An unstoppable drive meets an immovable object.
Paper Rex have conquered their fear of Chinese squad Edward Gaming, clawing their method to a hard-fought 2-1 victory of their Valorant Champions 2022 opener.
Whereas the APAC powerhouse has historically been thought to be essentially the most aggressive Valorant crew on the earth, they appeared to have met their match in EDG.
The Chinese language crew didn’t again down within the face of their relentless aggression, as a substitute matching them blow for blow in a rollercoaster trip the place the primary kill normally got here mere seconds into the spherical. This was regardless of EDG enjoying with a last-minute substitute in Zhao “Smoggy” Zhang, after Qu “Life” Donghao was taken in poor health.
Whereas PRX have been those to finally come out on high, EDG acquitted themselves supremely effectively of their worldwide debut, displaying just about no trace of the LAN jitters they’d been nervous about.
There was by no means a boring second in Paper Rex vs Edward Gaming
The sequence opened with a thriller on EDG’s map choose of Pearl, the primary time the map has been seen in aggressive play. Each groups continuously battled for management of A Fundamental and Mid, with kills and trades coming quick and livid.
Nonetheless, whereas the Chinese language crew initially ran forward to a commanding 0-5 lead, PRX quickly appeared to determine how their opponents have been enjoying. They tied the match at 5-5, and the rest of the sport was an all-out brawl with neither crew in a position to safe a major lead.
The sport additionally noticed a number of nerve-wracking clutches from gamers on either side. Guo “Haodong” Hao Dong gained a vital 1v2 in Spherical 5, sticking the defuse to shut it out, whereas Aaron “mindfreak” Leonhart hit again with a clear 1v3 of his personal to tie the half.
Whereas PRX discovered themselves sitting on match level at 12-11, it regarded just like the map could be going to extra time due to their weak purchase. Nonetheless, in opposition to all odds, Benedict “Benkai” Tan and his crew stole the spherical from below EDG’s nostril, off the again of two Tour De Power kills from Jason “f0rsakeN” Susanto on Chamber.
Icebox was a completely completely different matter altogether. EDG took the map 13-5 in dominant vogue, usually overwhelming websites with coordinated play and flawless buying and selling.
EDG ranked first in terms of finding picks that weren’t traded, and buying and selling deaths on their very own crew, in line with Sentinels analyst Matt “Weltis” Liu, and it was abundantly clear why.
The sequence then went to Haven, the place it was Wang “Jinggg” Jing Jie’s flip to shine. The 19-year-old pulled out his signature Reyna, ending with a 25/17/5 KDA and 338 Common Fight Rating (ACS).
“Reyna is an agent that’s well-suited to us as a crew,” mentioned Benkai in a post-match interview. “We all know when to make use of it and how you can use it. Once you put Reyna on a participant like Jinggg, he simply goes loopy with it.”
“It’s simply his greatest agent on the map. We don’t actually care whether or not individuals say it’s a dangerous choose or not. We all know it’s good, that’s why we use it.”
Benkai himself was excellent on Cypher as effectively. His Trapwire and Cyber Cage setups have been integral in slowing pushes or serving to him acquire the benefit in post-plant conditions. In Spherical 9, EDG regarded like they might take an empty A website without spending a dime on the again of Fade’s Dusk final — till they bumped into Benkai’s Trapwires.
PRX would go on to take Haven 13-8, setting themselves up for a gathering with the winner of the match between Crew Liquid and Leviatán.
Paper Rex will play their subsequent opponent on September 2 at 1:00 a.m. GMT+8 | September 1, 10:00 a.m. PT | September 1, 5:00 p.m. GMT. The match will probably be broadcast dwell on the official Valorant Twitch and YouTube channels.
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