Evil Geniuses vs Team SMG VCT Game Changers Championship 2023: SMG dominates EG to start the tournament

The VALORANT Champions Tour is coming to a close in 2023. It ends with the Game Changers Championship, with the first round setting the tone for the rest of the tournament. One of the opening matches is Evil Geniuses vs Team SMG.

Follow along with us for a live recap of day one's second series.

Heading into EG vs Team SMG, there's a lot to discuss. The former looks to mirror the success of their VCT Americas counterpart. Evil Geniuses are world champions in VALORANT. Can their Game Changers division do the same?

When it comes to Team SMG, they haven't lost a map since July. Their dominating run through the GC APAC: Elite series has them primed for the main stage of the Game Changers Championship. Will they keep up that momentum?

Evil Geniuses took down Shopify and Version1 in NA Series III to punch their ticket to Brazil. Team SMG swept RRQ Kaguya in the Grand Final to earn their spot. It is anyone's game in their GC Champs debut.

Evil Geniuses vs Team SMG is showcased on the official VALORANT channels. There's Twitch and YouTube, depending on your preference. In addition to that, there are several co-streams, so you can watch alongside your favorite content creators and streamers. Or just enjoy the match right here with us!

Lotus began with perhaps the biggest surprise of the tournament. No, it isn't another Sunset pick or Iso making an appearance. Team SMG brought four Duelists to the map. And it immediately paid off as they gathered rounds, forcing an early EG timeout. The timeout did not help the side of EG. Team SMG continued dominating them for a huge lead in the first half. They went up 9:3 with non-stop aggression.

The 9:3 curse was not in the cards for Evil Geniuses vs Team SMG. SMG jumped right back on EG after the half. Incredibly, their top fragger to this point was enerii, who played Cypher. Not even one of the Duelists. It was a wild international debut for Team SMG, giving them an easy first map victory over NA's EG.

Things were a bit simpler on Haven. No crazy compositions found here. That didn't stop Team SMG from continuing to steamroll Evil Geniuses. It took six rounds for EG to finally get their first. That gave them enough confidence to net a second, and then a third. It was Lorri making moves for EG, getting a 4K Clutch just before the Lockdown detain, closing the gap even further.

It was a much tighter race through the opening half compared to Lotus. Evil Geniuses vs Team SMG swapped sides with the latter ahead 7:5. Things were quickly tied by the NA representatives, but Team SMG responded to take back the lead. Despite not playing with four Duelist Agents, the aggression remained on the SMG attacking side. What else is there to say? A statement was made and Team SMG dominated.

Stay tuned to esports.gg for more esports news and check out the full results for the VCT Game Changers Championship 2023.