Paper Rex Claim Fourth Pacific Title as VCT’s Old Guard Reshuffles

Paper Rex swept FULL SENSE 3-0 in the VCT Pacific Stage 1 Grand Final on Sunday, May 17, collecting their fourth regional championship in three years of partnership-era play. Jason “f0rsakeN” Susanto earned Grand Final MVP honors across Pearl (13-10), Lotus (13-9), and Fracture (13-10) at the Thiskyhall Sala Convention Center in Ho Chi Minh City. The scorelines look comfortable. The path there was anything but.

PRX entered the playoffs as Group Alpha’s top seed at 4-1 and lost their opening match. Global Esports took them down 2-1 in the Upper Bracket Semifinals on May 8, ending a nine-match head-to-head losing streak that had defined the rivalry since Global Esports joined the Pacific partnership in 2023. That loss sent Paper Rex to the lower bracket with their Masters London slot and regional title both still in question.

What followed was a four-series lower bracket run without a single elimination loss. PRX beat Kiwoom DRX 2-1, then took down T1 2-1 in a match that doubled as their Masters London qualifier, swept Global Esports 3-0 in the Lower Final rematch, and closed the tournament with another 3-0 over FULL SENSE. Four consecutive best-of series under elimination pressure, three of them going the full distance before the sweep in the Grand Final.

How PRX Won the Final Without Winning a First Half

The pattern across all three maps was consistent enough to call deliberate. FULL SENSE took a 7-5 first-half lead on Pearl and held a 6-6 tie on Fracture. Lotus played out evenly through the first twelve rounds, finishing 6-6 at halftime before PRX pulled away. In each case, PRX flipped the map after the side swap with second-half splits of 8-3, 7-3, and 7-4.

That second-half discipline has become a structural feature of this lineup. d4v41 and invy anchored retakes and rotations that consistently absorbed FULL SENSE aggression during the Thai squad’s attack sides, while f0rsakeN generated the opening picks that turned defensive rounds into complete shutdowns. Jinggg and something provided the raw entry fragging on PRX’s attack rounds to sustain momentum once the leads materialized.

For Adrian “invy” Jiggs Reyes, this Grand Final marked his first regional trophy with Paper Rex. The former Team Secret Initiator joined PRX in December 2025 as a direct replacement for PatMen (who, in one of the tournament’s neater storylines, moved to Global Esports and helped that team reach the very Masters slot they had been chasing for years). Invy’s integration has been smooth enough that it barely registers as an adjustment. His utility timing on Lotus retakes and his positioning on Fracture post-plants read like a player who has been in this system for seasons, not months.

FULL SENSE and the TALON Inheritance

The Grand Final loss should not overshadow what FULL SENSE accomplished in Ho Chi Minh City. This is a roster that entered VCT Pacific in 2026 after Riot removed TALON Esports from the partnership program late last year and slotted in FULL SENSE as the replacement. The Thai squad inherited a franchise slot and turned it into a Masters London berth within one stage.

Their upper bracket run was the cleanest in the tournament. FULL SENSE beat DRX, T1, and Global Esports in consecutive best-of-three matches without dropping a single map. Three 2-0 sweeps, through opponents with years of Pacific experience, from a team that had never competed at this level before. Crws, Killua, JitBoyS, primmie, and Leviathan operated as a cohesive five from the group stage onward, finishing third in Group Omega with a 3-2 record before flipping a switch in playoffs.

Their Grand Final appearance drove viewership records. The series peaked at 553,883 concurrent viewers, a new all-time high for VCT Pacific, fueled in part by a Thai viewership spike that exceeded 110,000 at its peak. For FULL SENSE, the 0-3 against PRX stings, but the Masters London ticket and the franchise’s first-ever Tier 1 international appearance matter more than a single series result.

Global Esports Break the Indian Barrier

The third Pacific representative heading to London is Global Esports, who finished the tournament in third place after falling 3-0 to PRX in the Lower Final. The bracket placement is secondary to the headline: GE became the first Indian organization in VCT history to qualify for a Masters event.

