Today marked the end of the playoff stage of the VCT 2023 Game Changers in the Asia-Pacific region. As part of the grand finals, Team SMG and RRQ Kaguya faced each other, and after 3 not very tense maps, the victory went to the former.

Match Analysis

The first clash took place on Pearl and, despite the fact that the map was chosen by RRQ Kaguya, they could not win. The first half was a fair fight, though not in favor of the map owners, with the side swap happening at a score of 7-5. The second half was completely under control of the girls from Team SMG; they initially gave up 2 rounds, then confidently took the next 6, only surrendering one round to the opponents. The match ended with a victory for Team SMG with a score of 13-8.

Next, the teams moved to Haven, and this time, the spectacle was truly worthy of a grand final. Although the map was chosen by Team SMG, the first half of the game was difficult for them, and as a result, ended in a loss of 5-7. After switching sides, RRQ Kaguya started off great, taking 2 consecutive rounds, but then the situation from the first map repeated. Team SMG made a complete comeback, taking 8 rounds and only losing 2 in return. The match ended with a victory for Team SMG with a score of 13-11.

Unfortunately, the last confrontation did not look like a battle for the final title. Bind began with a pistol round win from RRQ Kaguya, but that's where their achievements ended. Team SMG took 3 rounds in a row, gave up one more, and then completely dominated over the opponents, taking 7 rounds. After changing sides, it became clear that RRQ Kaguya had lost their fighting spirit, so the opponents took an easy 3 rounds. The match ended with a victory for Team SMG with a score of 13-2.

Team SMG came into the current tournament as favorites

The domination of Team SMG in the current tournament was evident after the group stage, when the team finished it with an overall score of 6-0. Nothing changed in the playoff stage, Team SMG won 3 matches clean, without losing any maps and repeated this today in the grand finals. For their victory, the team received a cash prize of $3,500, as well as 100 points in the APAC league, they now have a total of 300 points and are 1st in the ranking of Asia-Pacific teams.

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