September 1, 2025 | 10:11am
TOKYO, Japan — Paper Rex added one other Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) trophy to its assortment after outclassing defending champion Rex Regum Qeon, 3-1, within the VCT Pacific grand finals on the LaLa Area over the weekend right here.
Having dominated the Stage 2 of the match, Paper Rex comfortably awaited RRQ after reserving a grand finals slot from the higher bracket, whereas the Indonesian staff fought to the tip towards Thailand’s Talon in a nail-biter decrease bracket finals duel final Saturday, 3-2.
The reigning Masters Toronto champion wasted no time in gaining a bonus after taking its map choose of Bind at 13-8 and RRQ’s map choose of Ascent at 13-7. The defending champion was capable of lengthen the collection with a robust outing in Lotus, 6-13, to disclaim Paper Rex a sweep.
However Haven favored Paper Rex with a cushty 8-5 lead on the half after which took three consecutive rounds because it shifted to the attacking facet. Although RRQ gave the impression to be on the verge of coming on-line for the map, Paper Rex’s snug lead was sufficient for the Categorical to reclaim the trophy they final gained in 2024 throughout Stage 1 of that yr’s VCT Pacific, with Filipino rookie Patrick “PatMen” Mendoza delivering the ultimate shot for Paper Rex to raise the trophy.
“Alam kong nahit ng [ultimate] ni “forsaken” (Jason Susanto) si “jemkin” (Maksim Batorov). Kailangan ko lang talaga is one shot. Nagtiwala ako sa intuition ko and pinush ko na,” Mendoza informed the Filipino media after the collection.
The win makes Mendoza the primary Filipino to win a VCT Pacific trophy because the franchise mannequin was first launched again in 2023 and in addition sees him as a two-time Valorant champion, having gained Masters Toronto with Paper Rex final June. He joined the Singaporean group simply final March and has solely been with the staff for roughly six months.
Paper Rex will subsequent see motion as the highest Pacific seed forward of VCT’s culminating match — Valorant Champions — set to occur in Paris starting September 12.