Paper Rex sweeps Valorant Champions Paris opener

MANILA, Philippines — Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) Pacific top seed Paper Rex, fielding Filipino player Patrick "PatMen" Mendoza, started its Valorant Champions Paris campaign with a dominant sweep against China's XLG Esports, 2-0.

In the first match of VCT's culminating event for the year, the reigning Masters Toronto champion swapped rounds in XLG's map pick of Bind, which surprised many as Paper Rex had been a strong contender in the map in the VCT Pacific Stage 2.

But the gamble seemed to work in the beginning, with the Chinese team securing an early 0-2 lead. But by the third round, Paper Rex had finally gotten over the jet lag and managed to bring it to 6-6 at the half.

Switching to the attacking side, Paper Rex was unstoppable, taking consecutive rounds to close out the map at 13-9 and the series lead in the best-of-three.

In their own map pick of Sunset, Paper Rex had been in top form, with Jason "f0rsakeN" Susanto winning an unbelievable 1v4, while Ilia "something" Petrov secured the first Ace of the tournament, ending the map at 13-5 to open the tournament with a sweep.

The win gives Paper Rex the advantage in group stages, just a win away from securing a spot in the playoffs.

In the other matchup of Group A, North America's Sentinels, fielding Filipino-American player Zachary "zekken" Patrone, fell to Europe's GIANTX, 1-2, dropping them to the elimination match of the group.

Paper Rex will face GIANTX for Group A's first playoff spot on September 17 at 9 p.m. (Manila time).