As Valorant announces another Game Changers Series event in Brazil, here’s what the female Valorant professional scene looks like worldwide.
A league of their own
Last week Riot announced that Brazil would have another VCT Game Changers Series event. Valorant’s creators have teamed up with Gamers Club Brazil to create Protocolo Evolução, a follow-up to their first VCT Game Changers Series team up, Protocolo Gênesis.
Protocolo Evolução is a circuit divided into four qualifiers with a $3,854 (US) prize pool up for grabs in each. The first qualifier kicks off on August 5th. The main event will see the top eight teams with the most points accumulated throughout the qualifiers battle it out for the Protocolo Evolução crown and the lion’s share of its $19,272 (US) prize pool.
Shaping the all-female professional scene
The VCT Game Changers Series has gone global since its initial announcement in February. The series has produced events that highlight the skills and prowess of the female Valorant professional scene in Brazil, North America, South East Asia and Latin America. Here’s a little more on each.
Brazil
Besides Protocolo Gênesis and the recently announced Protocolo Evolução, Brazil has had one of the most active VCT Game Changers Series communities. Tournaments like Sakuras Ascent, Girl Power, Rivals Women’s Cup and Valorão Summer Cup have contributed to shaping the female Valorant scene in Brazil.
Brazil’s Game Changers events have also resulted in creating clear-cut superstars for the country. Gamelanders Purple have emerged as the top team in Brazil. They won all tournaments mentioned earlier except the Valorão Summer Cup, which they didn’t participate in. The team also won all the qualifiers and the main event of Protocolo Gênesis.
North America
North America is where the VCT Game Changers Series started, making the state of its female professional scene much healthier than most other regions’. Riot partnered with Galorants, NA’s largest female-based community, for competitive Valorant events.
The partnership has brought forth VCT Game Changers Series 1 and 2 alongside a healthy series of academy tournaments. Like Brazil, North America has seen the emergence of an unbeatable team in Cloud 9 White. The team won both Series 1 & 2 without dropping a map. Cloud 9 White have also been actively participating in the VCT Challengers open qualifiers for NA.
Southeast Asia
The Southeast Asian region boasts an impressive and healthy all-female professional Valorant scene thanks to Riot’s partnership with FSL. Through the FSL Valorant Circuit, teams from all around the region have participated in the eight-month-long series of competitive matches.
Fifty-nine teams have already participated in four out of the six FSL Open tournaments at the time of writing. Teams participating in the circuit compete for points that earn them a slot in the $25,000 (US) FSL Elite tournament, the pinnacle of the VCT Game Changers Series in SEA.
Latin America and beyond
Latin America saw the announcement of the Girl Power Radiant Energy Series. The series intended to serve both LATAM North and South regions, but it only pushed through with its open qualifiers. Among other reasons, the rest of the series has been postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions. The same restrictions ended up pushing back VCT LATAM Stage 2 back in April, but the Radiant Energy Series has yet to get back on track. As per Girl Power, activities for the series will resume in August.
The female Valorant scene in Mexico saw some activity with GGTech’s Valorant Girl’s Cup in March. Other than that, opportunities to compete under VCT Game Changers Series in the LATAM region have died down. There are no official VCT Game Changers Series events in other regions like EMEA, CIS, Japan, and Korea as of yet, but if Riot Games continue with their current protocols, it seems to be a mere matter of time until they get their own female-focused tournaments.
