KRÜ BLAZE KRÜ BLAZE Latin America South Rank #3 dods Caue Fernandes conir Constanza Reyes micaela Micaela Ferreyra biazik Beatriz Begnossi has defeated ZETA DIVISION GC ZETA DIVISION GC Japan Rank #10 SereNa Kim Sia (김시아) UR Moco Sarina Kawashima aco 2-0 in the inaugural Game Changers 2024 Championship match. KRÜ will next play against G2 Gozen G2 Gozen Europe Rank #213 rezq Eda Naz Akçocuk amy Amy Lai Vania Aleyna Keskin Petra Petra Stoker mimi Michaela Lintrup , the 2022 Game Changers Champions and 2023 bronze medalists. ZETA, meanwhile, descends to the lower bracket, awaiting the rest of the opening matches for their opponents.

This series marks ZETA's first appearance at a Game Changers Championship, as the team fell apart in the 2022 qualifiers and lost 3-1 to Chao Hui EDward Gaming Chao Hui EDward Gaming Inactive Blue in the 2023 East Asia qualifier final. KRÜ Blaze, on the other hand, has played in all three iterations of the Game Changers Championship, but has been unable to make it far in the tournament.

The match began on Bind, where ZETA DIVISION GC was able to take an early lead. UR sealed the pistol round by stalling the defuse, and ZETA eventually forced out the opponent's timeout by 4-2. Unfortunately for the Japanese lineup, the tactical pause and a 4K from dods was more than enough to reverse momentum, as KRÜ went on to take the lead and end the first half 7-5.

micaela turns the round and wins the pistol

ZETA looked posed to take their second pistol round of the series, but micaela had different plans. Left alone with romily , she held strong against ZETA's three-player stack camping a dropped spike, and was able to win the round for her team after rotating. micaela continued extending her team's lead, taking a 1v1 against ZETA's suzu . The economic damage was enough to keep the score close, but KRÜ remained unfazed as they ended their map pick 13-9

Map 2, Ascent, began in similar fashion to Bind. Moco and SereNa helped close out the first few rounds with a triple kill each, setting their team on track to win five early rounds. Down 5-2, a conir 4K kicked off her team's comeback, taking the lead and ending the first half 7-5.

Moving on to the second half, ZETA was able to tie after winning their third pistol round. It was not enough, however, as conir and romi continued their contributions in the second half and eventually pushed their team back into a comfortable position. The pair got a combined 21 eliminations in their attack half, with conir earning a 1.71 rating thanks to back-to-back-to-back multikills and a 1v1 win in round 21. The veteran duo ended the series the following round by shutting down ZETA's retake, winning Ascent 13-9 and taking their initial series 2-0.

The victory marks KRÜ BLAZE's first-ever opening match win at Game Changers Championship, setting them up for a series against the 2022 GCC winners, G2 Gozen. ZETA DIVISION, meanwhile, will wait for their next opponent in the lower bracket.