VALORANT – GC Championship: Liquid and Shopify advance to upper final as G2 and KC drop to the lower bracket

On Wednesday, the sixth day of the VALORANT Game Changers Championship 2025 in Seoul marked a major turning point in the upper bracket. Two matches were scheduled: G2 Gozen versus Team Liquid Brazil, followed by Shopify Rebellion Gold against Karmine Corp GC. Beyond the raw results, the day was set to determine who would earn a first match point for a spot in the grand final, and who would be sent down into an already stacked lower bracket. By the end of the matches, Team Liquid Brazil and Shopify Rebellion Gold had secured their place in the Upper Final, while G2 Gozen and Karmine Corp GC will now have to fight for survival in the lower bracket.

The first Upper Bracket semifinal featured a particularly intense best-of-three between G2 Gozen and Team Liquid Brazil. The Brazilians struck hard right away on Haven, their map pick, delivering a clear 13–3 to G2 and imposing an aggressive tempo that the European side struggled to contain. G2, however, answered just as decisively on Corrode, taking the map 13–2 off the back of a much sharper read on their Brazilian opponents and the ability of Esllene "Akita" Xu to consistently create space.

Everything ultimately came down to Split, where Team Liquid finally closed it out 14–12 after a tense overtime, thereby securing their qualification for the Upper Final. With this victory, Team Liquid Brazil guarantee themselves at least a top-three finish and will face either Karmine Corp or Shopify Rebellion Gold in the Upper Final, while G2 Gozen drop into Lower Round 3, where they will meet MIBR GC in a knockout match.

The second semifinal pitted Shopify Rebellion Gold against Karmine Corp GC in a highly anticipated clash between the North American champions and EMEA’s best-performing team of the season. On Abyss, Karmine Corp's pick, Shopify immediately took control and closed out the first map on a convincing 13–5, led in particular by Melanie "meL" Capone and Alexis "alexis" Guarrasi, both clearly ahead in impact. Karmine answered back on Haven, their comfort pick, rediscovering a far more structured defense built around Azra "alkyia" Erin and Safia "safiaa" Leghzal, which allowed them to equalize and push the series to Sunset.

Shopify had not dropped a single map in GCC play since 2023, a streak that Karmine Corp cracked and claimed the decider map. However, Sunset ultimately tilted in favor of Shopify, whose attacking execution remained more consistent across the half, supported by the impact of Karnthida "dodonut" Chaisrakeo with Neon and the reliability of Nicole "Noia" Tierce on an outstanding Chamber performance, finishing the map at 25/12/1. After three maps, Shopify Rebellion Gold closed the series 2–1 and joined Team Liquid Brazil in the Upper Final, reinforcing their status as defending champions, while Karmine Corp GC were sent down to the Lower Bracket, where they will face KRÜ Blaze in a do-or-die match.