Deep Dive · Team Momentum
Paper Rex Win Shanghai's First Match, and Take Its First Conduct Warning
something top-scored the opener and was warned under a body-shooting ban Riot wrote for this event only. The win was Paper Rex's first at an international event since June, and it puts them against G2 on 29 September with a playoff place at stake.
Ilya "something" Petrov scored the first ace of Champions Shanghai, finished the opening series with more kills than anyone on the server, and then told reporters he had been warned for shooting bodies. He said he did it to build momentum in the first match on the stage, "and then I got a warning for it."
The rule he broke exists only in Shanghai. A conduct notice for the event, posted on 16 September by the Turkish news account valohabercisi, bans shooting dead bodies or player pucks and teabagging for the whole tournament, with breaches subject to disciplinary action. Leo Faria, Riot's head of global esports, confirmed it the next day as "a one time change due to cultural sensitivities" and said the behaviour is otherwise fine in VCT. No penalty beyond the warning has been reported. Paper Rex have been here before: after their upper final win over Evil Geniuses at Champions 2023, f0rsakeN told reporters the team had been warned for teabagging.
How the opener went
Paper Rex came in as the betting favourite and took their own pick, Ascent, 13-4. It was level at 4-4 before they won the next nine rounds, and something finished the map on 20 kills. Liquid answered on Haven with an unusual composition: Harbor as the only controller, and GSR and kamo paired on Yoru and Raze. They won it 13-7, and kamo had 22 kills.
The decider on Lotus was settled early and nearly undone late. Paper Rex opened 5-0 and led 9-3 at the half. Liquid won seven of the eleven rounds after it and got to 10-12 before Khalish "d4v41" Rusyaidee closed the match with an ace. He finished Lotus on 25 kills, the most by any player on any map of the series.
Across the three maps something had 58 kills and a 1.38 rating, the best on either team. That is a big day from a player Paper Rex have had since March 2023, not the arrival of a new one. Over the last 60 days his rating on Yoru is 1.13 across ten maps, and that count includes today's three.
A first win in a while
The result matters more to Paper Rex than one group-stage series usually would. It is their first series win at an international event since the Masters London upper final on 19 June. They lost both of their Esports World Cup series in July, then went out of the Pacific Stage 2 playoffs after losses to Nongshim RedForce and VARREL, and reached Shanghai on championship points. They had not played since 29 August. Coach alecks said the team had chosen a short break over more matches, to "try to reinvent ourselves."
For Liquid, the opener was GSR's first match at an international event. The 18-year-old replaced Semyon "purp0" Borchev in the starting five before Champions. He finished with a 1.06 rating, Liquid's best, and had 21 kills on Lotus. He said he was nervous at first, and that once Liquid started winning rounds on the second map he felt "I was made for this."
What comes next
Every Group C match is a best-of-three, and the top two teams go through to the playoffs. Paper Rex play G2 Esports in the winners' match on 29 September at 09:00 UTC. The winner goes through, and the loser plays the group decider on 3 October. G2 reached that match by beating TYLOO 2-0 in the day's second series. The two teams have met twice this season, both times at Masters Santiago in March, and Paper Rex won both. Liquid play TYLOO in the elimination match on 1 October at 09:00 UTC, and the loser of that match goes home.
Sources: Liquid vs Paper Rex match page and stats — VLR.gg · Match report and press-room quotes — jenopelle, VLR.gg · Shanghai conduct notice — valohabercisi · Leo Faria on the one-time rule — X · Paper Rex warned at Champions 2023 — Jeremy Gan, Dexerto · Paper Rex match history — VLR.gg · something player profile — VLR.gg · GSR match history — VLR.gg · TYLOO vs G2 — VLR.gg · Schedule — VLR.gg · Format and seeding — Liquipedia
