KRÜ Blaze won the 2026 VALORANT Game Changers Championship, beating Europe's Gentle Mates GC 3-2 in the grand final at the Riot Games Arena in São Paulo on 1 November. The source reports that this is the first Game Changers Championship title for a Latin American team, and that no team had previously won the event from the lower bracket.
KRÜ reached the final by way of the lower bracket. They lost 2-0 to Shopify Rebellion Gold on 27 October, then won their next two lower-bracket matches and beat Shopify Rebellion Gold 3-1 in the lower-bracket final on 31 October.
The grand final went back and forth. Gentle Mates won Haven 13-5, and KRÜ won Abyss 13-5. On the third map, Bind, KRÜ won 14-12 in overtime after leading 10-2 at half-time. Gentle Mates won Split 13-8, and KRÜ won Ascent 11-5.
Liquipedia named KRÜ's Argentine player tok1o the event MVP, according to the source. The source reports that Brazilian teammates antG and none became the first Brazilians to win an international tournament held in São Paulo.
Gentle Mates earned US$100,000 as runners-up. Shopify Rebellion Gold took US$70,000 for third place, and MIBR GC took US$50,000 for fourth. The event ran from 22 October with 10 teams.
The source states that Gentle Mates had not lost a series in São Paulo before the final, citing Esports News UK.
The source also says KRÜ are the last winners of the standalone event. The 2027 Game Changers Championship will be held at VALORANT Champions 2027, scheduled for 16 September to 10 October in Austin. Each team that plays at the 2027 event will receive a payment equal to Gentle Mates' runner-up prize this year.