The Indian Valorant scene has operated inside the Pacific partnership system since its inception without clearing the international bar. GE’s qualifier came on May 8 when they beat Paper Rex 2-1 in the Upper Semifinals, a result that locked their London slot regardless of subsequent outcomes. PatMen and xavi8k, both Filipino players and former teammates at NAOS, were central to the run. UdoTan holds a unique distinction at this Masters: he will be the sole Korean player at an international event where no Korean organization qualified.

That last detail is worth sitting with. Korean teams have been present at every international VCT event since the circuit began. Gen.G won Masters Shanghai in 2024. T1 took Masters Bangkok in early 2025. Nongshim RedForce lifted Masters Santiago just this March. Three consecutive Masters trophies from Korean organizations, and now none of them qualified for London from Pacific. T1 fell to Paper Rex in the lower bracket. Nongshim were eliminated in the group stage. DRX lost in the Upper Bracket Round 1 and the Lower Bracket Quarterfinals.

No Korean Teams at Masters: A Structural Shift or a One-Stage Anomaly?

The absence of Korean organizations from VCT Masters London 2026 is the first time this has happened in the history of the circuit. Whether it represents a genuine power shift depends on what you think happened.

One reading: the Pacific region has caught up. FULL SENSE weaponized the TALON squad’s collective experience and delivered a playoff performance that no Korean team could match. Global Esports spent three years building roster stability and finally found the right configuration. Paper Rex remain Paper Rex. The talent pool outside Korea has deepened enough to push the traditional powers out of qualification range.

Another reading: Nongshim peaked at Santiago and came into Stage 1 as a target. Their 14-match winning streak ended in Week 1 against PRX, and they never recovered their form through the rest of the group stage. T1 lost two tight series at the wrong time. DRX rebuilt around a younger core that needs more reps at this level. Three Korean teams underperforming in the same stage is a statistical cluster, not a trend.

The truth probably involves both. Pacific’s non-Korean organizations have invested in infrastructure, coaching, and player development over the last two years. The talent gap that once defined the region has narrowed. At the same time, this is still a single stage, and Korean teams will enter Stage 2 with extra Championship Points motivation and roster adjustment windows.

Masters London Preview: What Pacific Brings to the Copper Box

VCT Masters London runs from June 6 to 21 at the Copper Box Arena, with 12 teams competing for a $1,000,000 prize pool. This is also the final Masters event under Riot’s partnership model before the circuit transitions to open qualifications in 2027, adding a layer of legacy pressure for every franchise in attendance. Paper Rex enter as Pacific’s first seed, skipping the Swiss Stage and picking their upper bracket opponent. FULL SENSE and Global Esports start in the Swiss rounds as the region’s second and third seeds.

Paper Rex carry specific advantages into London. Their lower bracket run through Ho Chi Minh City produced five best-of series in 10 days, which amounts to intensive international-level preparation on LAN. f0rsakeN is playing at an MVP caliber again after a runner-up finish at Santiago. The roster’s map pool looked broad across the playoffs: Pearl, Lotus, Fracture, Haven, Ascent, and Breeze all appeared in their series, with PRX winning on five of six.

For FULL SENSE, London is a chance to test whether their upper bracket dominance translates outside Pacific-specific preparation. Their three 2-0 sweeps came against teams they had studied all stage. At Masters, they face opponents from Americas, EMEA, and China with entirely different tactical profiles. primmie has drawn attention from the wider community as one of the tournament’s standout performers, but the question is whether FULL SENSE’s system holds up against unfamiliar playstyles.

Global Esports go to London with the lightest expectations and the most to gain. An Indian organization on the Masters stage is already the story. Anything beyond Swiss Stage survival builds the narrative further.

Pacific has won four consecutive Masters titles through four different organizations. Whether a fifth lands at London from this specific trio is a genuine open question. Paper Rex are the only team among the three with prior Masters experience, and f0rsakeN is the only player across all three rosters who has lifted an international trophy. That burden of expectation falls on Singapore.