Paper Rex extends lower bracket run, eliminates DRX at Kickoff

In the fourth round match of the VCT Pacific 2026 Kickoff lower bracket, 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 eliminated DRX DRX Korea Rank #4 Hermes Ahn Byeong-wook (안병욱) MaKo Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관) free1ng No Ha-jun (노하준) HYUNMIN Song Hyun-min (송현민) BeYN Kang Ha-bin (강하빈) in a close three-map series. This matchup between two popular regional powerhouses happened in the lower bracket, and the chaos of Paper Rex stayed alive over the meticulous strategy from DRX.

The series began on the PRX map pick of Haven, with Paper Rex running an aggressive comp featuring Phoenix, Yoru, and Chamber. DRX ran a double-Initiator with solo Waylay instead, and it struggled from the start, as PRX started strong with a pistol win and a bonus conversion. Both d4v41 and f0rsakeN stepped up to take an 8-4 lead at the half. Despite winning both pistols, PRX had to stop a late comeback from the double-Initiator from DRX to win 13-11.

That put DRX in the position of needing to win its map pick of Corrode, a map that the team showed off strong Waylay theory on at Champions 2025. Paper Rex stuck with Phoenix and double-Duelist, while DRX ran solo Waylay with double-Controller and double-Initiator. Starting on defense, DRX matched the start of PRX on Haven with a pistol win and bonus conversion. The start was ideal, but as the first half stretched on, PRX fought back to earn a 7-5 lead at the half. DRX struggled after PRX adapted on the attack, but the attack side was nearly perfect, as DRX won Corrode 13-8.

Breeze was the decider, and DRX moved to double-Duelist for the first time in the series. The only difference between the two teams was which Controller was chosen, with DRX opting for Astra instead of Omen. For the third time in the series, a team took an early lead with a pistol win and bonus conversion. DRX looked primed to win with an 8-4 lead at the half, as HYUNMIN stomped the duelists from Paper Rex on Jett. However, it was Paper Rex's time to dominate the second half, winning seven rounds in a row off some amazing plays from invy and d4v41. PRX only lost two defense rounds to win the map 13-10 and the series 2-1.

With this win, Paper Rex moves on to the fifth round of the lower bracket and will face the loser of the DetonatioN FocusMe DetonatioN FocusMe Japan Rank #3 Meiy Ibuki Seki SSeeS Tomonori Okimura yatsuka Kazuya Ikeda Caedye Amon Mateus Okakura Akame Yu Gwang-hui (유광희) and T1 T1 Korea Rank #2 stax Kim Gu-taek (김구택) Meteor Kim Tae-oh (김태오) BuZz Yu Byeong-cheol (유병철) iZu Ham Woo-ju (함우주) Munchkin Byeon Sang-beom (변상범) middle bracket match. As for DRX, the team is out of Kickoff and Masters Santiago contention.