Hype for another exciting chapter of one of VALORANT's closest rivalries was quickly extinguished as Paper Rex comfortably handled fellow Pacific rep DRX at the VALORANT Champions Tour Masters Tokyo on June 17.
When the playoffs bracket for VCT Masters Tokyo was revealed at the conclusion of the group stage earlier this week, fans all over the world were shocked to see a rematch between two of VALORANT's biggest rivals, DRX and Paper Rex.
After the teams faced off in the VCT Pacific grand finals at the end of May, they were both on the receiving end of speculations about the roster they would field in Tokyo. However, their meeting today was marred by issues, with PRX forced to play sixth man Patiphan "CGRS" Posri in place of Ilya "something" Petrov, who has been having visa issues. On the other side, DRX went back to their original five-man roster with Kim "Zest" Gi-seok instead of Jung "Foxy9" Jae-sung.
Related: VCT Pacific MVP resorts to streaming his team's match at Masters Tokyo due to visa issues
Unfortunately for the Korean team, PRX not only had a better read overall on their tactics, but their substitute CGRS majorly stepped up to the plate leading to a 2-0 win over their regional rivals.
The opening map of the day was Split, where both teams entered with new compositions. PRX went back to a classic look of theirs that features Jason "f0rsakeN" Susanto on Jett, with CGRS filling in on Skye. Not only did CGRS fill in on this role, but he was also the in-game leader for Split, as revealed by f0rsakeN in the post-game press conference.
DRX attempted to use a composition that has continuously performed well for them, but one they've never used on Split. Their double-duelist setup featured Goo "Rb" Sang-min on Neon-one of the best agents in his massive pool.
Both compositions seemed oriented more toward offense, so DRX was at a disadvantage from the beginning starting on defense.
While f0rsakeN dashed around on Jett, Wang "Jinggg" Jing Jie flew around the map on Raze, with Aaron "mindfreak" Leonhart following up with Astra utility. Though he isn't their usual Skye player, CGRS racked up 15 assists across the map, showing he was clearly doing his job as both an initiator and in-game leader.
PRX took Split in close fashion 13-10 after DRX threatened a comeback on their attacking side. It was a different story on Bind, where it felt like PRX was reading DRX's engagements like a book, and when caught by surprise the gunfights seemed to never go the Korean team's way. On top of it all, their new composition let CGRS shine on Gekko.
From the use of Wingman to secure spike plants to getting kills with the Mosh Pit, CGRS' mastery of VALORANT's newest agent was on full display. Due to something's dominance in the roster, he never really had the chance to play the agent through the regular season. However, in the post-match press conference, PRX coach Alexandre "alecks" Sallé mentioned that having the unpredictability of CGRS helped the team in the match today.
Despite the beginnings of another second-half comeback, DRX lost Bind to PRX 13-10-but don't let the scoreline fool you. A majority of DRX's rounds were unsalvageable early, with disciplined economy management their only saving grace.
PRX will now move on in the upper bracket while DRX will now have to make a run through the lower bracket and avoid elimination from Masters Tokyo.
Related: VCT Masters Tokyo 2023: VALORANT scores, schedule, and format
In the post-match press conference, the overall sentiment from DRX was that the team is looking toward Champions at the end of the season. Kim "MaKo" Myeong-kwan mentioned the team wasn't in their best condition today, and Byung-chul "BuZz" Yu spent most of the press conference with his head in his hands, looking down at the table.
DRX will face Americas powerhouse NRG tomorrow, June 18, at 1am CT. PRX will face Fnatic the following day, with the winner guaranteeing a top-four finish and a shot at a grand finals appearance.