JAPAN — The grand finals of VCT Pacific Stage 2 saw Paper Rex (PRX), the undefeated team through playoffs who had only lost a game in Stage 2, go up against Rex Regum Qeon (RRQ), who had demonstrated some of the most incredible resilience seen during their lower bracket run.
Even though both teams had already secured their spots at Champions alongside DRX and T1, the grand final trophy was still up for grabs.
While RRQ had already won Stage 1, PRX, while they had a Masters trophy now, were still missing a regional trophy in 2025. Both teams had only played each other once this year, in the VCT Pacific Stage 1’s lower finals, where RRQ shut PRX down to lift the trophy eventually.
A Flawless Stage 2 Playoffs so far
Starting off with a double map ban, PRX banned both Corrode and Icebox before choosing map one to be Bind, a map they had played four times during the course of Stage 2, winning all of them. Coach Alexandre “Alecks” Salle stated in the post-map conference tthat his was a pretty huge advantage, since according to him, “RRQ has one of the best Icebox in the world. “
PRX continued their trend of domination, finding a clean 9-3 half to open with as well as locking in both pistol rounds. While RRQ tried to recover on their attacking side, they just couldn’t find an opening, and PRX closed out the map 13-8. All of PRX’s players went positive, with Ilya “something” Petrov on Yoru having a 7-0 first kill/death score, as well as 278 ACS on the Yoru.
The second map was chosen by RRQ and was one of their comfort picks of Ascent. Unfortunately for them, PRX had not played it at all this stage, and it was a wild card. PRX’s Sage/Vyse comp started them strong on defense and the half quickly snowballed into a 11-1 lead. RRQ tried to recover with six rounds straight but the damage had been done, and PRX once again won the map after taking both pistols, this time 13-7. Jason “f0rsakeN” Susanto was the map MVP on Omen with 21 kills, a +8 kill differential, and an ACS of 280.
Map three was RRQ’s last chance to jump back in the series and they had to do it on PRX’s map pick of Lotus. Thankfully, this was a map RRQ had played quite a bit this stage and this showed as for the first time, the first half ended on an even 6-6 footing. After the side swap, RRQ put up a stellar defense, winning seven straight rounds to win Lotus and push the series to a map four. Cahya “Monyet” Nugraha, David “xffero” Monangin, and Ngô Công “crazyguy” Anh all had two 3Ks apiece, with the latter two also winning out crucial clutch rounds.
RRQ try and bounce back after Lotus
Map four was Haven, RRQ’s pick, and again, a map both teams had proven they were capable of navigating. PRX, despite starting on defense, were rocking an extremely aggressive Waylay/Yoru comp which saw them take control consistently in the first half, leading to an 8-4 lead. Once again, RRQ showed signs of recovery attempts, but PRX won not just both pistols but also the bonus round in the second half, and closed out the map 13-7, as well as the series 3-1.
“Overall we just trust each other, and keep going,” said Patrick “PatMen” Mendoza, PRX’s newest member and rookie.
For PRX, the win was a team-wide effort, with something having the highest ACS on the server, as well as going +22 in terms of kill differential and netting 20 first kills. Both Wang Jing “Jinggg” Jie and f0rsakeN also had 230+ ACS and 65+ kills across the series. Four of PRX’s players went positive in terms of K/D while none on RRQ managed the feat.
For something especially, it’s a bit of redemption since he couldn’t attend Masters Tokyo in 2023 due to visa issues, so according to Coach Alecks, his MVP win today is “poetic justice.” Alecks also shouted out the team’s assistant coach Laijhun “Panda” Cheng for vibing with the team and who has helped the team with meditation and focus.
According to something, after their Toronto win, the team was worried about keeping up their momentum but were happy that they started strong in VCT Pacific Stage 2, only dropping three maps throughout the Stage. He was also happy to win today in Japan, where he started his career.
With this win, PRX are locked in as Pacific’s first seed, while RRQ are second. According to circuit points, T1 and DRX close out the four teams from Pacific headed to Champions Paris.
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Cover photo courtesy of VCT Pacific
