Paper Rex get the win after an emphatic series against Team Heretics at VCT Masters Madrid.
In what was arguably the match-up of the day, it was Paper Rex who came out on top in a 2-1 win over Team Heretics to continue their stay at VCT Masters Madrid. The Spanish-based org was able to take the second map against PRX but was unable to see it out in the end, despite being in front of an electric home crowd.
PRX would now move on to the final match of the Swiss Stage as they will play a do-or-die best-of-three series against another passionate EMEA team in Karmine Corp. They will also be joined by LOUD and EDward Gaming, the team that initially dropped PRX into the lower round.
Paper Rex? More like Paper Flex
It was a back-and-forth series between both teams and it was Paper Rex who took the first map on Sunset. It was 6-6 at the end of the first half as neither team managed to secure any real consistency. While it seemed like Heretics had the edge early on, PRX managed to take it back with crucial back-to-back round wins. This included another creative use of Sage wall in the final round of the half that gave Cahya “Monyet” Nugraha an important 3K.
PRX managed to assert greater dominance in the second half as they managed to take seven of the 11 rounds, all of which featured crucial 3Ks for the likes of Aaron “mindfreak” Leonhart, Jason “f0rsakeN” Susanto, and Ilya “something” Petrov. Even Monyet managed to clutch up a two-versus-one in the 20th round while f0rsakeN took a 4K in the 21st round, which gave PRX match-point and eventually the game.
The second match was on Heretics' choice of Lotus and even after a quick 4-1 lead in favour of PRX, the EMEA second-seed was still able to pull it back with four rounds of their own in response. But that lead was soon cut short as something was able to get his first of two 4Ks on Lotus to make it 5-5 after 10 rounds. Unfortunately, it was Heretics who pulled ahead two straight rounds to end the half.
But PRX would not be denied and steam rolled from the start of the second to four quick rounds with great defensive play. It was in the 16th round that also saw something get his second 4K, which included a double kill with the Outlaw to close out the round. With a slim 9-7 lead, PRX would let it slip in typical fashion by letting Heretics catch up with two rounds to make it 9-9. This also saw Dominykas “MiniBoo” Lukaševičius get his first 4K of the series.
While PRX did manage to secure the lead once again in the 19th round, Heretics piled on the pressure while being rallied from the roar of the home crowd. This was enough to push the team through with four straight wins to end the map and take it to Split. And for the second time today, both teams would go 6-6 to end the first half. PRX would go 2-0 up that also had something with his third 4K of the series, this time in just the second round.
However, Heretics managed to retain control of the proceedings with six rounds in a row, their best run in the series. And in those six rounds, three players managed to get four 4Ks. This included Benjy “benjyfishy” David Fish who managed to one-up something with back-to-back 4Ks in the 3rd and 4th rounds while both Ričardasv “Boo” Lukaševičius and Enes “RieNs” Ecirli got thier own 4Ks in the 7th and 8th respectively.
Unfortunately for the home fans, who were treated to a great first-half start, saw their team drop four straight rounds to PRX towards the end. This would also be the start of f0rsakeN's path to putting the team on his back with his first 4K of the map. And from there, it was an onslaught of the Southeast Asian org's motto of WGaming as PRX relentlessly pressed for the win and it showed.
They managed to win seven of the eight final rounds of the second half with great usage of utilities and movements coupled with clean defensive plays. And it was in the 17th round that f0rsakeN would get his second 4K of the game and his third of the series, which tied him with something. From there on, you could tell that PRX sensed blood in the water and three rounds later, they closed out the series in style to book a final day in the Swiss Stage.
Paper Rex will play the VCT EMEA Kickoff champions Karmine Corp tomorrow, who will be looking to exact revenge for its fallen comrades. Their series will take place after the first best-of-three series between EDward Gaming and LOUD.
LOUD vs 
EDward Gaming - 4:00 p.m. CEST
Karmine Corp vs 
Paper Rex - 7:00 p.m. CEST
