Paper Rex becomes first team to defeat Sentinels at VALORANT Masters Toronto

It was a tough day for Sentinels fans as the VCT Americas team suffered its first defeat at VALORANT Masters Toronto at the hands of Pacific’s Paper Rex.

The unexpected result came after Chinese underdog Wolves Esports surprised viewers with a decisive upset against VCT Pacific’s Gen.G Esports.

Track by track, the Paper Rex (PRX) train moves towards the Masters Toronto Grand Final, this time rolling over VCT Americas’ Sentinels. Previously undefeated in the tournament, Sentinels suffered a 0-2 loss against the rival from VCT Pacific.

PRX kicked off the series with a dominant performance on Split. Starting on defence, Sentinels’ double-initiator team composition had no chance at stopping the immaculate site executes enabled by PRX’s two duelists. After a 10-2 half, the Pacific team continued to display superior macro plays and map control. Fuelled by a second pistol-round win, the train reached full speed to claim its map pick 13-3.

In contrast, Sunset saw highly competitive rounds as both teams have historically been strong on this map. Sentinels had a convincing start on the defence, executing clean retakes. Eventually, PRX managed to convert four rounds. Assisted by explosive plays from Wang ‘Jinggg’ Jing Jie on Raze. The second half continued in a back-and-forth fashion, with most rounds coming down to micro plays and individual team fights. In the end, it was PRX who thrived in the chaos and stole Sentinels’ arguably best map 13-11.

Prior to the PRX train ride, fans were treated to an impressive upset from VCT China’s Wolves Esports against Pacific giant Gen.G Esports. Although Gen.G is considered one of the strongest teams at Masters Toronto, Wolves did not allow its opponent’s reputation to get in the way of its 2-0 victory.

Wolves’ map pick provided fans with an intense match on Split. Gen.G crushed the Chinese underdog on defence with its Tejo-Deadlock utility. Wolves’ slow attack attempts only converted to three round wins. However, Wolves bit back during its defence half, using the momentum from its much-needed first pistol-round win on the map. Locking out Gen.G with string mid control and site anchors, Wolves secured its comeback 13-11.

The second map saw Wolves play Lotus for the first time in the tournament. Struggling to lock down sites, the Chinese roster only won four rounds on defence. Like on the previous map, the team came to life in the second half. Wolves consistently identified the weaker site and diligently cleared Gen.G’s defensive utility. The Korean team could not find a solution to Wolves’ attack masterclass and suffered a second comeback (9-13)

While several Wolves players showed their prowess throughout the series, it was the impact of the team’s Head Coach that stood out today. Hoc Wah ‘Fayde’ Chong did not shy away from early timeouts to help his players get the right read on their opponent.

Following today’s victories, PRX and Wolves Esports will meet in the Upper Bracket Final on June 20th. No matter the outcome of this match, both teams have now secured a top-three finish at Masters Toronto.

Meanwhile, Sentinels and Gen.G must survive three lower bracket matches to reach the Grand Final. Tomorrow, they will face tough match-ups against yesterday’s winners, Fnatic and G2 Esports.

Fans can tune into the elimination games via the official Twitch and YouTube broadcasts.