Using controlled chaos, Paper Rex eliminated G2 Esports from the VALORANT Champions Tour 2022 Stage 1 Masters.
Losers Semifinals secured for @pprxteam and APAC! #VALORANTMasters pic.twitter.com/insVky5dMX
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) April 18, 2022
The second match of the day revolved around another classic underdog story, with two different regions playing their own roles. G2 Esports, who looked strong until LOUD swept them 2-0, were keen to redeem themselves in the lower bracket as the final Europe, Middle East and Africa team.
Paper Rex, meanwhile, have pulled out some of the best games the Asia-Pacific region has ever seen on an international stage. Their recent wins have not only come off the back of great individual performances but a truly entertaining, chaotic playstyle that throws enemies off guard. According to coach Alexandre “alecks” Salle, that’s part of their philosophy.
“I think the more established teams come from a CS:GO background, just like me,” alecks said. “But with our adaptations, we try to test things out in our team to see what works in VALORANT. For us to go this aggressive is something we’ve been practicing for a while. People don’t like to be shot in the face early in rounds.”
A ‘cursed’ Split
Despite Paper Rex getting the first pick, G2 managed to control B site to win the pistol round. On top of a bonus win, G2 took the early 3-0 lead.
Oscar “mixwell” Cañellas Colocho, in particular, won a round by himself, getting an Operator pick into a 2k to clean up another round for G2.
.@Mixwell finds 3!
Strong start for @G2esports. #VALORANTMasters pic.twitter.com/oxu9Zx0hre
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) April 18, 2022
Then Jason “f0rsakeN” Susanto pulled off a triple kill Jett ult to secure Paper Rex their first round. Even still, one by one, G2 Esports’ players just won their own rounds to a significant 7-1 lead.
It wasn’t until mixwell couldn’t salvage a 1v2 scenario that that Paper Rex earned their second round win, and the match hit halftime with the dreaded 9-3 lead for G2 Esports. That gave G2 a big advantage, but the map was still winnable for Paper Rex.
The APAC team proved as much by opening the half to win many rounds in a row, including an Operator multi-kill from f0rsaken to help the team reach 10-9. Only down one round after a 9-3 half, the team hit the 10-10 tie, building up their economy as G2’s stretched thin.
.@jasonsusantoo playing with confidence! #VALORANTMasters pic.twitter.com/ZP0TpLVFrH
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) April 18, 2022
The other highlight of Paper Rex’s second half was Wang Jing “Jinggg” Jie playing the most uncaringly aggressive Raze VCT has ever seen. That confidence put Paper Rex on map point while Aaron “mindfreak” Leonhart converted a 1v1 into a map win.
In the end, Paper Rex only lost one round in the second half to win Split 13-10. Much like their match against The Guard, Paper Rex showed how their unorthodox and super chaotic playstyle favors them in hectic moments.
Bind puts Yoru in the win column
On Bind, f0rsaken returned to Yoru in an effort to get the agent his first-ever map. It started out well, as he got the first pick to win the pistol round. Despite losing the bonus, a spike plant and some kills still put Paper Rex in the driver’s seat for the map.
A great grenade from Jinggg kept Paper Rex in the lead at 3-1. Despite the Yoru not getting value in Paper Rex’s last match with him, G2 seemed to have more issues with the off-meta pick.
Hitting round six down 5-1, G2 took a timeout and won the next round, stopping the run that Paper Rex started. Yet, G2 only managed to stop Paper Rex temporarily.
The two teams proceeded to trade rounds, with mindfreak and Aaro “hoody” Peltokangas posting individual highlights before the half. Paper Rex stayed on top, up 8-4 and primed to win Yoru his first map.
He is feelin' himself! @jasonsusantoo | #VALORANTMasters pic.twitter.com/nFhGg3sMa3
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) April 18, 2022
G2 managed to win the second pistol round, which was a good start for a potential comeback. The round after was flawless thanks to their gun advantage, making their deficit only two rounds. But when f0rsaken got a 4k to put Paper Rex up 11-6, the map felt like a foregone conclusion instead of a comeback.
Paper Rex finished off the map 13-7 and series 2-0, putting APAC on the map in VALORANT. This means Paper Rex will face ZETA DIVISION next in the losers bracket for the right to reach the loser’s bracket finals.
