Paper Rex stayed on track for back-to-back international titles after weathering a 27-kill storm from Filipino American duelist Zachary “Zekken” Patrone in “Sunset” to eliminate the Sentinels in the quarterfinals of the inaugural Esports World Cup 2025 Valorant tournament last July 11 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

First defeating the Sentinels during their Masters Toronto run, Paper Rex again lorded over their North America counterparts with a commanding 13-3 win at Icebox and landing the knockout blow on Sunset, 13-9.

Paper Rex’s Wang “Jinggg” Jing Jie burst out with a series-high 37/23/6 Kill-Death-Assist (KDA) ratio using Omen and Raze, respectively, followed by his fellow duelist Ilya “something” Petrov with 31 eliminations piloting Jett and Sova.

Away from his usual role, Filipino initiator Patrick “PatMen” Mendoza displayed a more offensive gameplay as Viper with a 27/21/11 KDA and an Average Combat Score (ACS) of 210, with three round clutches under his belt.

Patrone led the fragging for the Sentinels, pouring 26 of his 30 kills as Neon on Sunset, while initiator Marshall “N4RRATE” Massey backstopped with 29/28/10 with an ACS of 245.

‘Enjoy the moment’

After claiming their first international championship in Masters Toronto, Paper Rex are not shying away from the duty of protecting the coveted crown they wear, especially as they are two series wins away from becoming back-to-back title holders.

Read more: For first Filipino player in Valorant Masters grand finals, taunts and pressure are no problem

Read more: VCT Pacific: Filipino squads look for rebound after Week 2 misfires

Instead of shirking the burden of delivering another championship, they put emphasis on playing the game in their own way.

“We just want to enjoy the moment, and I think we learned from last year [to] not put too much pressure on ourselves,” Jie said in the postgame interview. “I think our mental [state] is good and our game is good, so everyone’s happy.”

In-Game leader Jason “F0rsaken” Susanto added the importance of winning their first match in the Esports World Cup against Bilibili Gaming that sparked their momentum heading into the playoffs.

Paper Rex unleashed their W Gaming playstyle right as Icebox opened, steamrolling the advances of the Sentinels to gain an early advantage, with Mendoza dishing out a 1v2 clutch at the seventh round for a 6-1 lead.

The Pacific powerhouse continued their stride after halftime, blazing a 4-0 run at the attacking side to close out the opening map.

Paper Rex continued to dominate the pistol rounds in Sunset before a third-round quadra kill from Patrone finally got the Sentinels on the board. It served as a glimmer of hope as Paper Rex stabilized an 8-4 scoreline at the first half.

Patrone rallied Paper Rex to a 5-1 counterpunch in their attacking side, bringing the map into a deadlock at 9 rounds a piece.

Their beam of hope got brighter but they shone even better when it mattered most, securing a thrifty buy at the 19th round to ignite another 4-0 sprint and slamming the door to a Sentinels comeback.

Finals rematch

Shortly after the quarterfinals, the Paper Rex train will head back to the stage to face a familiar foe: Masters Toronto finalists FNATIC.

The juggernauts from Europe, the Middle East and Africa have also swept their way into the semis, disposing of Karmine Corp to set a rematch with a ticket to the Esports World Cup Finals on the line.

For Jie, an exciting matchup awaits with both squads eager to punch their way for a chance of glory. “I think [FNATIC] are a really strong team, and they pushed us to our limits in [Masters] Toronto. So yeah, I’m really excited to play them,” he said.

According to Susanto, Paper Rex hold a slight mental advantage heading to this game as the ones who came out on top in their previous meeting. “They’re quite scary to play [against], but I think we’re still, like, above them, we’re still [ahead in] confidence,” he said.

Paper Rex and FNATIC will open the semifinal doubleheader on July 12, with the first round commencing at 5 p.m. (Philippine time).