The SEA team’s aggression was too hot for G2 to handle.
Paper Rex's extraordinary run at Masters Reykjavik continues after putting together an incredible 2 - 0 win against G2 Esports. This win guarantees them their first Top 4 finish at a VCT Masters Event.
The APAC dream has been the storyline of tournament thus far at Master Reykjavik. After Zeta Division dispatched DRX from the tournament in a close fought brawl in the lower bracket, it was now down to Paper Rex to see if the dream would continue. Their utilization of double duelist team compositions had made for some incredible moments in the playoffs, alongside some wacky walkouts from Benedict "Benkai" Tan.
They were going up against G2 Esports, who had suddenly become EMEA's last hope for glory at Masters Reykjavik following Team Liquid's loss to Zeta Division earlier in the lower bracket. However the question for them was whether or not they would be able to cope with Paper Rex's hyper aggressive playstyle.
Paper Rex's f0rsakeN: "The way I play Yoru is not about getting first picks, it is about how you play with your team.
With this win Paper Rex will be moving on to the lower bracket semi-finals where they will be facing Zeta Division. And while this matchup is a real toss up, one thing that is for certain is that you can never truly count Paper Rex out of a series. And a large part of that comes down to the dynamic duo of f0rsakeN and Jinggg.
f0rsakeN has been putting up insane numbers all-throughout the playoff stage at Masters Reykjavik. Garnering a total of 54 kills across the two maps against G2; 29 of which came on Bind with his now somewhat trademark ability with Yoru. And interestingly enough, f0rsaken has also become the first Valorant player to win an international Valorant match since the character was added to the game back in March 2022.
When he was asked about how he has approached Yoru to enable him to be as successful with it as he has, f0rsaken gave the following response:
The way I think about Yoru is not about getting first picks, it is about how you play with your team. So with things like the stun combos, with the flash and the teleporting, if you can combine them into one, I think it becomes very powerful."
Unfortunately this is the end of the road for G2 Esports at Masters Reykjavik. They never really seemed like they had a handle on Paper Rex's aggressive playstyle and as a result struggled to make things happen. Their loss in the lower bracket also means that this will be the first time in the, albeit short, history of the VCT that an EMEA team has not made the Top 4 of an event.
Paper Rex vs G2 Esports Full Match Recap
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G2 succumb to the 9 - 3 curse on Split
Paper Rex took us to Split for the first map of the series. This was already set to be an interesting affair as neither team really held a significant advantage on the map from the stats perspective. G2 got going right off the bat by winning the opening two rounds in a fairly comfortable manner. And after, a brief tech pause, they were able to stretch their lead to 4 - 0.
Things continued in this fashion for quite some time, with Oscar "Mixwell" Canellas and Aaro "Hoody" Peltokangas having very strong performances for G2 early on this map. Despite G2's growing lead, Paper Rex looked to up the tempo, which enabled them to at least get three rounds on the board. But with G2 taking a 9 - 3 lead into halftime, it seemed like this might be too tall an order for them to overcome.
The map took a crazy turn at the start of the second half with a very chaotic pistol round win for Paper Rex. And from that moment on, it felt like we were seeing the team we have all come to love at Masters 1, as they won the next three rounds in a row. The EMEA team managed an offensive round win in an effort to stem the tide. But there was seemingly nothing they could do stop Paper Rex's soaring confidence as everyone on their roster ran rampant on the map. And in the end G2 fell victim to the dreaded "9-3 curse" as Paper Rex took Split 13 - 10, giving them the lead in the series at 1 - 0.
f0rsakeN's Yoru takes G2 for a wild ride on Bind
Paper Rex seemed like they were in full control of this match after their 9 - 3 comeback on Split. They had managed to defend their map pick and were now heading into G2's pick of Bind for Map 2. And they were once again committing to their aggressive playstyle with Jason "f0rsaken" Susanto selecting Yoru for the second time in this tournament.
And this strategy came into immediate effect with Paper Rex winning the opening two rounds of their offense. G2 answered back with their own round win, but once again struggled to contain Paper Rex's duelists; with Wang Jing "Jinggg" Jie pulling out a crazy 4k in Round 4 with his Raze to kickstart their momentum.
After six back and forth rounds between the pair, Paper Rex accumulated a comfortable 8 - 4 lead going into halftime. G2 tried to piece together a comeback of their own by winning the opening two rounds of their offensive side. But Paper rex seemed to nip that idea in the bud with three round wins of their own to eclipse the double digit mark of the map. And despite one final push from G2, they ultimately could not stop the double duelist onslaught of Paper Rex as the APAC team took Bind 13 - 8; winning the series 2 - 0 and ending EMEA's hopes of glory at VCT Masters Reykjavik.
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