Paper Rex come into Valorant Masters with a fresh mindset after a less than successful international showing in 2021.
Singaporean side Paper Rex are probably more know for the shenanigans of their in-game leader, Benedict ‘Benkai’ Tan, than their actual gameplay.
The team doesn’t have a win to their name at a Masters tournament yet, but say they have a better mindset than they did last year at Valorant Champions Tour Stage 3 Masters: Berlin.
“We got nothing to lose,” Paper Rex player Aaron ‘mindfreak’ Leonhart said.
Paper Rex wants to play for fun
According to coach Alexandre ‘alecks’ Salle, Paper Rex have had a tough time with pressure in the past. While trying their best is always at the forefront of their game plan, having fun is what seems to bring out their best.
“We came in last year with a lot of pressure and wanted to do well, and we learned along the way that for our team, it doesn’t really work when we pile the pressure on,” alecks said. “Some teams I think just deal with it better than others and for us, the way we deal with it is to try and like let loose, not expect too much and just like go in and try and do our best and enjoy the moment.”
To enjoy the moment, Paper Rex don’t waste time. They have one of the fastest times to plant and their main Duelist player, Jason ‘f0rsakeN’ Susanto, was one of the highest rated players in the Asian Pacific qualifier according to VRL.gg.
While Paper Rex haven’t lost a VCT match yet in 2022, but that could all change after their first match against DRX at VCT Masters: Reykjavík.
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It could be more competitive a match than some think though, as the Singaporean org regularly scrims the South Korean side, and DRX players have praised the team as one of the few that can challenge them in the region.
“I would honestly put Paper Rex as the only team from APAC that could box in the ring with us,” DRX’s Kim ‘stax’ Gu-taek said before the tournament began.
Paper Rex have staff members to lean on at Valorant Masters
But even if the moment gets too much for the players on stage or at the event in general, they have a staff with history at events like these and esports in general. Paper Rex was co-founded by a former Counter-Strike legend in former Fnatic player Harley “dsn” Örwall who also serves as the team’s Chief Gaming Officer and is on-site with the team. Paper Rex also only fields one team in one esport, so the staff’s focus is almost entirely on this tournament and team.
“We have always ask [dsn] like, ‘Yo how do we deal with this shit we’re cracking under pressure,’ and he tells us what he used to do, what [Patrik ‘f0rest’ Lindberg] used to do how he feels about how Forest carries the entire game and how he feels about winning the tournament that way. Basically like getting better in practice and all his approaches. It’s a good thing,” alecks said.
With the organization’s backing and leadership behind them, Paper Rex hope for a deep run at Valorant Masters and hope to make into the top three. Beyond Iceland, the team wants to compete in every Masters this year, and to not miss out on Valorant Champions like they did last year.
“I just hope the guys do as well as they can,” alecks said.
