Paper Rex crowned as first-ever VCT Pacific League Champion
Paper Rex is crowned as the first-ever champion of the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) 2023: Pacific League after reverse-sweeping DRX 3-2 in the grand final.
PRX DOES THE UNTHINKABLE 😱
They complete the reverse sweep against the league's no. 1 and became the first #VCTPacific Champions! pic.twitter.com/4952xLdQPz
— VALORANT Champions Tour Pacific (@vctpacific) May 28, 2023
Prior to the grand final showdown, it was Paper Rex that sent DRX down to the lower bracket where the South Korean favorites had to deal with T1 in the lower bracket final. Their previous playoff clash had Paper Rex dominating DRX in just two games, 13-5 on Fracture and 13-6 on Bind.
“It really feels amazing because we finally beat the Kings of Pacific themselves [DRX],” Jason “f0rsakeN” Susanto said after winning against DRX in the grand final. “Now, we are the Kings of Pacific.”
DRX Starts The Grand Final Showdown
DRX started the series strong, taking the first game on Fracture 13-6. In their attacking half, they had a near-perfect record of nine out of ten successful post-plants, breaking Paper Rex to submission with a 9-3 scoreline before halftime which continued for the rest of the game. During one of their successful attacks, Kim “MaKo” Myeong-kwan recorded an ace in the ninth round to help widen the gap between the two teams. As for individual player accolades, Kim “Zest” Ki-seok was the game’s MVP as he played well yet again, leading everyone in kills with his 19/13/4 KDA. Meanwhile, Goo “Rb” Sang-min was the key player from the desk as he led the charge with his Neon.
The second game on Ascent went to multiple overtimes where DRX came out on top yet again. To start the game, Paper Rex’s Ilya “something” Petrov went for Reyna, with Wang “Jinggg” Jing Jie locking on Raze instead. Something’s Reyna became an initiator as he would use his dismisses as something akin to a flash—taking crosshairs away from the main hit—along with the leers he had. Despite that, DRX proved to be unstoppable as they won the triple overtime 16-14, with one of the overtime rounds featuring an ace from Yu “BuZz” Byung-chul on Round 29.
Paper Rex Equalizes The Series
Moving on to the third game on Lotus, Paper Rex averted getting swept and took a game for themselves. With the game initially tied 2-2, Paper Rex pulled away from DRX and secured a massive 9-3 lead coming into halftime. Armed with their usual confidence, Paper Rex’s signature W-Gaming moves sprinted them across the second half, ending the game with a massive 13-3 win to avoid a DRX sweep. Jinggg led Paper Rex to victory with an impressive 323 ACS on a 20/10/3 KDA on Raze.
Paper Rex then equalized the series 2-2 by getting the fourth game on Pearl 13-8. They ended the first half up 8-4 thanks to the entry duo of Something’s Jett and Jinggg’s Phoenix which were supported by Khalish “d4v41” Rusyaidee’s thirteen assists during the half with Skye. In the second half, it almost looked like Paper Rex’s defense was full of holes as DRX managed to win the first three rounds. Thankfully, they managed to quash it with a four-round win streak to secure map point and eventually end it in Round 21 with a wipeout.
Final Map: Bind
Paper Rex continued their winning ways to claim the final game on Bind 13-6. The team had a hot start, going 6-0 to boot with D4v41 recording an ace in Round 3 and getting 10 kills in just the first three rounds.
On the other hand, DRX didn’t just take on a beating without giving out a fight. In fact, Mako’s second ace for the day in Round 11 reinvigorated the team as they eventually closed the half with three rounds to start with during their second-half campaign. They then won the first two rounds to start the second half but were then met with a three-round win streak from Paper Rex. They tried to extend the game by winning one more round in Round 18 but it was not enough to prolong the series as Paper Rex then close it out the next round.
By the end of the series, Something was proclaimed as the finals MVP as he recorded a total of ninety-five kills and twenty-five assists on a 245 series ACS.
As the champions of VCT Pacific, Paper Rex is now directly qualified for the Masters Tokyo Playoffs. Meanwhile, both DRX and T1 will have to go through and survive in the group stage of Masters Tokyo.
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