Wolves quickly becoming fan favourites, Paper Rex have found their level – VCT Toronto Day 5 Preview

The final day of the Swiss portion at Masters Toronto will determine who will be the tournament’s final two teams to make it to the playoffs. An all-Chinese affair between Bilibili Gaming and Wolves Esports will guarantee that two VCT China teams reach the main event, while EMEA faces Pacific in the other clash between Team Liquid and Paper Rex.

Bilibili Gaming vs Wolves Esports – Wolves’ confidence sky high

Due to begin at 12:00 PM local time (18:00 CEST) is a rematch of the VCT China Stage 1 lower bracket final between BLG and WOL. Bilibili were the decisive 3-0 victors on that occasion, but a lot has changed since then, and now Wolves will enter the series as slim favourites.

Bilibili Gaming are in need of a spark at Masters Toronto. They began their Swiss run with a win against Team Liquid, but did so in an unconvincing fashion against a side that was, at the time, without its IGL. They followed that up with a 2-1 loss to Sentinels in which the Chinese side collapsed after winning the opening map.

An elimination here wouldn’t be disastrous for BLG, but currently there doesn’t seem to be the energy around the team that breeds any confidence in a potential deep run at the tournament. Like Team Heretics before them, they may feel lucky to have drawn Wolves in their elimination match. But they must learn from Heretic’s exit that Wolves are not to be underestimated.

For Wolves, confidence must be at an all-time high. The team just recorded its first-ever global victory and, in doing so, sent packing the Champs 2024 runners-up. The vibes have improved too, curiously thanks to Zellsis.

The team was widely regarded as the worst coming into Masters Toronto, and so they’ve already defied expectations to earn a single victory. Now they’re in uncharted territory with little expectation that they’ll go much further, an environment that could see the players perform freely, without pressure, if harnessed correctly.

Led by the infectiously buoyant SiuFatBB, the team is on the cusp of reaching cult favourite status, and such status is all but guaranteed if they can make it to the playoffs. If they can keep up their current form, and reproduce it at future global events, should they get there, then Wolves will no doubt become one of the neutrals’ favourites in China.

Paper Rex vs Team Liquid – Unlucky draw for two title outsiders

The final Swiss stage match, kicking off at 15:00 PM local time (21:00 CEST), is that between the Pacific’s Paper Rex and EMEA’s Team Liquid. Both would’ve been hopeful of making a significant run this tournament, but now one will be resigned to early elimination.

Paper Rex’s previous match with Gen.G was billed as the chance for both sides to generate some momentum in Toronto. Sadly for Paper Rex, they were not the ones to do so. The side was handily beaten by their Pacific rivals, starting the series with a narrow 13-11 defeat on Ascent before capitulating on their own Icebox to lose the second map 13-3.

Their stop-and-start form has put a end to the train metaphors. Their Pacific win streak gave the impression that the team was back on its way to becoming an elite side, like it had been for so many years, but the stagnation may well indicate that this is now their current level — global event-worthy but unlikely to mount serious title challenges.

Up against PRX is Team Liquid, who can now see the light at the end of the tunnel with the reintroduction of nAts following the granting of his visa. Their nAts-less defeat to BLG can be ignored now that their key man is back, his return already brought with it a dominant performance against MIBR.

The Brazilians were poor, as they were in their opening defeat to Gen.G, and Team Liquid took full advantage to claim a convincing 2-0 win. The most interesting aspect of the match was TL’s decision to stick with stand-in penny as the Canadian kept his place on the roster in favour of Serial.

The decision likely comes from impacts within practice, whereby the addition of nAts will have somewhat thrown their pre-tournament prep out of the window. Now they’ll need to strike the right balance between playing their best players — the roster with the highest ceiling — while being pragmatic in accepting the limitations when it comes to useful practice time that the players have been able to accrue during their short time in Toronto.