Paper Rex on brink of Valorant Masters Toronto crown

MANILA, Philippines — The Paper Rex Express is at it again.

They are one win away from claiming the Valorant Masters Toronto trophy as they dispatched China's Wolves Esports, 2-0, in the upper bracket finals early Saturday morning (Manila time).

Paper Rex's map pick of Lotus saw the Pacific region's last bet fall behind on their defensive side, finishing the half at a deficit, 5-7. But they were quick to answer back with a four consecutive round win as they switched to attack.

However, Wolves Esports countered with a streak of its own and with the slim lead it garnered during the first half, the team seemed to be on the brink of taking the map. But Paper Rex not only forced an overtime but was quick to adjust to its mistakes, winning both overtime rounds to take the first map at 14-12.

Having had a slow start in the first map, Filipino Patrick "PatMen" Mendoza stepped up for Paper Rex, securing a crucial four kills against Wolves on Ascent to start Paper Rex's nine-round win streak to give the team the advantage needed to win the series at 13-8.

This marks Paper Rex's return to an international Grand Finals, the squad's last being the Valorant Champions 2023, where it lost to Evil Geniuses, 1-3.

For his part, Mendoza makes history as the first Filipino to reach the grand finals of an international Valorant tournament grand finals. He did so in just his rookie year, still having only joined Paper Rex last March.

Paper Rex will await the winner of the lower bracket finals match-up between Wolves Esports and FNATIC, with the grand finals happening on Monday, June 23 at 1 a.m. (Manila time).