Paper Rex threw away a 9-3 half-time lead on Summit and lost 2-1 to T1 on October 9, 2026, which knocked them out of Valorant Champions Shanghai in Lower Bracket Round 1. It also closed out one of the strangest records the scene has ever produced.
With a 7th-8th finish in Shanghai, Paper Rex have now landed in every possible placement bracket at an international Valorant event. First place. 17th-32nd. Everything in between. Reddit user asakanakasa spotted it in a r/ValorantCompetitive thread, and the results line up with the team’s full international history.
Key Takeaways
- T1 beat Paper Rex 2-1 (Lotus 13-7, Ascent 6-13, Summit 13-11) in Lower Bracket Round 1 at Valorant Champions Shanghai 2026.
- 7th-8th was the only international placement bracket PRX had never recorded. They now hold every result from 1st down to 17th-32nd.
- Riot’s 12-team Masters and 16-team Champions formats make the full set close to impossible for any other team.
- Four of the five starters are out of contract when 2026 ends. Only invy is signed through 2027.
How Did Paper Rex Lose to T1?
PRX went in as favourites. They had the experience edge and a long habit of deep lower-bracket runs, while T1 arrived as one of the less-fancied Pacific sides at Valorant Champions 2026.
Lotus went wrong early. Meteor, Munchkin and BuZz put up 56 kills between them, and T1 cruised to a 13-7 win.
Paper Rex hit back on their own pick. They led Ascent 8-4 at the half and closed it 13-6, with something posting a 366 ACS and invy finishing 19/8/7.
Then came Summit. PRX won nine of twelve attack rounds, wiped all five T1 players in eight of those nine, and took the second pistol to sit at 10-3. Three rounds from survival.
They never got them. The gun rounds after the pistol slipped away one by one, Paper Rex made a run of questionable calls, and T1 took ten of the last eleven rounds to win 13-11 in regulation. That made PRX the first team eliminated from the Champions playoffs.
| Map | Pick | Score (PRX-T1) | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lotus | T1 | 7-13 | T1 |
| Ascent | Paper Rex | 13-6 | Paper Rex |
| Summit | Decider | 11-13 | T1 |
Scores per Paper Rex’s official post on X.
What Is Paper Rex’s Unwanted Valorant Record?
Paper Rex are the first team to finish in every placement bracket available at international Valorant events. Shanghai filled the last empty slot, 7th-8th.
| Placement | Events |
|---|---|
| 1st | Masters Toronto 2025 |
| 2nd | Masters Copenhagen 2022, Champions LA 2023, Masters Santiago 2026, Masters London 2026 |
| 3rd | Masters Tokyo 2023, Masters Madrid 2024 |
| 4th | Masters Reykjavik 2022, Champions Paris 2025 |
| 5th-6th | Masters Shanghai 2024 |
| 7th-8th | Champions Shanghai 2026 (new) |
| 9th-12th | Champions Istanbul 2022, Champions Seoul 2024 |
| 13th-16th | Masters Berlin 2021 |
| 17th-32nd | LOCK//IN Sao Paulo 2023 |
That spread runs across Masters, Champions and the one-off 32-team LOCK//IN event that opened the 2023 partnership era. You can check every result on Paper Rex’s Liquipedia page.
Paper Rex have set an impossible record!
by u/asakanakasa in ValorantCompetitive
Can Any Other Team Match It?
Probably not. The 17th-32nd bracket only existed at LOCK//IN, because that was the only international event with 32 teams.
Riot now runs Masters with 12 teams and Champions with 16, so the lowest finishes on offer today are 9th-12th and 13th-16th. A team chasing this record would already need a bottom-half LOCK//IN result banked from 2023. On top of that it would need an international title, plus a finish in every bracket between. The record belongs to the organisation, so any team that went out early in Sao Paulo is still technically eligible. Pulling off the rest of the set is another matter.
Does the Record Make Paper Rex Inconsistent?
On paper the spread looks chaotic. The full record says otherwise: nine top-four finishes and five international grand finals, including both Masters events of 2026 in Santiago and London. Masters Toronto 2025 is still their only international trophy, though.
The worry is the last few months. Paper Rex finished joint-last at the Esports World Cup 2026 and managed only 5th-6th in VCT Pacific Stage 2, a split that Global Esports won with a reverse sweep. Now they have 7th-8th at Champions. A team famous for setting the meta with its aggressive style spent the autumn looking a step behind it.
What Happens to the Paper Rex Roster Now?
Four of the five starters come off contract when 2026 ends, so this loss could be the last time the core plays together.
d4v41 and f0rsakeN have been with the organisation since 2021 and carried it from challenger roster to perennial finalist. invy, who joined this year, told Rocket Bullets after the loss that his first season had plenty of ups and downs and that he learned a lot from it. Paper Rex’s own farewell post thanked the fans who had backed “the boys” over the past four years. Read into that what you will.
Champions carries on without them. NRG are defending the title, with G2 Esports also among the favourites. Our Champions Shanghai dates, teams and format guide has the rest of the bracket.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who eliminated Paper Rex from Valorant Champions 2026?
T1 beat Paper Rex 2-1 in Lower Bracket Round 1 on October 9, 2026. T1 won Lotus 13-7, PRX took Ascent 13-6, and T1 came back from 3-10 down to win Summit 13-11.
What record does Paper Rex hold in Valorant?
They are the first team to finish in every placement bracket at international Valorant events, from 1st at Masters Toronto 2025 down to 17th-32nd at LOCK//IN Sao Paulo 2023.
How many international finals have Paper Rex reached?
Five. Masters Copenhagen 2022, Champions LA 2023, Masters Toronto 2025, Masters Santiago 2026 and Masters London 2026. They won Toronto.
