Paper Rex Paper Rex Asia-Pacific Rank #1 invy Adrian Jiggs Reyes Jinggg Wang Jing Jie f0rsakeN Jason Susanto d4v41 Khalish Rusyaidee something Ilya Petrov opened their Masters Santiago run with a one-sided 2-0 victory over G2 Esports G2 Esports North America Rank #2 jawgemo Alexander Mor BABYBAY Andrej Francisty trent Trent Cairns valyn Jacob Batio leaf Nathan Orf .

This was the sixth all-time matchup between the two cores in what has become an international staple in the past two years.

The series kicked off on PRX's pick of Split. G2 generated an early advantage by punishing PRX's reclears in the pistol and bonus, forcing an early PRX timeout. PRX responded swiftly, winning the round four eco and dominating the buy rounds with constantly shifting defensive setups, turning a 3-0 lead for G2 into an 8-4 lead for themselves.

PRX won the second pistol but lost the anti-eco, giving G2 a way back in as the North American squad ran it back to a 9-9 score. Just before G2 could take back the lead, however, d4v41 pulled off a masterful 1v2 against BABYBAY and trent , swinging the momentum back in PRX's favor and spurring them on to a 13-9 finish.

d4v41 pays no mind to the Waylay utility and lands two clean taps.

G2 continued to lean into their unique Iso pick on Corrode after its regional success. On the other side, after having difficulties on the map previously, PRX swapped to a rare solo Duelist pick with something on Waylay, d4v41 on Vyse, and f0rsakeN on Viper, leaving Gekko as the only agent the Flex player has yet to play.

The first half was a 7-5 in favor of PRX. Both teams strung together solid round wins, but the highlight was round 11, where PRX pulled off an impossible 3v5 retake after trent whiffed on d4v41 as the latter emerged from jawgemo 's Iso ultimate.

A miracle or a disaster, depending on who you are.

Despite the single Duelist, PRX ended things with a flawless attacking side, winning every remaining round to take Corrode 13-5. f0rsakeN fragged out on his first Viper outing with an impressive 23/11/8 KDA and 236 ADR, totalling 41 kills in the series overall.

PRX now joins the ranks of the 1-0 teams alongside NRG and Gentle Mates, with their next matchup in Swiss to be drawn at the end of the day. G2, now 0-1, must fight to avoid an early elimination.