Before Champions, many didn't know the true caliber of play the SEA region held. But after substantial performances by X10 Esports X10 Esports Inactive Vera Rodman Yap Tempz Pierre Heng RedKoh Danial Hakim wayne Wayne Chang Egoist Javier Chua (now XERXIA Esports XERXIA Esports Asia-Pacific Unranked b3ta Puwadon Jaisuekul Siraww Siraphop Honghirun bnwgiggs ) and Team Secret Team Secret Asia-Pacific Unranked invy Adrian Jiggs Reyes JessieVash Jessie Cuyco Wild0reoo Brheyanne Christ Reyes 2ge James Goopio Jremy Jeremy Cabrera finishing in the top eight, the world finally saw the talent hiding in SEA.

Unfortunately for Paper Rex Paper Rex Asia-Pacific Unranked mindfreak Aaron Leonhart Jinggg Wang Jing Jie f0rsakeN Jason Susanto d4v41 Khalish Rusyaidee something Ilya Petrov , they weren't able to qualify for Champions after a loss to DAMWON Gaming DAMWON Gaming Inactive Lakia Kim Jong-min (김종민) allow Park Sang-wook (박상욱) exy Park Geun-cheol (박근철) Estrella Park Gun (박건) Esperanza Jeong Jin-cheol (정진철) in the APAC LCQ, a loss they would learn a lot from. However, this year they've turned the page and look to revitalize their journey.

Paper Rex posing at Masters: Berlin Paper Rex is ready to roll back into international competition after a disappointing end to 2021. (Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)

Just a few weeks prior to the APAC LCQ, Paper Rex substituted Wang "Jinggg" Jing Jie in for Zhan "shiba" Teng Toh. A huge change with little time to adjust seemed to contribute to their loss resulting in a long off-season.

“Honestly in the LCQ match we didn't really expect to win much because we had a new player,” Jason "f0rsakeN" Susanto explained. “Because of that we had a lot of changes in that series, and afterwards we felt a little disappointed because we had a good draw, and we were leading against NORTHEPTION NORTHEPTION Japan Unranked on both maps but lost.”

During the off-season the team was able to rebuild their confidence and mentality while adapting to their new addition. It didn't take much time for Paper Rex to fall back into the dominant form we saw in Stage 3: Challengers 3. They started the new year without losing a single match in Stage 1 and only dropping a total of three maps. Jinggg's unique playstyle helped PRX finally win a Challengers Playoffs, allowing them to qualify for Masters: Reykjavik.

“Jinggg has good mechanics in the game and a very positive mindset,” f0rsakeN said. “He has no fear and because of that it helps us a lot because with his strong aim he's able to win a lot of crucial rounds.”

Last time we saw PRX on the international stage was during Masters: Berlin where they failed to make it out of the group stage after a loss to Papara SuperMassive Papara SuperMassive Europe Unranked skylen Asil Yalçın ip0TT Yiğit Karadeniz VenTT Emre Bozkurt Celasun Emir Celasun umu7 Umut Pekdoğan . Back then, the team lacked experience playing together on LAN —some had never played in a LAN tournament prior. Despite their previous result they look to use that experience and their newly found mindset to shine in Masters: Reykjavik, a tournament they missed out on last year.

“Last year we missed Iceland by two games against X10 CRIT and FULL SENSE FULL SENSE Asia-Pacific Unranked JohnOlsen Chanawin Nakchain Leviathan Thanyathon Nakmee aLerT Wattanachok Yingnakorn Potter Sutthichai Promsrikaew Sushiboys Panyawat Subsiriroj , and now I'm just happy that we got to come here to get more experience,” f0rsakeN said. “I think this is a lot different than when we qualified for Masters: Berlin, we have more goals than before and we have more experience as well.

“I hope that we can go a little bit further this time, and I hope that we start our era in Iceland.”

f0rsakeN smiling and raising his arms to his teammates after a round win All eyes on f0rsakeN to be the hot topic once again. (Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)

Their counterparts in the SEA region have shined on the international stage, and now many have high expectations for both SEA teams coming into this event. In Berlin, we saw hints of Paper Rex's phenomenal team play, but now they have to surpass their peers' accomplishments as well as begin a dynasty of their own.

Although Jinggg's contributions have proved to be extremely valuable, the team focuses on enjoying their time competing rather than the result of their matches. This mindset along with their remarkable mechanics allowed them to rebound and stride back to the top of the SEA region.

“This year we tried to work on our mental game and our mechanics,” f0rsakeN explained. “We also don't really care about the result too much, we just enjoy the game and try our best to win.”

Paper Rex received a bye into the playoff stage as a result of winning the Stage 1 Challengers Playoffs. They are guaranteed top-eight in the double elimination bracket and will get their next opponent from a random matchup out of the teams competing in the group stage.

When asked what he hopes to accomplish by the end of the tournament, f0rsakeN had a unique answer: “I hoped to headshot Tyson "TenZ" Ngo but he's not here, so for this tournament I think I will do my best to headshot Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom from Team Liquid Team Liquid Europe Unranked nAts Ayaz Akhmetshin Keiko Georgio Sanassy kamo Kamil Frąckowiak .”

They have shown their dominance in the SEA region, and look to show their strength on the international stage. Paper Rex have worked hard to get back to the top and now they'll prove why the SEA region isn't one to underestimate.

“I think SEA Valorant isn't as bad as most people make it out to be, we have a unique playstyle here, and we hope that we can show our gameplay in Iceland,” f0rsakeN said. “I hope both XERXIA and us do as well as we can, it would be a dream if we could meet each other in the finals for a rematch.”