MANILA, Philippines – Paper Rex have qualified for the VALORANT Masters Santiago Playoffs after defeating defending World Champions NRG in a 2-1 thriller.
New team addition and Masters debutante Adrian “invy” Reyes popped off for a server-high 60 kills across the three maps. With only 38 deaths and 21 assists, he finished with a +/- of +22 and an 80% KAST, the best in a lobby filled with Masters and Champions winners.
Gentle Mates, currently home to other Filipino pro Conner “GLYPH” Garcia, also made it to the playoffs after routing fellow EMEA squad 2-0.
Paper Rex vs NRG
Fresh off of wins from Round 1, both teams had momentum coming into this qualification match.
NRG came out the gate swinging in Split as they started off taking three quick rounds. Paper Rex answered with four straight, kick-started by PRX duo Wang “Jinggg” Jing Jie and Jason “f0rsakeN” Susanto. The two teams then traded rounds, before invy closed out the half with an ace.
PRX closed out the first map, 13-10, but NRG answered back on Pearl with a 13-10 win of their own. Adam “mada” Pampuch finished with a game-high 23/15/1 KDA and 256 ACS.
Going into the deciding map, Haven, it was anyone’s game. PRX had a 70% win rate on the map, and NRG held 73%. PRX opened up with a strong first half, securing an 8-4 lead.
The second half started off with pistol and buy round wins for NRG, and PRX trading for the bonus. A counter-buy win brought NRG to within two rounds, but three straight post-plan retakes from PRX put the Pacific squad at match point.
Backs against the wall, NRG showed their World Championship experience and composure. Four straight rounds off the back of clean executes threatened overtime. Not wanting to extend the series any longer, f0rsakeN ended the map and the series in style with an ace of his own.
With the win, Paper Rex advances to the Masters Santiago Playoffs.
Gentle Mates vs Team Liquid
The second qualification match resulted in a sweep by Gentle Mates against Team Liquid (TL). Martin “marteen” Pátek led the charge with 30/17/8 on 339 ACS in a 13-11 win on Pearl to start off.
The EMEA second-seed looked to be in playoffs form already as they routed TL in a 13-3 shutout on Bind to close out the team and advance to the next stage.
Masters Santiago Playoffs
The Playoffs stage of Masters Santiago is set to begin on March 7, 2 a.m. PHT. Matchups are yet to be determined as Rounds 2 and 3 of the Swiss Stage continue.