepared for it. They started strong with a pistol round win and won the anti-eco as well. SR, with rifles, got a round of their own with a 3K from flowerful , but C9 reasserted their dominance. After a successful 2v5 retake and ace from alexis , C9 White extended their lead to 5-1, and then won one more. SR were able to slow them down with a thrifty win in round seven, and bolstered by that, won two more rounds to close the gap. C9 switched up the pace, and after two quickly executed rounds, C9 ended the half up 8-4.

It seemed almost over for Shopify after C9 won the second pistol but SR were able to pull off another thrifty plus the subsequent round to get to 9-6. C9 responded with a flawless retake off of bob's NULL/CMD. SR called a timeout at this juncture, but it didn't stop C9 from getting to match point. Backs against the wall, SR dug deep and with strong performances from sonder and KP , SR pushed it to OT.

In overtime, C9 put SR's late-game heroics to rest. NA's top seed once again managed to win their attack round without much ado, then put up a flawless defense to steal away SR's pick, 14-12.

Map two was Haven, C9's choice, where they had a 10-game win streak entering the match. Shopify, beginning on attack, found an explosive start. A 3K from sonder won them the pistol. In the anti-eco, despite C9 bringing it down to a 2v4, bENITA and KP were able to clutch up for SR and extend their lead to 4-0. C9, after getting meL an Operator, were able to win their first off of a 3K from her, but SR countered with a round of their own. C9 then won three in a row, getting the score to 6-4 in SR's favor. Both teams won one more round a piece, ending the half at 7-5 with SR taking a small lead.

C9 were able to equalize the score after two quick round wins, but SR, upon getting their rifles, responded with three rounds themselves. C9's meL stepped up to clutch a 1v2 to get to 10-8, but SR were unbowed. They closed out a half-buy round, then won one more to get to map point. C9 took a timeout, post which Alexis got a 3K and a round for the team, but an aggressive push through a smoke would see sonder getting two kills and SR pushing the series to Icebox.

On map three, yet again, SR got to a strong start, with three round wins in a row. C9 replied with a thrifty win, but SR were able to push the score to 4-1. C9's Jazzyk1ns and Bob both stepped up to help C9 win three rounds of their own to tie things up at four. The rest of the half saw a similar back-and-forth to end at 6-6.

Once the side swap occurred, C9 started strong with a pistol and anti-eco victory. A 3K from flowerful got SR their first round in the half, followed by three more. A timeout from C9 earned them a round of their own, bringing the score to 10-9.

But SR had C9's number. They were able to win three rounds in a row to win Icebox and finally defeat their regional rivals when it mattered the most.

C9 White: No longer undefeated. (Photo by Adela Sznajder/Riot Games.)

During their winning celebration, SR's head coach robwiz showed C9 the middle finger, for which he was later fined and suspended ahead of the team's grand finals match tomorrow, leaving the team without their head coach in their biggest match of the year.

Icebox was flowerful's map: with 342 ACS and 28 kills, she was on top of the server.

Throughout the series, all of Shopify Rebellion stepped up during the team's time of need. In fact, four of the five players had 154 assists between them. C9 were not too far behind, but the main difference-maker was flowerful. She had 63 kills across three maps and a kill differential of 15.

With this, C9 White are out of the GCC. As for SR GC, one more obstacle stood in their way before they could make the grand finals: Team Liquid Brazil.

Shopify Rebellion GC vs. Team Liquid BR (SR GC 2-0)

Having vanquished their archrivals, up next for SR were the Brazilian Game Changers champions, Team Liquid Brazil Team Liquid Brazil Brazil Rank #5 Bizerra Vitoria Vieira Joojina Letícia Paiva isaa Isabeli Esser daiki Natalia Vilela bstrdd Paula Naguil . Team Liquid BR had beaten SR 2-1 in the upper semifinals earlier in the tournament. But for this rematch, SR had done their homework. They banned one of TL's best maps, Ascent, right off the bat, and chose Fracture to start on.

Only one can remain. (Photo by Michal Konkol/Riot Games.)

SR were able to find the first two rounds, but TL stepped up and got two of their own. Shopify won three rounds in a row to push their lead to 5-2. Both teams ended up keeping it competitive and ended the half 7-5 in SR's favor.

After switching sides, SR started strong with a pistol win, but TL stole the following round away. TL narrowed the gap with another win, trailing by one at 8-7. But SR were well-prepared on their map, and their defense proved impenetrable for four rounds in a row to get to map point, 12-7. Team Liquid, after some reflection in a timeout, did counter with two wins, but by then the damage was done. A successful 5v5 retake and an ace from sonder let SR close out the map, 13-9.

Despite naxy having the highest numbers on the server when it came to kills and ACS, overall, SR were just more consistent. None of their players had a negative kill differential and their executes and retakes looked better rehearsed than their opponents.

SR were only one map away from the grand final and the exhilaration of it shone throughout their performance on Icebox. Both teams had a mirror comp heading into the map, with SR starting on defense. They got off to a dominant start, getting the score to 4-1. Though TL tried to keep it close, they could only get two more rounds in the half, ending it at 9-3.

The Brazilian squad's last hopes of a comeback would be to win the pistol and try to continue the momentum, but SR were having none of it. They won the pistol off a 3K from Lorri , then got two more to take Team Liquid to map and series point. TL tried to delay the inevitable, but could only win two more before SR closed it out, 13-5.

Again, TL's naxy had the highest ACS on the server, and again, SR performed better as a team. Lorri and flowerful had 15 first kills to their name. Their support players all had upward of 14 assists each as well. KP, sonder, and bENITA all found impact frags when necessary, and overall, the team was just better at working together and finding trades.

Two Goliaths vanquished in succession, that's a good day's work. (Photo by Adela Sznajder/Riot Games.)

With this win, Shopify Rebellion GC have cemented their place in the GCC grand final. They will face off against EMEA's G2 Gozen G2 Gozen Europe Rank #3 rezq Eda Naz Akçocuk amy Amy Lai Vania Aleyna Keskin Petra Petra Stoker mimi Michaela Lintrup for the title. The teams have not played each other before.

Looking Ahead

The grand finals of the Game Changers Championship will happen on Nov. 20 between G2 Gozen G2 Gozen Europe Rank #3 rezq Eda Naz Akçocuk amy Amy Lai Vania Aleyna Keskin Petra Petra Stoker mimi Michaela Lintrup and Shopify Rebellion GC Shopify Rebellion GC Inactive . The former qualified through the upper bracket, dropping only one map to C9 White, while the latter made a successful lower bracket run after a loss to TL BR in the upper semis.

Tomorrow's game is:

• Shopify Rebellion GC vs. G2 Gozen