On November 1, 2026, in São Paulo, KRÜ Blaze defeated Gentle Mates GC 3-2 in a five-map grand final to win the VCT Game Changers Championship. The Chilean organisation became world champion for the first time, and the first Latin American team to claim an international Game Changers title.
A final that began with a stumble
KRÜ Blaze opened the series at the Riot Games Studio with a heavy 13-5 loss on Haven. The side answered immediately with its own 13-5 win on Abyss to level the match at one map apiece. Gentle Mates, a French-based team making its Championship debut, had not lost a series all event and had dropped only one map before the final.
Overtime on Sunset turned the tide
Map three, Sunset, became the longest of the night at 61 minutes. KRÜ Blaze took it 14-12 in overtime, moving ahead 2-1 and snatching a map Gentle Mates had picked. Across the five maps, KRÜ Blaze won 53 rounds to Gentle Mates' 51.
The European side forced a deciding map with a 13-8 win on Split, but KRÜ Blaze answered on Ascent with another 13-8 to seal the championship. Described as a titanic contest, the closing map ended with tears of elation from the roster.
From the lower bracket into the record books
No team before had won a Game Changers Championship from the lower bracket. KRÜ Blaze fell to Shopify Rebellion Gold in the upper semifinal, then cut through Team Liquid Brazil, MIBR GC and a rematch against Shopify Rebellion Gold to reach its first grand final. The victory earned $180,000 from a $500,000 prize pool.
Before 2026, the team's best finish was fourth place in Seoul a year earlier. The side had attended every Championship edition, placing seventh-eighth in 2022, fifth-sixth in both 2023 and 2024, and fourth in 2025. Both finalists were making their first grand-final appearance, and head coach Facundo Carrillo and assistant Gabriel González became the first Argentine coaches to win the Championship.
After the match, tok1o told reporters the team lifted each other when energy was low. "We didn't have a thing about losing," he said. Only Micaela Ferreyra remains from the 2025 roster.
