Ariana Grande Perfume win VCT Game Changers Academy Grand Finals
On Sunday, unsigned squad Ariana Grande Perfume took a 2-1 victory over Dart Monkeys in the Valorant Champions Tour Game Changers Academy Grand Finals to become this stage’s champions.
Ariana Grande Perfume have had a solid set of performances since they first debuted in Game Changers Academy this past June. The unsigned squad have since taken victories against teams with organizations backing them, like Complexity, Version1, and Immortals. They were also able to make it to the main event of the last proper Game Changers North American tournament. Here, they made it to the second round of the lower bracket before falling to Dignitas (now Evil Geniuses). AGP impressed as the only other unsigned squad besides Dart Monkeys to make it into the tournament, even though they weren’t able to advance to the finals.
The VCT Game Changers Academy finals were a best-of-three between Dart Monkeys and Ariana Grande Perfume. AGP chose to start things off on Icebox, while Dart Monkeys went with Bind. Though the first map was fairly evenly matched, Dart Monkeys were able to steal away their opponents’ map pick 13-11, seemingly putting the other unsigned squad on the back foot.
Despite this loss, Ariana Grande Perfume didn’t allow their mental to be shaken. They snapped back and took Dart Monkeys’ pick in turn, 13-10, pushing the match to a third map on Breeze. Here, AGP managed the reverse sweep by taking the map 13-8. With two consecutive maps under their belts, Ariana Grande Perfume became the VCT Game Changers Academy Champions and took home their first big trophy.
All of the North American Game Changers teams will have their eyes set on the third and final series of the year leading into the international championships in Berlin, Germany. Open qualifiers for this event will begin on October 6, with the main event starting on October 13.