Paper Rex suffers early playoff exit in Champions Shanghai
MANILA, Philippines — After reaching the grand finals of both international Masters tournaments earlier this year, Paper Rex's (PRX) bid for a Valorant world championship ended earlier than expected as the Pacific powerhouse bowed out of Valorant Champions Shanghai at seventh to eighth place, taking Filipino player Adrian "invy" Reyes with it.
Paper Rex entered Champions as one of the tournament favorites and appeared on track for another deep run after topping Group C with 2-1 victories over Team Liquid and G2 Esports.
Instead, PRX's playoff campaign unraveled in heartbreaking fashion.
The team first fell 0-2 to Loud despite holding sizable leads on both maps. Paper Rex led 8-4 at halftime on Split before the Brazilians mounted a comeback to take the map, 13-9. On Sunset, PRX appeared firmly in control with a 9-3 advantage at the break, only for Loud to rally, force overtime, and eventually secure a 15-13 victory to complete the sweep.
The loss dropped Paper Rex to the lower bracket, where fellow Pacific representative T1 ended its tournament run with a 2-1 victory.
For Reyes, the result was a disappointing conclusion to what had otherwise been one of the most memorable seasons of his career.
“I mean every moment so far was great. The experience we had to go through, from Kickoff to Stage 1, up until now are all good moments. Honestly, I learned a lot from it. It sucks to go out this way, we didn't win anything. Back-to-back grand finals and now we lost like this. It's very depressing but overall it's been the most fun experience I've had in esports. A lot of moments with this team that I'll cherish my whole life,” Reyes said during the team's post-match press conference.
Despite finishing the year without a trophy on the international stage, Reyes helped Paper Rex remain among the world's elite teams and played a role in the organization's runner-up finishes at both Masters events.
The season also brought the Filipino his first VCT Pacific title. Paper Rex captured the Stage 1 championship by sweeping Full Sense, 3-0, giving the organization its fourth regional trophy and Reyes his first title since joining the league in 2023.
While Reyes' exit ends the tournament run of Philippine-based representatives following the earlier elimination of Global Esports' Patrick "PatMen" Mendoza and Xavier "xavi8k" Juan, there is still Filipino representation left in Shanghai through Filipino-American star Matthew "Cryocells" Panganiban and 100 Thieves.
100 Thieves will face fellow American team, NRG in the lower bracket quarterfinals on October 11 at 5 p.m.
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