MANILA, Philippines — Paper Rex took down another top American Valorant team, sweeping the Sentinels 2-0 to continue its Valorant Masters Toronto run in the upper bracket.
The series also saw the much-awaited Filipino matchup between Paper Rex’s Patrick “PatMen” Mendoza and Filipino-American Zachary “zekken” Patrone.
Paper Rex held nothing back as it took a six-consecutive-round lead in its map pick of Split. The early annihilation was enough for the Express to make quick work of the remaining rounds, taking the first map in under 40 minutes at 13-3.
On the Sentinel’s map pick of Sunset, things were more on equal footing with the American region’s second seed setting the tempo of the game. The US squad opened the map with four consecutive rounds, but Paper Rex fired back with a streak of its own trying to maintain a winnable deficit by the half at 5-7.
Switching sides, Paper Rex managed to tie the map at 7-7. But both teams were not letting up, with the Sentinels taking three consecutive rounds and Paper Rex answering back with its own streak to force a 10-10 deadlock.
Though the Sentinels managed to take another round, the Express had refueled and easily out maneuvered their foes, winning the series with a 1v1 that saw Jason “f0rsakeN” Susanto defuse the spike in a split second before Mohamed Amine “Johnqt” Ouarid could take him out.
“I didn’t think we were gonna win it so I was really talking to Aaron about what to do for Attack because I have like a few seconds to talk to them. When I looked up, Aaron jumped out of his seat so I was like ‘Oh, we won.’ I didn’t actually see it because I was looking down, I think. I’m not sure. I can’t remember to be honest,” Alexandre “alecks” Sallé said during the post-match interview.
Though the series went to the side of Paper Rex, Patrone only had good words for his fellow — albeit half — Filipino.
“Talking to him before the match, he’s super, super nice. We did a jersey swap. Got to talk a bit in the lobby. We did a picture together before the match and got to talk a bit more. He’s super friendly, really nice. In the server, he kinda beat my ass. Kinda how it goes sometimes, in the next one I’ll get him back,” said Patrone.
Mendoza was of equal praise, just surprised that he was actually taller.
“When I met zekken, it was at the hotel during breakfast. I actually trolled him, I didn’t notice he was that short. I’m trolling him that time, he’s aware of that. Facing him, he’s really big inside the game. You can feel his aura and how he plays, he’s so confident,” shared Mendoza.
It is confidence he seems to now possess himself as Mendoza successfully pulled off a 1v2 clutch during their matchup.
Asked how he had developed such conviction ahead of their game against the Sentinels, Mendoza admitted that it was his team that helped him overcome the nervousness and pressure during his rookie season.
“Alecks and all of the boys told me it’s really important to be confident in the game. I realized I need to help to hype the team, and feel more confident,” he added.
Paper Rex will next face China’s Wolves Esports during the early hours of Saturday, June 21 (midnight Manila time), while Sentinels hope to stay alive in the tournament against FNATIC Wednesday, June 18, at 3 a.m. (Manila time).
