Advertisement

Paper Rex reverse sweep DRX to become first-ever VALORANT Pacific League champions

The Singaporean squad claimed the US$100,000 grand prize as well as coveted spots in VALORANT Masters Tokyo and VALORANT Champions 2023.

Singapore's Paper Rex were crowned as the first-ever VALORANT Pacific League champions after they completed an incredible 3-2 reverse sweep over South Korea's DRX in the tournament's grand finals. (Photo: Riot Games via VALORANT Esports)
Singapore's Paper Rex were crowned as the first-ever VALORANT Pacific League champions after they completed an incredible 3-2 reverse sweep over South Korea's DRX in the tournament's grand finals. (Photo: Riot Games via VALORANT Esports)

Singaporean VALORANT powerhouse Paper Rex have been crowned as the first-ever champions of the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) 2023 Pacific League after they defeated South Korean rivals DRX in an incredible 3-2 reverse sweep in the tournament's grand finals on Sunday (28 May).

With their victory, Paper Rex claimed the grand prize of US$100,000 as well as all-important spots at VCT Masters Tokyo in June as well as VALORANT Champions 2023 in August, the two biggest events of the 2023 VALORANT esports season.

DRX and fellow South Korean squad T1, who finished in third place, have also earned a place in Masters Tokyo and VALORANT Champions 2023.

Paper Rex and DRX have been battling for supremacy over the Pacific League since it kicked off back in March. During the regular season, DRX claimed the top seed with a 8-1 record while Paper Rex finished second with a 7-2 line.

As the top two seeds in the regular season, both squads earned direct berths to the upper bracket semifinals in the playoffs. DRX defeated the Philippines' Team Secret 2-1, while Paper Rex swept T1 2-0, to set up another showdown between the two rivals in the upper bracket finals.

Paper Rex soundly swept DRX 2-0 in the upper bracket finals to become the first team in the grand finals.

DRX then outlasted T1 3-2 in the lower bracket finals to force a rematch with their Singaporean rivals for the inaugural Pacific League championship.

How the grand finals went

Riding high on the momentum from their previous victory over T1, DRX stormed into the grand finals and quickly took a commanding 2-0 series lead.

The South Koreans kicked things off with a comfortable 13-6 victory in Fracture before outlasting Paper Rex in a 16-14 overtime thriller in Ascent.

With their backs against the wall, the Singaporeans struck back hard in game three at Lotus, picking up their first win of the grand finals in a 13-3 stomp.

The pivotal game four at Pearl then started with Paper Rex leading 8-4 in the first half. DRX mounted a comeback in the second half and were on the verge of taking the series, but the Singaporeans managed to hold them off to take a 13-8 victory and force a deciding game five.

With the championship on the line in the decider at Bind, Paper Rex had another fiery start and were up 9-3 by halftime. DRX would once again attempt another second half comeback, but the Singaporeans were unfazed as they grabbed the four rounds they needed to secure the 13-6 victory and reverse sweep.

Who was the grand finals MVP?

Paper Rex's Russian import, Ilya "something" Petrov, bagged the Grand Finals MVP award after racking up 95 kills and 25 assists against 64 deaths throughout his team's incredible five-game slugfest against DRX.

The import notably joined Paper Rex in March, mere days before the Pacific League kicked off, after spending much of his career playing for Japanese teams.

As the Pacific League champions, Paper Rex have earned a direct seed into the playoffs of Masters Tokyo alongside the top teams from the VCT's EMEA and Americas Leagues. Meanwhile, DRX and T1 will start Masters Tokyo in the group stage alongside the other lower-seeded teams.

Masters Tokyo will take place from 11 to 25 June and features a US$1 million prize pool, with the champions earning a US$350,000 grand prize.

After Masters Tokyo will be VALORANT Champions 2023, this year's iteration of VALORANT's world championship tournament. The event is scheduled from 6 to 26 August and will be hosted in Los Angeles, the United States.

For more esports news updates, visit https://yhoo.it/YahooEsportsSEA and check out Yahoo Esports Southeast Asia’s Facebook page and Twitter, as well as our Gaming channel on YouTube.