PRX Benkai proud his team destroyed ‘minor region’ label despite VCT elimination

Paper Rex were eliminated from Valorant Champions by Team Liquid 2-1 in the Group Stage which ended the APAC team’s successful 2022 run. When asked about the team’s accomplishments over the year, PRX Benedict ‘Benkai’ Tan pointed out how his squad helped eliminate the term minor region in Valorant.

Minor regions are normally places in which an esport is not as established, has less talented players and infrastructure or has no major results to its name. In League of Legends, Brazil and Japan are considered minor regions and have fewer slots at international events.

In Valorant, the term has yet to become widely used as teams from small regions, and regions where FPS esports traditionally is not popular, have performed well in 2022. Paper Rex, from Singapore, have placed in the top four at both Masters tournaments this year and ZETA DIVISION, hailing from Japan, have also placed highly at an international event.

While Paper Rex were taken out of Valorant Champions in the Group Stage, the team’s overall success in 2022 has made fans and analysts reconsider how they categorize organizations and regions in the esport.

“I think we’ve successfully destroyed the term of minor region as far as it goes for APAC,” PRX Benkai said in a post-match press conference at Valorant Champions.

“So I think that’s a job well done for us this year.”

Paper Rex end a successful year in the Group Stage

In 2021, Paper Rex debuted on the international stage and did not do much outside of that at a high level. The team failed to make any other events that year and came into 2022 with the goal of making every international event they could.

The team fulfilled that goal thanks to their aggressive playstyle and for-fun attitude towards competition.

“Since LCQ last year, we put in a tremendous amount of work and our results this year showed that it paid off,” Benkai said. “I guess this entire year has been a very successful year for us as a team. We’ve grown so much since Berlin from last year and regardless of the result that we have here, we’ve firmly established ourselves as a good team.”