"Our system is nothing without the right players" PRX Alecks commends his players after VALORANT Masters Madrid playoffs qualification

On VALORANT Masters Madrid Day 5, Paper Rex battled Karmine Corp in a best-of-three series with tournament lives on the line. After the dust settled, PRX came out on top, clinching the final playoffs spot.

After the series, we caught up with the PRX Coach Alexandre "alecks" Sallé to talk about the series, the team's unique playing style and why it works.

[Interviewer] Hey, how are you?

Relieved. Yeah, I mean, I'm happy, I'm happy.

[Interviewer] How are you feeling, especially after the last couple of volatile rounds. With the win you also secured Masters Madrid Playoffs. How does it feel?

Usually we set a goal to like, try to make it to the playoffs, you know, or at least attend the event. I think we exceeded our expectations this time because we didn't feel that we were coming in very hot. I feel very relieved, you know, it's an honor to play against good teams like KC and Heretics, you know, and losing to EDG for the first time is a new feeling for me, so far, I've really had an amazing event and am very happy.

[Interviewer] Let’s talk about the game, Bind started well for you. But KC tried coming back, fortunately you guys closed it. Can you run me down how it went?

Our Bind comp has been shaky. We felt that we had a chance because they play double-duelist, with Yoru, without Sentinel, something like that.

I think the obvious choice would be trying to pick Sunset, we couldn’t get that. So it was between Split and Bind and we went for Bind because we just felt that ok, one chance for us to win would be, you know, considering our form, would be really hit them with something they've never seen before.

So we went really aggressive and tried to just beat them from the start of the game, it went really well for us luckily.

As I understand, I think anyone would have trouble with it if you do win the first few rounds, you know, so you had to go right fast and thankfully we won, while they almost came back.

[Interviewer] Talking about Lotus, you changed the comp overnight and that's a little, that's a very small turnaround time for a comp to work. What was the preparation like?

I mean this Karmine Corp game, we came in thinking ‘We really have to surprise them.’ We already knew that Lotus is one of their favorites.

And I think it was our belief that we needed to get Monyet off the Raze because he was very uncomfortable and we wanted to make sure that he's comfortable, first of all. And the only way we could do that was to run some form of level controller.

Also, we also believe that changing to Viper, which is what people usually do, will be something that they(KC) would be more comfortable with compared to, as you know, so that's why we changed the comp. We just try to get everyone as comfortable as possible.

Unfortunately, you know, like the turnaround time is way too low. We couldn't even get like scrims in the night.I mean, I don't think we had enough energy to even do that in the first place.

So the only thing we could do is theory craft and that you can see, it didn't go as well.

I think Karmine Corp was incredible on that map. Every round they were one step ahead. You know, usually on PRX, we pride ourselves on being, like being able to match people in terms of what they think, but this time we were absolutely bulldozed on Lotus. It's been a while since, you know, so I think it's very good for us to learn.

[Interviewer] Do you think if you had more time with the comp or if you had more time between the matches, you might have had a better response to Karmine Corp?

I think it'd be closer, but I don't, I honestly don't believe we would’ve won.

[Interviewer] During the final maps in both the elimination series, Paper Rex just flipped a switch. What do you say during such disadvantageous moments so that your players can turn the game around?

I mean, I'm very lucky to have a team that responds very well to emotions, you know, and usually these kinds of things I give them my 30 seconds of the pause of what I feel that we can do emotionally. You know what I mean? To get us in the right, right space.

I basically just told him the same as what I said yesterday, which was looks like we're down, this is the end of the line, it's do or die. I told them to drop all the nervousness, feelings and we're just going to show it like we're just going to show our VALORANT, you know, the one we love to play, we're just gonna do our best.

Every one of us needs to step up and we need to comm less, we need to be more confident and we need to take risks. We need to just trust each other to try and play and win the game after that.

You know, the other 30 seconds is me just telling them what to do for that round, you know, so that we can at least get some momentum going and thankfully, like I got it right or maybe the boys got it right.

I can't remember what was said, but usually these tech pauses are a kind of discussion, you know, it's not just me talking.

So we have a whole team, the six of us, you know, it's not just, it's not just me calling. Yeah, we discussed, and I think we found the right solution today.

[Interviewer] As you mentioned, there are six of you discussing ideas. It’s a very unique way of functioning as most teams use a central decision-making figure, whereas you don’t. It is working exceptionally well for you. Why do you think it works for you?

I mean, I'm not sure to be honest. We don't actually know how other teams work, you know, because we've been playing together for so long. We just go off, I am together discussing how we feel the best way is to play certain roles, you know.

So I think after a while the boys already know what the best course of action is. Any one point in time by looking at the radar.

We spend a lot of time fixing micro-decision making. That's actually the big focus of our game.

Like when I go into VODs, I actually criticize or praise decisions as much as possible. Like we have to go in how to help your teammates, you know, playing to win, playing aggressive and confident and that kind of thing. Yeah, so that's what we work on, you know, it's nice to see that it's actually working.

Of course, this kind of thing is like a super big risk, right? Like if it blows up in our faces, we just look stupid. So at the moment, I'm glad it's working, but I understand that maybe one day this will change and we need a central captain, you know, to lead us in the right direction.

But so far as long as this unit is together I believe we can make it work.

[Interviewer] The aggressive style that Paper Rex employs and the pace at which you play has been your signature. But it is not easy to replicate or play as aggressively. Multiple teams usually fail if they play as aggressively and it sorta backfires, but it works well for you. Why do you think that is the case?

I mean, let's be real. I think the reason why it works is because I have the players that are capable of hitting shots that won’t hit in a regular team.

Yeah. You know, I'm nothing. Our system is nothing without the right players that fit and I think we have the right players.

So that's the real reason why if we charge someone, there's a greater than 50% chance that we win the round.

[Interviewer] The playoffs will run until 24th and the International leagues start again on 6th, giving teams that play well much less turnaround time. You guys (Paper Rex) are contenders to make all the LANs which means you’d have less time to prepare. Do you think it’d lead to exhaustion?

It’d be good if they space it out a little bit better, I think.

But fair, you know, it's like the second year of the franchise, I understand that they were going to make some mistakes and maybe they don't think this is a mistake, you know, for us, yes, the turnaround is going to be very low.

It's going to be very hard and we spoke about it, we even thought that maybe it's actually better if you don't actually make Madrid. So it's two, it's two sides to the, it's two sides of the coin, right?

One is we get match practice, which is invaluable, you know, like absolutely invaluable against the best teams in the world.

And then, I mean, you know, we make use of the time we're still working, you know, I mean, as well as everyone else, however, we will be, obviously we're going to be less prepared.

I mean, more time would be nice, but I understand.

PRX will face Gen. G tomorrow in the VALORANT Masters Madrid Playoffs Opening game. Follow Valorant Champions Tour X (formerly Twitter) for latest updates on VCT Masters Madrid. You can also follow Strafe for upcoming fixtures, press conference coverage, and more.

Check out our YouTube channel for an extended version of the interview.

Featured Image Credits: Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games

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