Paper Rex routs LEVIATÁN in resounding playoff opener

After nearly a month away from the stage, 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 defeated LEVIATÁN LEVIATÁN North America Rank #2 spike Rodrigo Lombardi blowz Guilherme Oliviera Neon Bruno Rodríguez Sato Eduardo Kenzo Nagahama Sato kiNgg Francisco Aravena 2-0 to take the first win of the Masters London playoffs, reconfirming their status as one of the tournament favorites. The Pacific first seed crushed LEVIATÁN on Ascent 13-1 and followed up with a closer 13-10 win on Lotus.

LEV's map pick of Ascent pitted their Neon-Phoenix composition against PRX's unique Yoru-Sage-Vyse lineup. Despite LEV being the team often characterized for their aggressive set strategies, PRX were the ones overwhelming LEV with their proactivity, executing a near-perfect 11-1 defense blending aggressive A Main and B Main pushes, fast floods, and stalwart site holds. A double pistol for PRX ensured a quick 13-1.

Individually, the PRX players were walking on water; something ran rampant with the Operator with 14 kills, while d4v41 suffered only a single death to end with an unreal 16/1/3 KDA and 2.05 rating.

Lotus was a much closer affair. LEV bounced back into the series with several convincing site hits, while PRX won a chaotic eco in round five and two disadvantaged rounds following to start the map 4-4. The half ended with LEV dominating the fight for A Rubble to earn a slight 7-5 advantage. Neon was unstoppable on Jett in the Jett-Raze mirror match, racking up 19 kills and five first bloods in the first 12 rounds.

Both teams stayed within touching distance as the score climbed from 7-7 to 8-8 to 10-10. In the end, victory favored PRX; something won a crucial 1v1 eco via a Marshal no-scope headshot to take PRX to 11-10, while f0rsakeN pulled off an impressive 1v2 postplant to seal it 13-10. In spite of the loss, Neon ended the map with an impressive 28/16/4 KDA and a 9-0 first blood record.

PRX advances in the upper bracket and will next face the winner of Team Heretics versus Team Vitality on Monday, June 15. LEV will take on the loser in a high-stakes elimination match on Sunday, June 14.