Valorant prodigy Florescent just won the Game Changers championship – here’s what you need to know

The Valorant (VCT) Game Changers Championship has reached its conclusion and, with it, famed team Shopify Rebellion – which counts top player Florescent amongst its members – has come out on top.

The competitive e-sports team, which plays the Riot Games first-person shooter, won the $180,000 grand prize in a nail-biting final in Berlin on Sunday (17 November).

The annual gaming tournament is part of an effort by E-Sports officials to promote leagues for women and other marginalised genders. The event saw a record-breaking peak of over 453,000 concurrent viewers on streaming platform Twitch.

“Marginalised genders” is a term that refers to people who experience marginalisation or are rendered unsafe due to their gender identity, for example people who are trans, non-binary, or Two Spirit. 

Valorant itself is well known for its LGBTQ+ representation. Valorant’s first LGBTQ+ characters were Raze and Killjoy in 2022. The lesbian couple were announced with an image of them sharing a kiss.

Among the five-person team of Shopify Rebellion, 18-year-old Canadian player, Ava “Florescent” Eugene, won the “Most Valuable Player” award for her performance in Valorant.

The player, who joined the team professionally in 2023, has consistently won MVP awards at the two Game Changers championship events that she has participated in.

Discussing the effect that the win had on her, Eugene said: “Probably none. I like Shopify though. Shopify’s a good [organisation]. But no, I don’t really think about it. I just wake up and scrim and then play matches.”

What is Valorant VCT Game Changers?

VCT Game Changers is an annual tournament which showcases the best female and marginalised gender players – including trans players – from across Valorant E-Sports.

Taking place this year in Berlin between 8 November to 17 November, the tournament hosted ten teams from across the world which qualified through more than 80 qualifier events.

Teams included MIBR GC from Brazil, China’s ALG GC, Flyguest Red and Shopify Rebellion from North America, and many more.

The 2024 bracket followed a double-elimination format, meaning that teams were eliminated after competing in two matches or a third if a tie took place.

During the tournament, Shopify Rebellion obliterated the competition, winning 2:0 in every single round, first competing against Falcons Vega, and then Xipto Esports.

Their final match against G2 Dozen was no different and resulted in a flawless victory for the team.

The first ever VCT Game Changers tournament took place in 2021 as a way to “supplement the competitive season by creating new opportunities and exposure for women and other marginalised genders within Valorant esports,” according to Riot Games.

“The competitive Valorant community is both diverse and incredibly global, and our esport should reflect that,” they wrote. “Through Game Changers, we hope to build towards a Valorant Champions Tour that is more inclusive and representative of our community.”