APAC hopefuls X10 Sapphire bow out of VCT 2022 Game Changers Championship

It was a good fight, but the Asia-Pacific region has bowed out of the VALORANT Game Changers Championship after Thai hopefuls X10 Sapphire (X10S) lost against North American Shopify Rebellion 2-0 on Friday (18 November).

X10S qualified for the VCT Game Changers Championship as the APAC representatives after taking first place at the VCT 2022: APAC Elite last month.

However, right from the start of the tournament, X10S faced one of their biggest challengers.

They were first pit against G2 Gozen in the upper bracket quarterfinals, losing lost both rounds to the Europeans 13-4 on Icebox and 13-7 on Breeze.

X10S then dropped to the Lower Bracket, where they met KRÜ Fem, with the Latin American winning Breeze and X10S only managing to claim 9 rounds.

However, the APAC representatives fought back and showed their expertise on Haven, winning 13-6 in the second round.

In the decider, X10S showed that they did their homework and did extremely well on Fracture, a map they had trouble with in the past.

In the process, the Thai team won 13-7 and eliminated KRÜ Fem from the competition, earning a spot in the Lower Bracket quarterfinals, where they would face Shopify Rebellion.

Shopify Rebellion had earlier won against European team Guild X 2-1 in the upper bracket quarterfinals, before losing to the fiery Brazilians of Team Liquid.

As a result, Shopify Rebellion were pushed down to the Lower Bracket Quarterfinals, where they faced X10 Sapphire for the right to move on in the tournament.

X10S vs Shopify Rebellion

X10S started their elimination match against Shopify Rebellion well, dominating the first half of the first round 9-3 on Haven by overwhelming their opponents.

However, the North American team adjusted their strategy and pace, with Benita “bENITA” Novshadian finding members of X10S from behind, allowing them to catch up to X10S until both teams were tied 12-12, resulting in an overtime match.

Shopify Rebellion took the first win of the overtime match, with Diana “sonder” Zhang able to find members of X10S despite being outnumbered.

But Sarindhorn "JinNy" Wanothayarnchai helped X10S take another win after finishing off Shopify Rebellion, allowing their team to even out the score 13-13 and extend the match to another overtime.

Unfortunately for the Thai team, after the third tie, 14-14, Shopify Rebellion eventually came out on top, 16-14, with decisive moves from sonder and accurate shots from Lorrian “Lorri” Elad to win the first round.

The second round took both teams to the Pearl Map, where the North Americans easily dominated the first eight matches 8-1.

X10S struggled to find their footing as bENITA kept finding ways through their backline. With their backs against the wall and not much money to spend on weapons and utility, JinNY tried to find ways to carry the team in each crossfire, resulting in a second win.

However, X10S could not find answers to questions posed by Shopify Rebellion, losing against Lorri mostly in fights that should have favoured X10S in numbers.

They did manage to claw back a win when Annitta "Alyssa" Peerwantanagul defused the Spike, resulting in a 3-9 score deficit after the first half of the second round.

X10S seemed to pick up the pace in the second half of the second round, with JinNY finishing off Shopify Rebellion with an ace that pushed their score up to 4.

But they could not find the momentum for a comeback, with the North American team winning three more to make it to match point.

Fighting for their tournament lives, the APAC team took two more wins before sonder of Shopify Rebellion took them all out in a clean ace to close out the series 13-6 to win the second round.

With her excellent playmaking in both rounds and the clean ace that secured her team the Lower Bracket semi-finals slot, sonder easily secured the MVP of the match.

Meanwhile, X10 Sapphire bow out of the competition in 5th to 6th place, taking home US$25,000 in consolation.

Shopify Rebellion will move forward to the Lower Bracket semi-final, where they will face Cloud9 Wh.

To watch the action, you may go to the VALORANT Esports website, or their respective YouTubeand Twitch channels.

Anna is a freelance writer and photographer. She is a gamer who loves RPGs and platformers, and is a League of Legends geek. She's also a food enthusiast who loves a good cup of black coffee.

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