Adrian Jiggs “Invy” Reyes and Paper Rex (PRX) booked their trips to VCT Masters London after eliminating T1, 2-1, in the Lower Bracket Semifinals of the VCT Pacific Stage 1 at the Thiskyhall Sala Convention Center, May 16, 2026.
Invy will join Global Esports (GE)’s fellow Filipino sharpshooters Xavier “xavi8k” Juan and Patrick “PatMen” Mendoza as the three Pinoy aces who are London-bound.
GE yields, FS takes first grand finals seat
GE saw themselves under fire after falling in a 0-2 defeat against Thailand’s Full Sense (FS), as the Indian-based organization dropped to the Lower Bracket Final.
The first map of the match between GE and FS in Split saw a tight contest between the two squads. Before the endgame of Split, GE let a 11-9 lead slip away as FS took the last four rounds and eventually a 13-11 victory.
Next, Breeze featured a 10-2 first half run by FS. Despite a late push in the second half by GE, it was FS eventually securing the series sweep with a 13-8 victory.
Papaphat “primmie” Sriprapha took the Match MVP honors after leading all players with a 49/32/11 KDA statline, and 300 ACS to send the Thailand-based squad to their first-ever grand final appearance.
SEA vs. Korea’s last hope in eliminator clash
The second match saw the showdown of T1-PRX in the Lower Semifinals.
PRX took the stronghold of the first map in Split, winning 13-9.
They controlled the first four rounds with a 1-3 scoreline before T1 went on a six-round run. PRX then cut the lead to 7-5 by the end of the first half.
In the second half, both squads traded blows in the first three rounds before PRX eventually blanked their rivals with a 7-0 run to secure Split.
The second map, Ascent, became a different story for PRX, as they yielded the map to their Korean opponents, 10-13.
The final map in Breeze saw PRX put up a 9-3 lead at the end of first half. Despite a late push by T1, their efforts were not enough as the Singapore-based squad locked a 13-8 victory catapulting them to London.
The Pinoy trio in action in London
The win by PRX in the eliminator match will see three homegrown Filipino players all qualifying for the second global tournament of the season.
“I’m really happy that we got through this game, and we qualified for London. I’m very happy we have other Filos to join the internationals,” Invy shared in the post-game interview.
PRX will face GE in the best-of-five Lower Bracket Final for a chance to take on Full Sense in the Grand Finals on Sunday, May 17. (By Clyde Jan Pascual, INQUIRER.net Intern)