Something is now part of Paper Rex ahead of the VCT 2023: Pacific League

Paper Rex brings something to the table.

The VCT 2023: Pacific League starts in just a few days and Paper Rex decided to bring Ilya "something" Petrov to their official line-up. The young prodigy from Russia was most recently competing in the Japanese regional circuit with Sengoku Gaming.

At only 21 years old, something sure does have something about him. He was seen as one of the top prospects coming out from Japan, being part of the Sengoku roster that qualified for the VALORANT Challengers 2023: Japan Split 2 Advance Stage.

He has been seen as a more than capable Duelist that can hold his own against other top-tier teams. This was evident during the Japan Challengers Split 1 with something posting incredible numbers during the tournament. Something claimed 640 kills throughout 26 maps, which makes for impressive numbers as a Duelist.

And according to VLR.gg, something stood out in terms of stats alone, averaging the highest rating during the tournament at 1.42. He was also at the top in terms of ACS at 305.0 while averaging at least a kill a round at 1.09 as well as outputting the highest average damage per round at 194.8. Something is known for his Reyna and Jett while also being able to play Raze as well.

By adding something to the roster, it now puts Paper Rex at a total of seven members. It remains to be seen how the org will utilise the young Russian, given that there are already two Duelists on the starting roster in the form of Wang "Jinggg" Jing Jie and Jason "f0rsakeN" Susanto.

Paper Rex will start their VCT 2023: Pacific League campaign against DetonatioN FocusMe. The team will play eight weeks' worth of games at one game a week. The final week is a super week where each team will play two games. This is to determine who will make it into the top six and move on to the playoffs.

The last time Paper Rex competed was at the VCT LOCK//IN where they got knocked out in the first round by Cloud9. Given the new additions to the squad, it looks like the org is preparing to change up its roster if things start to go awry. Paper Rex was one of the more consistent teams last season, winning both the APAC Stage 1 and 2 Challengers as well as getting a top-four and top-two finish in Reykjavík and Copenhagen.

Unfortunately, this was hampered by a group-stage exit at the VCT Champions last year followed by a first-round exit at the VCT LOCK//IN. But now with a new franchised league upon us as well as a new meta and agent, this could be the reset Paper Rex was looking for.