Team Liquid Brazil defeats SRG in five to capture Brazil's first GCC title

They say revenge is an act of passion, and while it did take two years to dish it out, Team Liquid Brazil Team Liquid Brazil Brazil Rank #2 Jelly Julia Iris Bizerra Vitoria Vieira Joojina Letícia Paiva isaa Isabeli Esser daiki Natalia Vilela finally got its payback on Shopify Rebellion Gold Shopify Rebellion Gold North America Rank #134 dodonut Karnthida Chaisrakeo meL Melanie Capone alexis Alexis Guarrasi Noia Nicole Tierce sarahcat Sarah Simpson . After losing to them in the 2023 GCC grand final, TLV completed its miracle run, besting SRG 3-2 to become the first Brazilian team to lift the Game Changers Championship trophy.

Three years after falling in the GCC 2023 grand final on home soil to SRG, four core members of TLV's squad finally came out on top.

The series was played out on Haven, Pearl, Bind, Sunset, and Split. SRG won Haven 13-11, TLV won Pearl 13-11, TLV won Bind 13-10, and then won Split 13-8.

For the first time in a GCC grand final, SRG had a disadvantage heading into the map ban process. TLV, as the team qualifying through the upper bracket, had the double ban. With the advantage, TLV stayed loyal to its permanent ban of Abyss, and also removed Corrode, the map that it lost to SRG 13-2 in the upper final.

Haven is a map that SRG has been having trouble with lately. After being unbeaten on the map for over a year in the GC scene, SRG was upset on the map by Karmine Corp GC Karmine Corp GC Europe Rank #8 alkyia Azra Erin Jiex Şura Yıldırım anesilia Anastasia Ivanova safiaa Safia Leghzal Glance Anastasia Anisimova . Haven was also the first map of the upper final, which ended in a 14-12 win for TLV. SRG stuck with its usual Gen.G Gen.G Korea Rank #3 Ash Ha Hyun-cheol (하현철) Karon Kim Won-tae (김원태) t3xture Kim Na-ra (김나라) / FNATIC FNATIC Europe Rank #1 crashies Austin Roberts Boaster Jake Howlett kaajak Kajetan Haremski Veqaj Sylvain Pattyn Alfajer Emir Ali Beder -inspired comp on the map, centered around a double Controller pairing of Omen and Viper with Killjoy as the lone Sentinel. TLV stayed with its aggressive double-Initiator comp, pairing Breach and Sova.

After claiming just five rounds on attack, SRG settled into its defender side with relative ease, playing off of its Viper and Killjoy utility and setting up intricate crossfires. SRG converted the pistol, anti-eco, and bonus rounds, then dropped four of the next six rounds. The run of rounds gave TLV a breath of hope, but SRG won out in the next three rounds to close out the map.

sarahcat and dodonut each had 18 kills on the map, with five of the Duelist player's kills coming with the Operator in hand. She went 4-1 in first duels, acting as the tip of the spear for SRG.

Pearl was also played in the upper final, resulting in a 13-10 win for SRG. Both teams played double-Initiator comps, with SRG opting for Sova and KAY/O while TLV had Fade and Tejo. The first half ended 6-6, which seemed to give SRG the upper hand going into its attacker side, which it was more successful on in the upper final.

Once on defense, the post-plant utility that helped TLV on attack became plant denial utility on defense. Additionally, TLV was much more efficient in its ultimate usage, allowing the Brazilian squad to chip away at SRG's 11-9 lead.

Despite finding 16 first bloods in a 24-round map, SRG could not capitalize in man-advantage situations, losing 13-11. Joojina came up huge on Pearl, slipping the net on several occasions on defense to go off for seven multi-kill rounds.

After splitting the first two maps, Bind forced an issue that SRG needed to address at some point this year. The map had been a permanent ban for SRG for the past year, with its last Bind game coming in October 2024. Both teams went for double-Controller comps with Duelist players on Raze complemented by Skye. Both teams fielded Sentinels as well, with Bizerra on Veto and Noia on Chamber.

On the attacker-leaning map, SRG started off on defense and claimed a 9-3 halftime lead, which ended with a run of seven straight. Noia thrived on defense, allowing the oncoming TLV players to enter her crosshair with the Headhunter or an Operator trained on choke points, but could not find that same success on attack. TLV forced the issue onto SRG, playing a much more proactive defense and shutting down SRG's slower execution. A 9-3 lead quickly dissipated, as TLV dropped just one round in the second half en route to a 13-11 win.

After mounting the comeback on Bind, TLV entered Sunset just 13 rounds away from lifting Brazil's first-ever GCC title. However, SRG did not go down without a fight. The defending champions captured the first rounds of the map, forcing a timeout from TLV head coach napz . Following the timeout, TLV went on to win four rounds of their own, but SRG responded with a further four, entering halftime with an 8-4 lead.

SRG, having settled into the Chamber-Sage double-Sentinel comp on Sunset, displayed a deep playbook on the map, setting up dodonut's Overdrive, Noia's Operator, and combining alexis 's Barrier Orb with meL 's Shrouded Step to set up unorthodox angles that TLV had trouble dealing with. SRG made Sunset the most uneven map of the series to that point, clinching it 13-6 to force a fifth map.

All bangers end on Split. First to 13, win by 2. The historic map, which has been the playground for countless iconic matchups throughout the years, was the fifth map of the series. While TLV stuck with its double-Duelist comp with Bizerra on Raze, SRG stuck with its tried and tested double-Initiator, with alexis playing her fifth different agent of the series as Breach.

With two Duelists, TLV wreaked havoc on defense, forcing the issue onto SRG. They seized an early 5-1 lead, which was followed by SRG winning three straight of their own. While SRG prevented a disaster of an attack half, it still entered halftime down 7-5. TLV clinched the pistol and anti-eco to start the second half, looking to exit the gates fast, but SRG did not go down without a fight, even down 9-5.

While SRG did get within one round, at 9-8, a run of TLV rounds gave TLV a cushion, leaving room for error that, ultimately, was not needed. Down the stretch, SRG struggled to cope with TLV's aggression, more often than not stretched thin in defense and falling victim.

At the end of five maps, Bizerra's 85 kills, going +7 as the only TLV player to finish positive, led the way for Team Liquid Brazil. Despite dodonut's best efforts, dropping 91 kills with 17 being first bloods, SRG failed in its quest for the GCC threepeat.

In-game leader daiki was named the MVP of the event, coming up huge in clutch situations and leading the team to conquer GCC three years after first reaching the grand final on home soil. While primarily playing the Initiator roles, she called the shots for the team throughout the season, eventually being awarded the bracelet befitting an MVP.