Southeast Asia’s Paper Rex Crowned VCT Pacific Champions
Paper Rex emerged as the champions of VALORANT’s VCT Pacific on May 28, making an incredible comeback from a two-map deficit in the grand final. Their victory was partially attributed to a unique pick of a niche agent.
Paper Rex and DRX have both qualified for the upcoming Tokyo Masters after competing in the upper bracket final on Monday. Paper Rex secured a 13-5, 13-6 win in this match, while DRX earned their spot in the grand final by defeating T1 in a thrilling five-map match on May 27.
A Long-Awaited Victory for Paper Rex
Although Paper Rex had a two-map advantage as the upper bracket team, this match was a highly anticipated one. DRX had been a formidable opponent for Paper Rex over the past three years, with Paper Rex failing to defeat them in six previous meetings, including losses at Masters Berlin in 2021 and Masters Reykjavík in 2022.
A Surprise Agent Pick
After losing their map pick, Fracture, in a demoralizing 6-13 result, Paper Rex’s player Ilya “something” Petrov made a surprising agent pick on Ascent, choosing Reyna, an agent typically avoided due to her lack of utility. Although something performed exceptionally with 30 kills and the best opening differential, the map went into triple overtime, and Paper Rex still couldn’t secure the win.
However, Paper Rex turned the tables and achieved the first reverse sweep in a high-profile VCT best-of-five match. They dominated with a 13-3 victory on Lotus and a 13-6 win on Pearl, where something switched back to Jett. Finally, on the decider map, something chose Reyna once again, leading Paper Rex to a convincing 13-6 map win and a 3-2 series scoreline, resulting in their victory in the VCT Pacific.
Reyna’s Unique Role in the Game
In the final map, something excelled as the top fragger with 22 kills and secured the best opening differential once again. Throughout the series, something played Breach, Reyna, and Jett, earning him the title of the best overall player with a plus 31 differential.
Reyna is the third least-played agent in the Pacific region, with only a three percent pick rate, surpassing only Yoru and Chamber. Notably, PRX has also contributed to two of Yoru’s three picks, as they favor unexpected strategies.
Next Steps for Paper Rex and DRX
With their VCT Pacific victory, Paper Rex will skip the initial group stage of the Masters Tokyo event scheduled from June 11 to 25. DRX, on the other hand, will be grouped with three other top teams in a GSL-style group, with the top two teams advancing to the playoffs.
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