Paper Rex eliminates NRG to set up All-Pacific Masters Santiago final

Third time was the charm, and this time, there were no second chances. Paper Rex and NRG met for the third time at VCT Masters Santiago in the Lower Final, and with a Grand Final berth against a waiting Nongshim RedForce on the line, the stakes were incredibly high. A 3-1 series win sends Paper Rex through to Sunday, and NRG home with a third-place finish that with the talent in that squad, will feel like a missed opportunity and ends their dream of a consecutive Champions and Masters trophy, a feat no other team has yet managed.

PRX had come through the Swiss Stage undefeated, while NRG’s only loss in that phase had been to PRX themselves. Both teams made it to the playoff bracket, where they’d already met once more: after PRX beat FURIA in the upper semis, NRG reversed the result with a close 2-0 to send PRX tumbling into the lower bracket. From there, PRX had grinded through All Gamers and G2 to earn another shot at the Americas side. Out of the seven games PRX had played at the event, six of them had been against Americas teams. This was the decider: win and face Nongshim in the Grand Final, lose and fly home in third.

The Map Veto

PRX came in with their permanent Abyss ban that also banned one of NRG’s strongest maps, while NRG opted to remove Bind: the map they had won against PRX in their upper bracket meeting. What was left was a pool that leaned heavily in PRX’s favour: Split and Breeze were two of their strongest maps of the event, while Pearl, Haven, and Corrode gave them options. Notably, NRG had not played Corrode or Breeze at all at Masters Santiago, a factor that would come to define the back half of the series. “We thought they’d ban Breeze, not Bind,” said PRX’s coach Alecks in the post-map press conference.

Pearl: 13-8 (NRG win)

NRG took the opener convincingly. PRX had lost Pearl to NRG in their upper bracket meeting and almost kept it level this time around, starting on defense and holding it to 6-6 before the break. But NRG’s second-half defense proved near-impenetrable, allowing PRX only two more rounds as the Americas squad closed it out 13-8. Keiko’s Killjoy and mada’s Waylay were the engines of that defensive performance, controlling the map with a discipline that gave PRX very little to work with in terms of space or momentum.

Split: 13-7 (PRX win)

PRX answered immediately on their own pick. Split had been one of their most reliable maps all season. They came into this series on a six-win streak on it, with a perfect 4-0 record at Masters Santiago and they didn’t let the streak break. A 7-5 attack half gave them the lead, and from there their defense carried them home. Something running the Yoru with the operator and Jinggg constantly applying pressure on Raze made NRG’s attack look uncoordinated as they failed to break through. PRX closed it 13-7, and the series was level.

Corrode: 13-6 (PRX win)

Corrode was NRG’s pick; a map they hadn’t touched at Santiago, while PRX had won it twice. Whether NRG believed they had the answers or were simply looking to take their opponents onto less familiar ground, the gamble didn’t pay off. PRX led 7-5 at the half and then turned their attack into a near-perfect second half, dropping only one round on the way to a 13-6 win. D4v41 led the charge on Vyse with 18 kills and 235 ACS, though it was NRG’s skuba who posted the highest individual ACS of the map at 278, a bright spot in an otherwise grim performance for the Americas side.

Breeze: 13-9 (PRX win)

If there was any doubt remaining, PRX buried it immediately. Breeze was another map NRG had not played at Santiago, while PRX came in on a four-match win streak on it at the event, having beaten both G2 and FURIA on it along the way. They wasted no time making that advantage felt: an 8-1 start on attack became a 9-3 first half, and when PRX won the second pistol round to go up 11-3, the writing was on the wall. NRG showed heart, clawing back to 12-9, but PRX wouldn’t be denied.

They closed the map 13-9 and punched their ticket to the Grand Final. Across the map, the OG duo of Jinggg and f0rsakeN were the driving forces for PRX. Both finished with 247 ACS and 19 kills each, and as a team PRX generated 11 first kills, f0rsakeN accounting for five of them himself.

The Performances That Won It

Across the series, f0rsakeN and something each had 11 first kills, although mada had 22 by himself. Invy had the highest ACS for his team at 221, although all of Paper Rex crossed the 190 mark and four out of five players went positive in terms of kill differential. Meanwhile for NRG, even though mada led the charts in terms of first kills and skuba had the highest frags and ACS overall across both teams, overall PRX’s squad looked far more in sync and dangerous today.

This is what Paper Rex at their best looks like: the experienced core stepping up on the maps that matter most, with Invy’s steady support and the aggression of d4v41 giving them every tool they need. “The players were able to slow down in very tense moments,” said Alecks.

For NRG, the exit is a tough one. NRG coach bonkar confirmed the team had collectively chosen to ban Bind, and Ethan pointed to PRX’s snowballing momentum as one of the biggest factors that made it difficult to find footing. Still, the mood was not entirely bleak. Keiko, playing his first international event with the team, said: “Third place isn’t bad, although there’s a lot to be desired. I think we haven’t even hit our ceiling yet.”

Skuba echoed the sentiment: “Overall, this tournament was a positive for us. It’s the start of the year, and we’ve had a lot of upward growth, and we’ll keep competing for higher spots.” There’s a team in there that definitely has the potential be dangerous later this year.

But right now, it’s Pacific’s turn. “It’s a good meta for Pacific teams. We’ve always played agents like Yoru and Neon well, the rest of the world is just catching up with us,” said Alecks.

An All-Pacific VCT Masters Santiago Grand Final

Sunday’s Grand Final will be a first-of-its-kind matchup: despite both being VCT Pacific teams, Paper Rex and Nongshim RedForce have never faced each other in a series before in either VCT Pacific or off-season events. Whichever team wins, it will mean something significant.

If PRX take it, they become back-to-back Masters champions. If Nongshim close it out, they will become the first team to have climbed from Premier and Ascension all the way to lifting an international VCT trophy. And regardless of who stands on the podium Sunday, the Pacific region will have claimed four consecutive Masters titles. “My girlfriend (VCT Pacific host Victoria Cheng) wanted us to play Nongshim in the final, and it’s her birthday today, happy birthday Vic. I’m happy Pacific is winning tomorrow one way or the other.”

A PACIFIC BATTLE HAS BEEN SET FOR THE #VALORANTMasters GRAND FINALS! pic.twitter.com/0D5bejis94

— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) March 14, 2026

Nongshim will come in with the advantage of both map bans in the best of five, meaning it is likely PRX will be forced to play Abyss, and have their dominant maps like Breeze or Split banned out. Paper Rex however, have the advantage of having played and won a VCT international grand final before, although it was an upper bracket run. “I knew from when Nongshim qualified that Dambi would be bringing the chaos to the server, but I also think we are the more experienced team, since it’s NS’s first grand final,” was f0rsakeN’s take on asked about facing Nongshim.

The last Grand Final spot has been claimed by PRX. Now, they go to meet the team that hasn’t lost a series all year.

“I’m happy for Rb, we’ve been competing against him for a very long time. But we have to beat you tomorrow, sorry,” said Alecks.