One question heading into Masters Toronto was whether or not Team Heretics would be able to bounce back from their devastating loss at the hands of Fnatic in VCT EMEA. But their performance in their Toronto opener looked as though they were still licking their wounds. In contrast, opponents Paper Rex were bang on form and showed that the train is full steam ahead.
Team Heretics still in decent spirits
While Heretics’ play may give the impression that their confidence is still somewhat dented, the team’s mental looked after the loss to Paper Rex appeared vastly better than after the Fnatic loss.
Speaking to the media in the post-match press conference, coach Neil “neilzinho” Finlay was the first to comment on the defeat, highlighting the differences he’s noticed since last facing PRX in Masters Madrid 2024.
“I think they were a very different team back then to what they are now, they play with a lot more structure now.
“I think we just struggled to get in the game. We played pretty poorly ourselves, but they also played very well. They have a very explosive team — very strong firepower and we just can’t deal with it, to be honest.
“I think they had a good game plan coming it, ours wasn’t the best, clearly. And, yeah, they played way better than us. They deserved to win today.”
The opening map was a disaster for Team Heretics. On Pearl — a map on which neilzinho revealed that the team has only a single scrim — TH were dominated, losing 13-1. In-game leader Ričardas “Boo” Lukaševičius felt that his side “were not brave enough” during the loss.
“We started really slow. I think the biggest thing was that the team fights that we had were not even real team fights. We were always in the wrong positions, on the wrong side of utility.
“We were not brave enough. We were not coordinated enough. Our fundamentals were bad. So basically, all the fights that happened, they just won most of them quite easily. And when you play like that, there is just no chance to win. They’re getting two, three kills per round — it’s impossible to win. So, yeah, for sure our performance was not even close to our level.”
Neilzinho was also asked whether EMEA’s late Stage 1 finish — that led to an official statement from Riot Games — had an impact on the result.
He was quick to downplay the impact though, insisting that “Paper Rex have the same situation” with regard to media duties in the immediate build-up to Toronto, adding that lack of prep time doesn’t affect fundamentals “at all”.
Paper Rex’s jubilant return to the global stage
For Paper Rex, failure to qualify for Masters Bangkok, having gone to the previous nine global tournaments, led to an inquest. Though their stock continued to drop given their slow start to Stage 1, their eventual turnaround to qualify for Toronto was a massive relief for the side.
Now they’ve begun their return to the big stage in perfect fashion; however, for newcomer Patrick “PatMen” Mendoza, it was an international debut. In PRX’s press conference, the Filipino player was asked for his thoughts on his debut, as well as competing with such a massive team and the subsequent added pressure.
“It’s just great that it’s my debut game at an international event and we win. Of course, I really feel the heavy pressure, but right now I’m just looking at my teammates, my coach; they’re all trusting me and they’re believing in me. I think that’s the most important thing that I need to think about.”
Later, coach Alexandre “alecks” Sallé was asked about the team’s newfound composure, discussing the impact of the side’s performance coach Laijhun “Panda” Cheng, who joined ahead of Stage 1.
“We have a very capable performance coach. He is basically in charge of making sure that we are calm in these situations. More or less what we’ve been doing was lots of meditation. We’re doing different drills: things that create a routine so that we can bring [it] to Masters and replicate the same thing.
“As you can see, I think it works perfectly.”
Paper Rex’s return to form was in parallel with the stepping down of Aaron “mindfreak” Leonhart from the starting roster. Though he returned during competition between Stage 1 and Masters Toronto, he’s back on the bench and could be seen on the broadcast in the coaching booth. Alecks confirmed that mindfreak has taken on some coaching responsibilities.
“For the moment, he’s basically an assistant coach — he does a lot more individual things with the players. So anytime Jason [f0rsakeN] needs some specific plans, or rather some details, he goes to the player. We have some plans that he made. We didn’t really use them today, but we do have stuff that he’s created.
“Also the fact that he’s very, very experienced. He’s invaluable for the rest of the team, someone that they can go to and is basically their big brother.”
