With a strong 2-0 win, Paper Rex Paper Rex Asia-Pacific Rank #1 PatMen Patrick Mendoza Jinggg Wang Jing Jie f0rsakeN Jason Susanto d4v41 Khalish Rusyaidee something Ilya Petrov has defeated Sentinels Sentinels North America Rank #4 N4RRATE Marshall Massey bang Sean Bezerra Zellsis Jordan Montemurro zekken Zachary Patrone johnqt Mohamed Amine Ouarid in the Masters: Toronto upper bracket. Now in the top three, they will next play against Wolves Esports Wolves Esports China Rank #3 SiuFatBB Pong Gaa Hei (庞加曦) Yuicaw Huang Yung-chieh (黃湧傑) Spring Liu Jiunting (刘俊霆) Lysoar Liang Youhao (梁优好) Juicy Tyler James Aeria for a spot in the grand final. Sentinels descends to the lower bracket, next facing off against FNATIC FNATIC Europe Rank #1 crashies Austin Roberts Boaster Jake Howlett kaajak Kajetan Haremski Chronicle Timofey Khromov Alfajer Emir Ali Beder in an elimination series.

Prior to the match, Paper Rex had never beaten Sentinels, with only one official encounter throughout the organizations' histories, back in 2024. Counting off-season matches, Sentinels had been up 3-0 in the head-to-head, including two wins in best-of-five matches.

Paper Rex's alecks complimented his opponent's style ahead of the series. “[They're] meticulous,” he said. “I like the way they set up, very clean Valorant.”

“They're like a box of chocolates,” Sentinels coach kaplan responded. “You never know what you're going to get, but it's sweet.”

The match began on Split, with Paper Rex taking an early lead on their map pick. An offensive master class, the Southeast Asian squad's strong attack on Split and the double-Duelist comp was key to their success. Paper Rex went on to dominate the defense with a 10-2 half, setting themselves up for a statement win on the opening map.

PatMen keeps the train going with a 1v2.

The Pacific team closed out Split in quick fashion, only losing one round on defense to win 13-3. Overall, something 's Yoru won seven first engagements, while his Raze partner, Jinggg , had 16 eliminations during the map. Naturally, the supporting cast deserves their laurels, as PatMen and d4v41 were key in denying Sentinel's own aggression and cleaning up kills, while f0rsakeN ended the map with more assists than any single Sentinels player had eliminations.

“We really didn't want to rush them because we knew they would be prepared for it,” alecks said after the map. “We tried to make sure we slowed everything down for this particular game.”

Before the second map, kaplan was confident. “They only have a few losses,” he said, referencing Paper Rex's [then] 19-2 win rate with the Sage composition on Sunset. “One of them is to us.”

Sentinels turned their luck around in the second map, Sunset. They were able to win their first pistol of the series, and an early streak led to Paper Rex's timeout after 3-0. It paid off for Paper Rex, as they lost the following eco but narrowed the gap to reach 4-3. A back-and-forth ensued, with Sentinels eventually extending their lead to end their defense 7-5.

Now on defense, Paper Rex tied the score after taking the second pistol and the anti-eco. Sentinels regained the lead to go up 9-7, drawing out Paper Rex's second timeout. Another round went the North American team's way, but a proactive defense kept the score close, tying once again at 10-10.

The series came down to the wire as both teams threw everything at each other.

The map remained close, with Paper Rex eventually reaching match point at 12-11. Sentinels was forced onto a semi-eco round, going for a quick plant on A Site. The teams traded kills, but PatMen was able to stall for long enough to let f0rsakeN stick the defuse, with 1.33 seconds to spare. The map ended 13-11, confirming the 2-0 win to send Sentinels to the lower bracket.

“alecks and all of the boys told me it's really important to be confident,” PatMen said after the series.

The win means Paper Rex has confirmed their fifth international podium finish, and their first since Champions 2023. Paper Rex will next play against Wolves Esports for a chance at the grand final and finally winning the team's first-ever international trophy.

“It's not going to be easy,” d4v41 said regarding their match against Wolves Esports. “They used to be our scrim partner. Whoever makes less mistakes will win, I'm excited to play them.”

“[Wolves] are the protagonists of this tournament,” alecks commented. “We have experience, we know you can't underestimate this kind of team.”