Gentle Mates GC and KRÜ BLAZE reach upper-bracket semifinals at GCC 2026

On the second day of the VALORANT Game Changers Championship 2026 in São Paulo, Gentle Mates GC and KRÜ BLAZE secured places in the upper-bracket semifinals.

Gentle Mates GC, the top seed from EMEA, beat last year's champions Team Liquid Brazil 2-0. The first map, Summit, ended 13-10 after the score was tied 6-6 at the half. On Split, Liquid's map pick, Gentle Mates won 13-6. Wens was a key figure, finishing Summit with 32 kills and adding 13 kills in just seven attack rounds on Split.

With the loss, Team Liquid Brazil dropped into the lower bracket.

KRÜ BLAZE from Latin America South beat Gen.G GC 2-1 in the closest series so far in Brazil. Gen.G took Sunset 13-10, but KRÜ answered with a 13-7 win on Ascent. The decider, Abyss, finished 13-11 for KRÜ, even though Gen.G trailed 4-10 at one stage and fought back to 12-10, helped by an ace from 332.

Gen.G GC now sit in the lower bracket with one life left in the tournament. The remaining upper-bracket quarterfinals, G2 Gozen vs. MIBR GC and Shopify Rebellion Gold vs. SK Nebula, are still to be played, and the first lower-bracket matches begin on Sunday.