NRG get their rematch against Paper Rex, and this time, it went the way of the VCT 2025 Champions winners. Their resilience and preparation against the in form Paper Rex.
The first map went to Pearl, where both teams kept to their usual compositions, with Paper Rex leaning into the Pheonix, Yoru Double Duelist whilst NRG went for the Solo Waylay. With both teams having VOD’s on them from this tournament, it was down to the prep of the coaches to fully set up their teams for success.
It was in little to no doubt that Bonkar would come out on top in the preparation stages of the series, with that being his speciality alongside set strats against certain teams.
NRG managed to close out Abyss 14-12 after a close fought map, where it seemed that it was Astra vs Astra with Skuba and F0rsakeN topping the scoreboard on that first map.
Skuba was on fire in this series, this rang true into the second map on Bind, where his Viper was able to shut down the old school composition that was brought out by the APAC side.
NRG also leaned into the Double Duelist on Bind, where keiko was finally able to pick Raze for the first time in his NRG stint of his career. However, it was once again a team effort from NRG that took them to a 13-11 map win, closing out the series in 2-0 fashion after their close 1-2 loss in the Swiss Stage.
With this win, NRG advance into the upper bracket where they will face off against Nongshim RedForce where they will face off for the first spot in the Grand Finals of Masters Santiago. NRG will be fighting for the first ever back-to-back International trophy lifts, whilst Nongshim RedForce will be looking to make history as the first Tier 2 side to lift an international trophy.
With the loss, Paper Rex drop down to the lower bracket, where they will have to play 4 more matches to make the Grand Final than NRG. They will start this long journey against All Gamers.
Valorant Digest 
Leave a comment