The EMEA third seed, Team Falcons Vega Team Falcons Vega MENA Rank #5 madv Modhi Alkanhal Toki Maria Perez eva Nur Çakır Sandra Sandra Sherif Mary Maryam Maher , has defeated Ambitious Legend Gaming GC Ambitious Legend Gaming GC China Unranked Yusin JinNy Sarindhorn Wanothayarnchai Muffyn Chalita Buathong Laiyin 1hp 2-0 in their opening Game Changers 2024 Championship match. Falcons will next play against Shopify Rebellion Shopify Rebellion North America Rank #25 meL Melanie Capone alexis Alexis Guarrasi Noia Nicole Tierce florescent Ava Eugene sarahcat Sarah Simpson , while ALG remains in the lower bracket in hopes of continuing their run.

The expanded tournament means both teams are able to make their international debut, but they each have experienced players in the Game Changers circuit. Team Falcons feature the first GCC winner, Mary , one of eight players in 2024 to return to the premier GC tournament with a title under their name. Ambitious Legend, meanwhile, boasts the long-standing Thai duo of Muffyn and JinNy , who have been together since 2021 and represented South East Asia in the 2022 Game Changers Championship. Additionally, Yusin returns to the international stage, as she played for Chao Hui EDward Gaming Chao Hui EDward Gaming Inactive Blue in 2023.

The series kicked off on Haven, Falcon were completely dominant throughout the first half. Their Neon-Iso spearhead was one of the key factors to their 8-4 opening, as the duo ended the attack with six first eliminations and 11 kills each. lexa and Toki 's map control was equally important, an oppressive style full of fakes and late rotations forcing out ALG's two timeouts by round 8. ALG was able to string together a pair of rounds after their second pause, but lexa and Toki continued their oppressive play on round 11, preventing the score gap from getting too close and helping their first half end 8-4.

Toki net the first ace of the tournament in her international debut

Muffyn gave her team hope coming into the second half, as her Jett led the charge to take the second round and anti-eco rounds. This set the score 8-6, the closest ALG got to equalizing, but Toki and madv turned things back in their favor in the bonus round. Toki won a 1v1 to take the next point, and Falcons did not drop a round afterwards. Together, the duo earned a combined 19 eliminations in the last seven rounds of the map, and finished the defense with a 1.81 and 2.37 rating, respectively. In the end, the pair helped Falcons steal ALG's map pick 13-6, putting them on a comfortable track to a series win.

“I love the confidence, the excitement,” madv said regarding the Iso after the series.

Falcons immediately showed why they had selected Split as their map for the series. They debuted a double-sentinel composition with Yoru as the duelist, catching ALG's more traditional Raze-Skye based composition off-guard. The sentinel-heavy lineup proved too much for the China representatives, as ALG was unable to take a single round in their offensive half, a dominant 12-0 paving the way to Falcons Vega's first international win.

“Deadlock and Cypher are strong together on Split, I think the difference was Yoru,” madv commented on their new composition following the series. “This was my first game on Deadlock,” she added.

Falcons Vega's shut down saw them end the first half with a combined 11-3 in first eliminations to first deaths, and, in terms of rating, the MENA squad's lowest-rated player matched their counterpart's highest-rated player. Toki's support-focused playstyle meant she ended the half with a 0.68 rating, but her 10 assists helped her teammates get a total of 53 eliminations in 12 rounds with a KAST averaging 98% and score ratings ranging from 1.58 to 1.98.

Once again, Muffyn stepped up in an attempt to turn the tables, with two triple-kills giving her team two rounds and some breathing. madv had different plans, as she earned a round 3 Annihilation and found a 3K of her own to end the map 13-2.

“I still feel like it's a dream,” madv said following their win. Looking forward to their next series, she added, “If we play the same as today, the same confidence, playing as a team, I think we can do anything.”

The victory, beyond being Falcons Vega's international debut and first victory in the global stage, represents a similar milestone for the MENA region as a whole. While Mary had previously been a part of the inaugural GCC champions, Falcons Vega's participation and win also marks multiple firsts for a Middle Eastern team, as their previous best performance had been during T2 capstone events such as the VRL Finals in 2022 or Ascension earlier this year.

Team Falcons Vega looks to continue their run against last year's Game Changers Champions, Shopify Rebellion. Ambitious Legend Gaming remains in the tournament, but will need to stay alive in the lower bracket, with their opponents still to be determined.