Fnatic and Paper Rex Win Their Valorant Masters Copenhagen Opening Games

The Valorant Champions Tour Masters Copenhagen Playoffs kicked off today with APAC’s number one seed Paper Rex taking on the Group A top seed Guild Esports. With the EMEA top seed Fnatic taking on the Group B #2 FunPlus Phoenix as the day’s second game. 

The Group stage of VCT Masters Copenhagen was one of the most hype International tournaments ever, with games being incredibly close and the first set of playoffs matches delivered too. 

Summary of Valorant Masters Copenhagen Knockout stage day 1:

  • Match 1: Paper Rex 2-0 Guild Esports
  • Match 2: Fnatic FPX

The first match started with Guild Esports choosing to play Ascent as their map choice playing as defenders. Paper Rex won eight rounds based on their solid flanks and the attack spearheaded by Jingg’s Raze. 

Guild won the last three rounds to have a fighting chance in the second half to close out the half 8-4. The second half started with a close pistol round, but Benkai’s 4k helped Paper Rex win the pistol.

Post that, Paper Rex continued to hold off Guild’s attempt to attack and closed down the map 13-4 in a dominant fashion.

Paper Rex’s map choice Fracture looked like it would be the same, but Guild Esports managed to make a comeback, immediately shutting down Paper Rex’s attack attempts and limiting them to only six rounds in the first half. 

Guild seemed in control in the second half, but Paper Rex quickly answered to draw the map in regulation again, forcing Overtime. 

The Overtime started with Paper Rex on the attack, and they quickly took over the site flawlessly, winning the round. On defense, Paper Rex won the opening duels and promptly closed out the round, winning the round 14-12 and the series 2-0. 

Guild Esports are now in the lower bracket and must win, while Paper Rex is in the upper bracket semifinals. 

The Fnatic/FPX series started on Icebox, chosen by Fnatic. While attacking, Fnatic won the first two rounds, but the momentum FPX were on yesterday seemed to have carried on, and they quickly managed to shut down all the attack attempts by Fnatic closing to win seven rounds in a row. 

Fnatic managed to scrape two out of the last three rounds to end the half 4-8. Being Fnatic’s map, it seemed Fnatic might lose it, and FPX might upset Fnatic in their first playoff match. 

The second half started with Fnatic winning the pistol and the follow-up, while FPX won the follow-up round. Still, after that, the map was a Fnatic show with Boaster, Derke, and Mistic completely shutting down any attack attempts by FPX to make a successful comeback winning their map choice 13-10.

FPX’s Haven started with Fnatic on the attack, and the teams exchanged quick two rounds to make the scoreline 2-2. But a clutch from Derke in the third round helped Fnatic shift the momentum towards Fnatic, and they completely rolled over FPX and won the next eight rounds to finish the half 10-2.

The second half had FPX winning the force buy second round and an anti-eco third, but it was to no avail, and Fnatic quickly closed the map 13-4 and the series 2-0.

With this, Fnatic will play Paper Rex in the upper semifinals on Sunday, while Guild will play FPX in an elimination game. 

Tomorrow, the second set of opening matches will be played with DRX taking on Leviatan and Optic Gaming taking on XSET. 

You can read about the results, format and schedule for the tournament, venue, ticketing, and the teams participating and where to watch the stream here. 

Read about the latest patch, latest map, professional scene, and more..