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 has defeated Global Esports Global Esports Asia-Pacific Rank #5 PatMen Patrick Mendoza UdoTan Go Kyung-won (고경원) Kr1stal Savva Fedorov xavi8k Xavier Juan Autumn Kale Dunne in the Pacific Stage 1 Lower Final, making quick work of the team that appeared to crack its code just last week. The series was a rather dominant 3-0 stomp, with both teams having one ban apiece before picking out a best-of-five series.

The series played out on GE's pick of Haven, PRX's pick of Lotus, and GE's pick of Ascent. PRX won Haven 13-6, Lotus 13-4, and Ascent 13-11.

Beginning on Haven, PRX fielded what has become its go-to comp on the map, with Phoenix and Jett complemented by d4v41 on Chamber. Global, known for having some more unorthodox comps, opted for a unique look that it had not used this year, with Autumn on Iso and UdoTan on Neon. From the get-go, it was clear that this was going to be a good day for Paper Rex.

Starting on attack, Global may have expected to have some more momentum out of the gates, but that was anything but the case. Any semblance of an attack that GE had was met by PRX at the apex, and while d4v41 may have struggled for a large impact with the Operator, the rest of the team was more than ready. something and f0rsakeN combined for 28 kills in the half, leading to a 9-3 advantage by the time the teams switched sides.

GE won the pistol round to start defense, but they barely got much further than that, only managing one more round before losing the map 13-6.

PRX picking Lotus was expected. The map has been a mainstay of the team's map pool over the years, and suits the players' styles with a double-Duelist comp. While PRX used the Raze-Jett pairing, the opposite side of the stage was all surprises. The team abandoned its previous double Controller comps, going for the extremely unorthodox triple-Sentinel comp that has been trailblazed by Xi Lai Gaming Xi Lai Gaming China Rank #2 WsLeo Huang Pinwei (黄品维) Lysoar Liang Youhao (梁优好) NoMan James Man Rarga Arthur Churyumov happywei Deng Minwei (邓闵维) in China. With Sage, Deadlock, and Cypher, the team began on defense first, but struggled early on. Paper Rex dominated, and while the occasional hiccup did occur, the veteran squad recorded three different runs of three rounds, entering halftime with yet another 9-3 lead.

Xi Lai enjoys the most success with this comp on attack, but even that did not shape out for GE. After winning the pistol, PRX pulled off a thrifty round thanks to heroics from three Classics, a Sheriff, and a Bandit. From that point on, the deficit was too large. Paper Rex closed out the map 13-4.

Ascent, GE's pick, promised some intrigue. It was set to be GE's first time playing the map since its reintroduction to the map pool, while PRX was set to play it for the second-straight day with its Yoru-centric comp. While PRX went with its Sage-Vyse comp with something on Yoru, GE went with a double-Initiator look with Autumn on Phoenix, UdoTan on Sage, and Kr1stal and xavi8k on Sova and KAY/O.

The historically defender-sided map opened dominantly for the attacking GE, as a 6-0 start to the map showed a glimpse of hope for them, and some distress for PRX. Head coach alecks burned both of his timeouts in the first half, but they ended up working out, as a change in setups resulted in PRX clawing back to a 6-6 half.

When PRX got onto attack, a win in the pistol round and ensuing anti-eco ended up being the hand-up they needed. The map was tight, with neither team winning more than two rounds in a row. Global's proactive play through mid and A main clashed with Paper Rex's play as a cohesive unit, with each side finding the upper hand after a round or two. Paper Rex eventually found map and match point up 12-9, and nearly let it slip to overtime before closing it out 13-11.

something looked close to two different prime versions of himself, performing on Jett and Yoru to finish with a series-high 63 kills. While Autumn was the only GE player to eclipse the 40-kill mark, something was one of four PRX players to finish at or above it, with f0rsaken's 57, Jinggg's 54, and invy's 40 giving great support.

Up next

With the win, Paper Rex will advance to the grand final, where FULL SENSE FULL SENSE Asia-Pacific Rank #7 Leviathan Thanyathon Nakmee Killua Tanate Teerasawad primmie Papaphat Sriprapha JitBoyS Jittana Nokngam Crws Thanamethk Mahatthananuyut awaits with a double map ban. The teams have not played since FULL SENSE's introduction into VCT at the start of this season, but PRX holds the historical upper hand over the squad, going 6-0 against TALON TALON Inactive Killua Tanate Teerasawad thyy Anupong Preamsak Crws Thanamethk Mahatthananuyut JitBoyS Jittana Nokngam primmie Papaphat Sriprapha from 2023-2025.