Paper Kings on top: Paper Rex defeats DRX at VCT Masters Tokyo

After a rather one-sided game 1, VCT Masters Tokyo last upper quarter finals fixture had the two top dogs of the Pacific taking on each other. Paper Rex and DRX represent the best of Pacific and two distinct playstyles. These playstyles clashed three times in the last three months and clashed once again today. Paper Rex played with a sub instead of something in the game. The team's official substitute, Cgrs, was playing with them. DRX themselves started playing with Zest with little practice. 

The map veto was pretty expected, with DRX starting on their best map of Split and Paper Rex choosing to play bind. Fracture was the decider for the game.

In the first map, We saw Paper Rex use the double-duelist composition with f0rsaken playing Jett and Cgrs playing Skye. DRX played a double-duelist composition with Rb on Neon and BuZz on Raze. On attack, The f0rsaken Jingg duo broke down DRX's defence and helped Paper Rex secure a 9-3 lead. DRX answered back, but the six-round advantage from the first half helped PRX secure the first map 13-10.

Bind the first half, once again favoured Paper Rex, Jingg continued his massive impact, with Cgrs now chiming in to secure a strong 8-4 half. The attack from PRX was successfully shutdown by DRX in the second half, but Paper Rex pulled through, securing the second map 13-10. With the map win, Paper Rex secured the series.

Both teams attended the post-match press conference. Strafe was present at the press conf and asked the teams about the game. The Strafe's excerpt from the press conference is as follows:

Q. With cgrs playing the game, Did you expect the Gekko from Paper Rex's Bind composition? Or was it a surprise? Was adjusting to the composition harder than you initially thought?

DRX termi: "Yes, We saw that coming, of course. And we didn't have a problem adjusting to the Gekko. But it's just more on us making mistakes on our attack side. And I think that's what cost us the series."

Q. What was the biggest problem for the team on Split? Did f0rsaken playing Jett change how the team played? Did that affect the outcome of the game at all?

DRX Stax: "No, it didn't really influence how we played. It was more on our communication problems. it wasn't flowing very well, and we weren't able to respond very well. Because of the communication breakdowns"

Q. How much did something's absence impact the outcome and scoreline of the day's game?

PRX Alecks: "I mean, we would like Ilya here; I mean something here. The only advantage we have is people don't know how Cgrs plays, and he has a different playstyle from Ilya. I feel that we came out of the gates hot on Split and managed to secure a huge lead, which definitely worked in our favour. If Ilya was here, we'd have played a lil bit more of our usual game, and DRX would've been a little bit more used to it. So I can't say for sure."

DRX will play in an elimination game against NRG tomorrow. With their backs against the walls, both teams would try their best to claw back and make a lower-bracket run to exact revenge. Paper Rex will take on Fnatic and repeat the 2022 Copenhagen win. You can follow the VCT Twitter for all the updates regarding VCT Masters Tokyo.

Credits: Riot Games // Valorant Champions Tour

You can also followVCT Masters Tokyo on Strafe.