Gen.G Game Changers: Ready to Take on Championship in São Paulo

Founded in April, Gen.G Game Changers captured the Valorant Game Changers Pacific title and completed their preparations to step onto the Championship stage. After bringing together players from Korea and Japan to reach the top, the upcoming tournament in São Paulo presents a brand-new challenge for the team.

In a group interview with Sheep Esports, Park "Yamzzi" Su-jin, Park "HaeStreet" Ju-hee, Jung "Mint" Ye-rim, Park "332" Min-ju, and Cho "Dana" Se-won opened up about blending their different playstyles, battling through the Lower Bracket to win the Pacific title, and their confidence in bringing home the trophy at their first Championship.

Park “YamZzi” Su-jin: Playing scrims and then grinding ranked games afterwards... I feel like that is how my daily routine ends.

Park “h4ste” Ju-hee: Since the tournament is coming up soon, I think I am just fully dedicated to practicing.

Jung “MinT” Ye-rim: Just the usual—scrims all day, ranked games after they finish, sleeping, and repeat. I keep practicing continuously during the tournament period, but whenever I get a day off, I like to go watch a movie.

Park “332” Min-ju: Practicing, sleeping, eating... practicing... Oh, and taking breaks too. I play ranked games during my break time.

Cho “DaNa” Se-won: Spending time doing the same thing with scrims and playing Valorant. During breaks... I play Valorant ranked, yeah.

YamZzi: First of all, I think the biggest and best improvement is that my aim form has gotten better.

— Was there a moment when you felt that change most strongly?

YamZzi: Well, as my aim got better, I could go for more bold and aggressive plays, and I think I feel it through those moments.

DaNa: At first, it felt like I could not quite sync up with the older teammates in terms of team synergy, but winning Pacific this time around seems to have changed our team synergy the most.

— Were there any moments when you felt your team synergy clicked the best?

DaNa: In the beginning, we used to panic a lot and split up during retake situations on defense, but now I think our retakes have become really good.

h4ste: In the beginning, because it was an adaptation period, the trust among teammates was not really visible. But as we practiced and adapted well, I started seeing us trust each other, and I think that is what changed the most. Before, we did not really look like we were leaving our backs to one another, but these days, since we trust our teammates, I see us focusing more on what each of us needs to do.

Originally, I had a tendency to play rather unilaterally, but as I have spent time together with my teammates, I am focusing a lot on give-and-take.

YamZzi: Since I was active in Japan, the tempo Korean players think about and the tempo Japanese players think about were a bit different, so matching those tempos was probably the hardest part.

h4ste: The Japanese style has lower risk and is relatively stable, whereas the Korean style has higher risk but is aggressive, and I think it took a long time to find the middle ground there.

— How much do you think your team synergy has aligned now?

h4ste: about 80 percent? Because the rest has room for further development.

DaNa: Once during a scrim round, YamZzi suddenly yelled, "Guys, I really need to use the bathroom!", and she sprinted out to the restroom before the spike had even detonated... (Laughs) There was an episode like that.

DaNa: While experience is important in FPS, I think the raw passion and fearlessness of rookies are truly powerful weapons. As the youngest player on the team, I naturally feel like I have nothing to fear.

YamZzi: Honestly, the gaming environment feels better. When I was in Japan, I had to travel back and forth frequently, so it was really hard for the team members to meet up and run bootcamps. This time, since we are all doing it together in Korea, traveling back and forth in Korea is convenient and we seem to bootcamp often, which is much better. Playing games in Korea seems to be the best part.

MinT: I did not know this originally, but I need to eat a hearty meal to carry games, so I always eat kimchi stew before a match and take a nap, and things go well when I do that, so that habit changed a bit. Originally, I only used to eat light meals.

332: Finally getting 1st place, (Laughs). I had been playing for four years, and although we succeeded in qualifying for Champions last year, I ended up with the disappointing result of 2nd place. This year, I was happy that we could even take 1st place in Pacific.

YamZzi: When we went to the lower bracket, I was shocked because our team was absolutely not the kind of team that should be going to the lower bracket, but I had a strong conviction that we could make it to the finals.

