MANILA, Philippines – Paper Rex (PRX) are set to play in the VALORANT Masters Santiago Grand Finals against Nongshim RedForce (NS) after making their way through the lower bracket.
Paper Rex’s Lower Bracket Run
After their 2-1 win in the first round against FURIA, PRX advanced for a rematch against defending World Champions NRG. The match went down to the wire as NRG won both maps in the set 14-12 and 13-11, sending PRX to the lower bracket.
It would be a crawl back up for PRX, as they first went up against CN’s All Gamers, the third 1-seed team they would face in the tournament. AG would take the first map 13-10, but PRX would answer back with 13-7 and 13-4 wins for the reverse sweep.
Their next match would be another repeat opponent, as they would face G2 Esports again after their tournament opener. The NA squad started strong with a 13-11 win over PRX’s map pick Haven. PRX would then counter again with a 13-9 win in G2’s Breeze pick, and another 13-4 dismantling on Corrode.
They were then set to face NRG for a third time in Santiago, who were sent to the Lower Bracket themselves after a sweep against NS in the Upper Bracket Final.
The series started off in a similar vein to the previous ones: Paper Rex dropping the first map. A strong performance from Adrian “invy” Reyes kept it close as he dropped 20/16/4 on 280 ACS, but NRG would close things out 13-8 in Pearl.
The next three maps would be PRX master classes on clutches and their signature aggressive W Gaming playstyle.
Split was a playground for Ilia “something” Petrov, getting 9 Op kills for a 21/11/4 KDA and 295 ACS. A 7-5 attacker-side first-half lead was enough for PRX to snowball in the second half, closing out the map 13-7 to equalize the series.
Map 3 would be crucial for PRX as NRG went with Corrode. Coming into the match, NRG held a 10-2 record on the map, while PRX had only played it eight times, with a 3-5 record. Despite the disadvantage, PRX powered through for a 13-6 win off the back of solid performances from the entire team.
PRX were then at match point headed into Breeze. Strong performances from Wang “Jinggg” Jing Jie, Jason “f0rsakeN” Susanto, and Khalish “d4v41” Rusyaidee, who all finished with 19 kills apiece, secured the 13-9 victory. With the victory, PRX closed out the series 3-1, eliminated the defending World Champions, and booked a spot at the Grand Finals.
Invy on their approach vs. NRG
After the match, Tech INQ got a chance to talk to invy about their tournament run in an exclusive interview.
“In our second game against NRG, we lost because we focused too much on what they were doing,” invy said. “We forgot how to play our game. For this match, we focused more on ourselves instead of them.”
When asked about his transition to PRX and how he handled being in a new team and environment, whether he had to adapt his playstyle, he said, “I just implemented myself to their system. I just had a hard time with their strats, because they had so many. At first I learned so much in practice. I would say that was my only challenge when I first joined Paper Rex.”
Speaking on his goals and motivations, it seemed like Reyes is very much aligned with the team.
“I am so hungry to win a championship. I see that my teammates also really wanna win. Even if they already won before in Toronto, they still wanna win more championships, and it’s a really good feeling.”
Nongshim RedForce’s Ascension
As Pacific’s first seed, Nongshim RedForce received a playoff berth for Masters Santiago. They would kickstart their tournament strong with a sweep over Gentle Mates. They would then face G2 Esports themselves, getting a 2-1 over the Americas team.
They advanced to the Upper Bracket Final where they would face NRG as well, also getting a sweep over the defending World Champions. Their undefeated streak brings them to the Grand Final where they have a chance to make history.
The two Pacific teams are set to clash for the first time since NS joined the Tier 1 league after winning the Ascension 2024 tournament as Sin Prisa Gaming. The two teams have not faced each other at all in the regional VCT Pacific league before the VALORANT Masters Santiago Grand Final set to happen on March 16, 1 a.m PHT.