June 1, 2026
In 2026, Raidiant Academy returned for its 300-series. Raidiant Academy is a grassroots and semi-professional tournament series designed to create safe, competitive opportunities for women and other marginalized genders in Valorant esports. Originally known as Game Changers Academy, it returned in 2024 as Raidiant Academy and continues to succeed to this day. The first event of this year saw sixteen teams fight for gold in the playoffs back in May, and Tiny Fluffy Kittens took the crown. Let’s take a look at our winners and their rise to the top.
Who are TFK?
Tiny Fluffy Kittens was composed of players from SEN Otters and SaD GC, two teams competing in the North American Game Changers circuit. Battison, cyn, invert, and Princessicy all came from SEN Otters. SEN Otters is the co-branded team name resulting from a partnership between Sentinels and Blue Otter GC. The remaining two players, sayfposting and calsushi, were players from SaD GC. Both have since left the SaD GC roster, and cyn has left the SEN Otters roster.
Each member has been competing for several years. Princessicy since 2021, cyn and calsushi got their start in the tournament scene in 2022, Battison made their tournament debut in 2023, and both invert and sayfposting started in 2024. All of the players have been developing their skills over many competitions and events. They have seen moderate success in the Game Changers circuit before this year. They’ve competed across the board in tournaments such as VCT Game Changers NA and previous iterations of Raidiant Academy.
For a few of the players, this is their first notable championship win. Let’s take a look at how they got there.
Group Stage
Raidiant Academy started with eight single-Round Robin groups of two or three teams each. All matches were best-of-one, and the top two teams from each group advanced to the Playoffs. Tiny Fluffy Kittens (TFK) started in Group B. Their competition was Auraful GC. The teams went head-to-head. Auraful GC couldn’t touch TFK, which dominated both rounds for a 2:0 victory. With a win under their belt, TFK would stroll to the playoffs, where the real battle would begin.
Playoffs
After the group stage, the roster for the playoffs was determined. Sixteen teams made it through to the single-elimination bracket tournament and would compete in a best-of-three style match until the victor took home the spoils.
In their first match, Tiny Fluffy Kittens competed against Saphhic Kitties Unite. It was a feline brawl to the top, and TFK came up victorious. TFK was on the attack first and had eight rounds under their belt before the swap, with Saphhic Kitties only able to snag two defuses and two other rounds with enemy eliminations. At the swap, Saphhic Kitties came out strong, winning two rounds back-to-back, but TFK would put a hard stop to their comeback and take the next five rounds for themselves, resulting in a game one victory at Lotus. Their second game on Haven would see TFK dominate with thirteen enemy elimination rounds against Saphhic Kittie’s three. This victory would move them forward to the quarterfinals.
Quarterfinals
The quarterfinals match-up against Exsouls Violet started off kind of rough for TFK. They started on defense and were able to defuse the spike in round one; however, the team would fall to elimination for the next four rounds. They were able to get another round under their belts in round six, but Exsouls Violet would shut them down again for the next two rounds. Things were beginning to look grim for TFK, but they refused to back down. They say to never back a cat into a corner, and the same should be said for The Fluffy Kittens. Round eight would be the last round that went to Exsouls Violet, as TFK went on to win the last four rounds in the half as well as every round after the switch. After catching their second wind and dominating the second half of their quarterfinals match, TFK went on to compete in the semi-finals.
Semi-Finals
TFK’s semi-finals matchup was against Dynamo Esports GC. After game one on Haven, it looked as if it would be another runaway for TFK when they commanded the game with a 13:4 victory. However, game 2 on Lotus would see Dynamo Esports GC put up quite the fight. TFK started on attack. The first two rounds went to Dynamo, but TFK quickly closed the gap by winning rounds three and four. They went back and forth for a bit, resulting in Dynamo having a 7:5 lead into the swap. Dynamo would continue to lengthen that lead by winning the next four rounds, but then TFK began to shut them down. By the end of the second half, things were tied up thirteen to thirteen, and it was anyone’s game. Both teams fought tooth and nail to be victorious. If TFK won, they would cement their place in the finals, and if Dynamo won, they would still be in the tournament for another game. After six rounds in overtime, Dynamo would be victorious.
Each team had one game, so the next winner would take all and see themselves in the finals. Game three would take place on Ascent, which is fitting as TFK would ascend to victory with a commanding 13:6 lead. Now, there was only one team between them and the top spot.
The Finals
The finals had finally arrived, and TFK found themselves facing Oasis & Friends, who had not suffered a single lost game throughout the tournament thus far. It would be their hardest battle yet. Oasis & Friends came out of the gate strong by shutting TFK down at Split in the first game of the finals, dominating the second half of the match and resulting in a 13:9 loss for TFK.
TFK would not go out quietly. They rallied in the second game on Lotus and played magnificently. They took an early lead in the first four rounds, but Oasis & Friends would close that gap with the next three rounds. TFK shut them out again for rounds eight and nine, then eleven and twelve. Oasis & Friends made a final stand at the start of the half and looked to be on track for a comeback after winning the first two rounds. However, TFK shut them down again and went on to win the next five rounds to claim victory in the second game.
It all came down to the last game on Haven. Game three was a brawl to the finish, with each team going back and forth, not wanting to relinquish a single round. By the end of round 22, both teams were tied 11:11. The next two rounds would decide the victor or send them into overtime. TFK managed to shut Oasis& Friends out and claim those final rounds for themselves, cementing their victory!
Congratulations to The Fluffy Kittens on their amazing graduation victory! We can not wait to see what’s next!