— You faced your former team FENNEL in the finals and went through a tight five-set battle. Were there any feelings different from usual or anything you paid special attention to?

YamZzi: It was feelings like, "There is no way I should lose to these guys, we absolutely have to win."

h4ste: Since it was a tournament, I thought we lost because of stiff parts in our play, so we focused on things like sticking to our original playstyle because it suits us best, and not changing things up.

DaNa: We had dropped down after losing to FENNEL back then, but the coach cheered us up by saying, "That was not us. We got possessed by the Bali ghost," so the mood cleared up nicely. After that, we pulled ourselves back together and managed to win all the way, so I think it turned out well.

332: Perhaps because we were nervous, we only seemed to play without utilizing our strengths, and rather than thinking about how the opponents played, we just went with the flow, so we tried to make up for those parts.

DaNa: We finished as runners-up last year, but we won this year. I think I have grown a lot personally, but above all, communicating and coordinating with the older teammates is where I felt the biggest growth.

MinT: The part where I make bolder plays, and since my calling used to be a bit lacking, I think my calling improved while preparing for this tournament.

MinT: I want to show the finals.

h4ste: Honestly, when we went to Champions last time, our results were not that great. Since we practiced hard and prepared a lot this time, I am thinking we might get even better results.

MinT: It is my first time playing in front of a live audience, so I am really looking forward to it. I am mostly excited about showing everyone that we are going to play well.

332: It feels an honor to be able to participate in an international tournament under the name Gen.G representing Korea.

YamZzi: Since it is my first time going to Champions, I will be facing opponent teams I have never met before, and I feel kind of sorry because it looks like we are going to win.

332: Last year, it was everyone on our team's first time on a massive stage like Champions, so we were all nervous and made mistakes together. This time, because we have the experience of advancing to Champions last year, I will not be nervous and can take better care of my teammates.

YamZzi: To commemorate our first qualification for Champions, I want us to take 1st place together.

h4ste: The ultimate goal is winning, but for me, I think the biggest goal right now is simply placing among the top tier at this Champions.

332: As a team, it is naturally winning the Game Changers Championship, and my personal goal is to win Finals MVP.

MinT: The team goal is unconditionally winning, and personally, my goal is to win and receive the MVP.

DaNa: Absolutely winning the Championship, and personally, taking Finals MVP at the Championship finals.

— You all wanted the MVP. Who do you think will end up getting it?

DaNa: I definitely think I will get it, (Laughs).

h4ste: Team Liquid and Shopify Rebellion seem like they will be the trickiest, but among them, Shopify Rebellion changed things up this time and looks a bit stronger, so I am keeping my eye on Shopify Rebellion a bit more.

332: There is no team in particular that I am wary of. Without thinking about other teams, I will focus on our own team and press forward.

YamZzi: The team I am wary of is Team Liquid, who won last season.

— Are there things you are preparing against them or aspects you are focusing on?

YamZzi: Rather than focusing heavily on the opposing team, I have the mindset that if we perform as hard as we have prepared and as much as we practiced, we can win.

MinT: We are going to win anyway, so you guys better get ready to take a beating, (Laughs).

h4ste: I will show you what it means when they say small peppers are the spiciest.

MinT: Yes, I heard your evaluation of my play loud and clear. Well, the me in Bali and the me right now are different, so... let us meet as opponents.

h4ste: There are many people who have been supporting us since last year, and I think we were able to get this far thanks to them. I am also grateful to the coach who created this opportunity for us. We will make sure to achieve great results in São Paulo.

YamZzi: I believe there are fans cheering for Gen.G in São Paulo as well, so please continue to support Gen.G Valorant Game Changers.

MinT: Thank you to all the fans who always support us. Gen.G will go to São Paulo and win, so please watch over us.

332: Thank you to all the fans who support us, and to the fans we will meet in Brazil, please look forward to our performance. Trophy, I am going to hug you again this time.

DaNa: It must have been tough supporting us, but thank you so much for cheering us on without giving up. We will deliver what we showed in Pacific plus an extra edge in São Paulo, so please support us a lot. Thank you.”