Karmine Corp revealed its Game Changers roster. There are some familiar faces from the VALORANT scene.
VALORANT Game Changers is an initiative by Riot Games for women and marginalized genders. Its goal is to create new opportunities and exposure for women and other marginalized genders within VALORANT esports. Through Game Changers, Riot Games aims to build a VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) that is more inclusive and representative of the community.
Game Changers initiative
The Game Changers initiative consists of two core competitive initiatives known as the VCT Game Changers Series and the VCT Game Changers Academy. The VCT Game Changers Series is a set of top-tier competitions that take place in multiple regions around the world. The second part of this program, the VCT Game Changers Academy that currently exists in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region and North America (NA), creates monthly tournaments, giving players even more opportunities to compete at the semi-pro and grassroots levels.
Karmine Corp in VALORANT esports
Karmine Corp is one of the ten partnered organizations in the Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) league. Among others, the organization signed brothers Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom and Nabil "Nivera" Benrlitom to its main roster. Karmine Corp further invested in the VALORANT ecosystem by signing a Game Changers roster. The French organization announced the roster on Feb. 9, which included a mix of experienced and new talent.
VALORANT Game Changers roster
Roster captain Asma "Lirilia" Boughida and her teammate Nouhara "Ninou" Marcos were both part of Rix.GG Lightning, a roster that placed third at EMEA VCT GC Series 2 and top six in Series 3. Lirilia and Ninou were both on TENSTAR Nova, prominent team from France, before joining Rix.GG.
Another player from TENSTAR Nova was Mathilde "Nelo" Beltoise, who remained on the team for the 2022 season. The team placed top four at VCT GC EMEA Series 3.
The last two players on the new roster are Lea "matrix" Ransquin and Melina "MelHssn" Houssein. While matrix is the sole Belgian player on the team who used to play for FUT JEFF, MelHssn is the wildcard for the team.
The team's coach is Mathieu "LaAw" Plantin, who previously coached teams like TENSTAR Nova, OG, and Entropiq. He is joined by Emma "Emash" BLP as the team's assistant coach.
The EMEA Game Changers scene is one of the most competitive in the world. In fact, the winner of the VCT Game Changers Championship, the apex tournament of the scene, was G2 Gozen.
It's important for organizations to continue investing in the Game Changers tournaments to encourage and foster competition for women and marginalized genders. Karmine Corp and its new roster have a challenge ahead of themselves in the VCT 2023 Game Changers EMEA league, but they seem ready for it.
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