Paper Rex vs Fnatic: how did we get here? – VCT Toronto Grand Final Preview

For a global VALORANT final, there could hardly be a better pair of finalists than Paper Rex and Fnatic. Both sides have an immense pedigree in the game, and have each battled adversity to get to this stage. But sadly, there can only be one Masters Toronto winner.

Paper Rex train approaching its final destination

With their upper bracket run in Toronto seeing them become the first team to reach the grand final, it’s easy to forget that just two months ago this team was on the brink of total disaster.

Their poor Pacific Kickoff run saw them crash out of the competition early after losses to T1 and DFM, thus failing to qualify for Masters Bangkok — their first missed global tournament for years having previously attended nine events in a row.

When they came back for Stage 1, things weren’t looking much better. After being drawn into the much more difficult group, consecutive losses to DRX, Gen.G, and BOOM left them just a single defeat away from another elimination, one that would’ve condemned the majority of their season as a failure by April.

That’s when the train started picking up some steam. Though they weren’t the most difficult of opponents, subsequent wins against DFM and Global Esports breathed some life into PRX and got them into the Stage 1 playoffs by the slimmest of margins. By this point, Patrick “PatMen” Mendoza had been added to their starting roster and was making a massive difference for his side.

They went on to earn playoff wins against T1, BOOM Esports, and DRX, securing their spot in the top three and earning qualification to Masters Toronto. Their Pacific run would go no further though, eliminated by eventual winners RRQ and their star Duelist Maksim “Jemkin” Batorov.

An unbeaten run in their Esports World Cup qualifiers, including another series win over Kickoff champions DRX, saw the side go into Masters Toronto with momentum.

Paper Rex’s opening win in Toronto was devastating for opponents Team Heretics. The EMEA runners-up were thought of as one of the best teams going into the tournament, and so PRX’s 13-1 opening map victory was stunning. That map alone seemingly broke the spirits of Los Niños, and they were out of the tournament shortly after.

Gen.G then became the only team so far to beat Paper Rex in Toronto. Led by an inspired performance from Kim “t3xture” Na-ra, the 2024 Masters Shanghai winners claimed a 2-0 win and were, at that moment, the best-performing team at the event.

PRX got back on track, winning their do-or-die series against Team Liquid to move on to the playoff stage.

They then faced G2 Esports as the Americas champions lined up for their debut having been favourites before the beginning of the tournament. But another stunning win by Paper Rex relegated G2 to the lower bracket.

There next opponents, Sentinels were not the same beast as G2, and PRX again wound up 2-0 victors. Then, in the upper bracket final, Paper Rex met Wolves Esports — the side with little expectations to make a dent in Toronto but who had become fan favourites during their Cinderella run.

But again Paper Rex came out on top, completing a 2-0 win to reach the grand final without dropping a single map in the playoffs. This will be Paper Rex’s third global final, but two earlier losses mean that they still chase their first taste of international glory to back up the size of their worldwide fanbase.

Fnatic creating a new legacy

For the last year and a half, Fnatic has been living under the shadow of its 2023 success. Two global titles — in São Paulo and Tokyo — set the benchmark for the organisation, but they’ve understandably struggled to maintain those lofty standards.

The beginning of 2025 signalled that another disappointing season was incoming, with their short-lived Kickoff run ending at the hands of FUT Esports. Like PRX, Fnatic missed the season’s first global tournament.

While it was a roster change that reenergized Paper Rex, a head coach switch made the difference for Fnatic. With Milan “Milan” de Meij moving up to head coach, Fnatic found their stride.

Like PRX, Fnatic too was in the tougher of their region’s Stage 1 group, up against the likes of Kickoff winners Team Vitality, and Champs runners-up Team Heretics. Fnatic came close to sweeping the group, a defeat to Los Niños was their only blip.

Playoff wins against FUT and Team Liquid set up a rematch with Heretics in the upper bracket final, but at this point Fnatic had their number.

A 2-0 win moved Fnatic on to the grand final, where they met Heretics once again, this time in a best-of-five. Fnatic won comfortably, breaking down Heretics and leaving them visibly exasperated with the back-to-back defeats.

Masters Toronto started with a tough draw against then-in-form Gen.G. Fnatic, like all other first seeds, were defeated and moved down to the lower bracket of playoffs, though taking a map off of their Korean opponents gave the side hope against other top sides.

They followed up the loss with back-to-back 2-1 wins against RRQ and Sentinels, sending home two tournament hopefuls and setting up a series with pre-tournament favourite G2.

This proved to be Fnatic’s best performance yet. Their first win without dropping a map, the EMEA Stage 1 winners eliminated the favourites with successive 13-10 wins — inspired performances from Emir “Alfajer” Beder and Timofey “Chronicle” Khromov making the difference.

That set them up with Wolves in the lower-bracket final, where Fnatic were the heavy favourites. Despite Wolves’ newfound fame and ability to play with seemingly no pressure, their prior loss to PRX in the upper bracket broke the plot armour.

Fnatic went on to win the series with relative ease, securing a 3-1 victory to move on to the grand final against the Pacific stars. Again, Alfajer was in especially good form, claiming 80 kills across the four maps with 276 ACS.

PRX vs FNC is VCT heritage

The scriptwriters could hardly have imagined a better matchup for a global grand final. Paper Rex, despite never having won an international event, are one of VCT’s best-supported teams.. Grand final losses in Copenhagen and Los Angeles saw them come excruciatingly close, but that big win that their fans deserve is still to come.

Fnatic remains one of the select few sides to have ever won more than one global tournament. A win here would make them the only side to have won three. Both of their previous wins came in 2023, and the team has been living in the shadow of that lineup ever since. A win in Toronto would see them start a new legacy. For superstar IGL Boaster, it would mean proof that he can win without the likes of coach Jacob “mini” Harris, or Duelist Nikita “Derke” Sirmitev.