Wolves Esports and Paper Rex qualify for VALORANT Masters Toronto playoffs

VALORANT Masters Toronto has determined its final two Playoffs teams, VCT China’s Wolves Esports and Pacific team Paper Rex, after they won their Day 5 Swiss Stage matches.

The two teams secured their playoffs spots by sending home fellow Chinese roster Bilibili Gaming and VCT EMEA’s Team Liquid, respectively.

The day kicked off with the ninth face-off between VCT China’s Bilibili Gaming and Wolves Esports. The two teams had last met in the Stage 1 Lower Bracket Final, where BLG crushed its opponent 3-0. Yet on the international stage, Wolves emerged with a decisive 2-0 victory.

Wolves first surprised BLG on Ascent with a double-sentinel team composition featuring Cypher and Deadlock. Although Wolves secured the initial pistol round, BLG managed to convert five rounds on attack with a diligent default playstyle. In the second half, however, the Wolves were firmly in control. With several successful B hits, the squad did not give another round to its Chinese rival, stealing BLG’s map pick 13-5.

On Wolves’ map pick, Split, the roster showed its signature Viper playstyle. Using its Viper wall on A instead of the most common B set-up, the Chinese team successfully created passive map pressure. In addition, Wolves frequently punished BLG for overstepping to earn early-round picks. Despite winning both pistol rounds, BLG suffered a 4-8 half on defence and ultimately lost Split 10-13.

For the final Swiss Stage match, VALORANT fans were treated to a clash of contrasting playstyles between Team Liquid’s methodical strategies and the face-paced Paper Rex train. The result was an explosive 2-1 series with two maps going to overtime and PRX heading to playoffs.

Like yesterday, Liquid played with a six-person roster to either sub in Maikls ‘Serial’ Zdanovs and Erik penny’ Penny, who had previously stood in for in-game leader (IGL) Ayaz ‘nAts’ Akhmetshin.

For the first two maps, Serial joined his team on stage.

PRX first picked Split, a map where the team found itself in a double-duelist mirror match-up. On defence, PRX looked well-prepared against the Yoru-Raze site hits of its opponent, completing the first half with an 8-4 lead. The second half, however, saw Liquid capitalise on its two pistol-round wins and string several chaotic rounds together. With bold plays, including a fake Yoru clone Kamil ‘kamo’ Frąckowiak, Liquid reached overtime and persevered for a 15-13 victory.

On Liquid’s map pick, PRX had the opportunity to run its preferred Sunset team composition, which heavily relies on the creative usage of Sage’s ice wall. Still, the Pacific roster first struggled to take map control on attack against Liquid’s double-controller set-ups and brute-forced direct site hits. After a 5-7 half, PRX finally won its first pistol round of the series. Shutting down all of Liquid’s attack executes, PRX ended with a 13-5 statement.

In the final match, PRX fans had to watch the train nearly crash into a Liquid comeback at full speed. For Lotus, Liquid had replaced Serial with penny to deliver the first Waylay pick of the tournament. The risk did not pay off as PRX rolled over Liquid with superior team coordination and counter strategies. Following an 11-1 half on defence, PRX seemingly underestimated its opponent. Failing to convert nine match points consecutively, the Pacific team let Liquid reach overtime again.

The much-needed wake-up call allowed the PRX train to ultimately take the correct course and win Lotus 14-12.

With the Swiss Stage at Masters Toronto concluding, all playoffs teams have been locked in. Wolves Esports and PRX will join fellow Swiss Stage winners Gen.G and Sentinels to meet the top squads from the regional VCT Stage 1 events.

Thanks to their previous performance, these four teams have direct playoff buy-ins. Moreover, they could choose which Swiss Stage team they will face first.

Today’s post-game draw determined who got to pick first, resulting in the following match-ups:

All playoffs matches will be broadcast on VALORANT’s official Twitch and YouTube channels.