PatMen reps the PH flag as PRX conquers Masters Toronto
Patrick “PatMen” Mendoza emerged as a driving force for Singaporean Valorant powerhouse Paper Rex after they conquered the Toronto, Canada, edition of the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) Masters on Sunday night.
This comes after Paper Rex dismantled European squad FNATIC, 3-1, to get the coveted trophy – the Southeast Asian powerhouse’s first-ever after years of heartbreak as runner-ups on the international stage.
PatMen also becomes the first ever Pinoy VCT Pacific player to win a global title. Flex player, Indonesian Jason “f0rsaken” Susanto was hailed the Grand Finals MVP, collecting an average combat score (ACS) of 223, according to vlr.gg on Sova, Astra, and Omen.
On Map 1, Paper Rex snuck past FNATIC on Sunset, 13-11, denying overtime in full, Paper Rex fashion after putting up a grim, yet aggressive Sage wall play orchestrated by Wangg Jie “Jingg” Jie (Raze) and Khalish “d4v41” Rusyaidee (Sage).
FNATIC evened the series on Icebox, breaking the deadlock on the third overtime and ending the map, 17-5.
Paper Rex would get the next couple of maps next, overwhelming FNATIC on Pearl, 13-10, before winning on overtime in Lotus, 14-12.
Defying the odds at VCT Pacific
PatMen and Paper Rex defied odds, bucking a lackluster performance in the group stages of VCT Pacific to ultimately finish the regional tournament in third place, before conquering the world’s biggest Valorant tournament so far in 2025.
In the regional playoffs, Paper Rex defeated Masters: Bangkok champions T1, top-seeded Boom Esports and DRX to get the last ride ticket to Toronto, before losing steam to eventual champions RRQ Hoshi.
PatMen made his debut in Paper Rex’s loss against Boom Esports, replacing Indonesian Aaron “mindfreak” Leonhart.
PatMen, the only Pinoy in a team stacked with SEA’s greatest, admitted to experiencing growing pains as he adjusted to his new team.
“I’m gonna be real, when I joined Paper Rex, since I’m the new guy. I went [through] a depressing phase. I always show that I’m happy. I’m nice with the team with a camera and on stream, but during practice, I know, like I underperform a lot,” he said in a post-match interview.
But his team was there to support him throughout.
“My teammates, my coach, they always encourage me. It’s not like they did something to me that’s why I’m down, but because sometimes I’m being hard on myself, you know but I’m so happy that I have teammates like this. They always encourage me, especially Alecks. They don’t give up on me. They say I deserve to be here,” PatMen shared.
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