Will Paper Rex be the first team to pick Tejo in the VCT?
SOUTH KOREA – Ilia “something” Petrov addressed the press at a conference ahead of the VCT Pacific Kickoff in Seoul, reflecting on Paper Rex’s 2024 season and sharing insights into what is ahead, as well as what fans can expect from the Southeast Asian powerhouse this year.
In the 2024 season, Paper Rex remained a top contender in the region, claiming a trophy at VCT Pacific Stage 1, finishing as runners-up at Kickoff, and securing a respectable second runners-up position at VCT Pacific Stage 2. On the international stage, the team qualified for all three major events in Madrid, Shanghai, and Champions, but were unable to replicate their 100% podium finishes from the previous year at VALORANT Masters Tokyo and VALORANT Champions Los Angeles, only making it to the podium in Madrid.
Something shared a similar sentiment but remained hopeful as the team turned a new page, saying “Overall, last year wasn’t the best for us, but I’m hopeful we’ll do better in 2025. For the start of the season, our goal is to make [VALORANT Masters] Bangkok, and then we’ll see what going to come.”
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When discussing the current starting five which does not change from last season, the Russian player mentioned that it gives them an edge over other teams, saying, “It gives us a lot of confidence since we haven’t made any changes to our roster. Compared to last year, the only change we had was with the assistant coach.”
The press conference also confirmed that the coaching staff of Paper Rex will be streamlined to just one person again, with Alexandre “alecks” Sallé at the helm. His contract was recently extended through 2027, according to the Global Contract Database. “There won’t be an assistant coach [this year],” something added.
Heading into the 2025 season, the VCT Pacific Kickoff will introduce a new playable agent, Tejo, released alongside the launch of Episode 10 Act 1. However, the gap between the release date and the start of the Kickoff raised concerns for some teams and fans. something addressed this by saying that Tejo is on Paper Rex’s radar, as they anticipate other teams may pick the agent. As a result, they have already prepared by learning both the counter and how to play Tejo themselves.
“Nowadays, we’re trying to play with Tejo, since we will have this agent from the start of Kickoff. Other teams might also play this agent, and we’re preparing for that.” Unfortunately, this still does not clarify whether Tejo is on the cards for Paper Rex during the upcoming Kickoff.
When it comes to playstyle, Paper Rex has typically adopted an unorthodox “W Gaming style” and agent composition, even when facing tough domestic or international opposition. However, this approach shifted recently at the VALORANT Radiant Asia Invitational in Chengdu, where they used more standard compositions and made moves that weren’t quite the typical PRX style, perhaps a more careful approach.
“Sometimes we don’t stick to meta comps—it was working for two years. But during the OFF//SEASON, we thought, why not try it? It turned out successful, and after that, we thought why not try to play meta comps sometimes.”
Closing out his segment, something also shared that he is looking forward to facing three teams if they make it to internationals—teams that many would also expect to be favorites: FNATIC, NRG, and Sentinels.
VCT Pacific Kickoff begins on January 18th.
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Cover photo courtesy of Jazmin Tabuena/Riot Games
