It was the Grand Finals of VCT Masters Toronto, and the stage was set for Paper Rex (PRX) and FNATIC to face off.
Both teams have seen a VCT Grand Final a multitude of times, but for PRX, they have always been second in every Grand Final they appeared in, up until VCT Masters Toronto.
For FNATIC this is another shot at gold as they had held the VCT Masters Tokyo trophy in 2023.
Heading into Map one, it was Sunset, PRX’s pick.
They wanted to start strong with their best map of the season, Sunset, as they have a 100 per cent win rate, and this proved to be the right move, as FNATIC before the match had never won on Sunset.
FNATIC wanted to prove the stats wrong as they started map one with a four-round win streak on the defensive side until the Paper Rex Express plowed through them on the attack by ending the first half with an 8-round win streak.
F0rsakeN, PRX’s In-Game-Lead (IGL) would be leading PRX at the half with 12 kills, 7 deaths and 5 assists.
Going into the second half, FNATIC punched back, trying to tie the map up.
They would eventually go on a 6-1 round win streak, pushing the first map to 10-9 in FNATIC’s favour, but unfortunately, PRX would bring it to match point and eventually get the win.
Paper Rex would take map one with IGL F0rsakeN taking map MVP with 22 kills, 17 deaths and 7 assists at the end of the map.
Heading into map two, FNATIC would get their map pick of Icebox.
This match looked like an even affair as Paper Rex would have a win rate of 78 per cent, while FNATIC has a 75 per cent win rate and an even affair it would be.
PRX and FNATIC would have a thriller of a back-and-forth on map two, with both halves ending in a 6-6 tie.
They would push Icebox to overtime, and both teams would look to continue their momentum as they switched sides after each round.
With the dust settling from this epic map two of the best-of-5 series, FNATIC would come out the victor from the overtime battle.
FNATIC’s Kaajak would take map MVP with 32 kills, 23 deaths and four assists.
With FNATIC tying the series to one each, the EMEA champions found some hope and wanted to continue the momentum as they head into map three, Pearl.
FNATIC would start on the attacking side and use the momentum from their Icebox win and transfer it into this map, as they had a 7-5 lead in the first half with Alfajer having 16 kills, 9 deaths and two assists at the half.
With Pearl being PRX’s map pick, it wouldn’t be a surprise that they would be down, as this wasn’t their strongest map, as they had a 50 per cent win rate and since they started on the defensive side they would also have a win rate of 50 per cent on the defensive side.
Heading into the second half, Paper Rex would switch to attacking and FNATIC would move to the defensive side, but they would suffer and wouldn’t be able to stop PRX from bulldozing them on the attack.
PRX would win map three and regain the lead with D4v41 getting map MVP with 20 kills, 11 deaths and four assists.
With PRX in the lead, they would need one more win to lift a trophy finally, and with FNATIC being down one map, they would need to push this series to map 5 if they wanted a chance to win the trophy.
FNATIC would have the advantage because it was their map pick, Lotus, which would be map four.
Lotus is one of FNATIC’s best maps with an 86 per cent win rate after playing it 7 times, but Paper Rex had the most experience as they had played this map 15 times this season and had a win rate of 80 per cent.
This map would still be a close match, but Paper Rex would show their experience as they ended the first half with a lead of 7-5.
Going into the second half, FNATIC would be on fire, immediately mounting a comeback and tying the match in the first two rounds of the second half.
Paper Rex, though, would answer back with a four-round win streak to break the tie, but the EMEA champions showed that they weren’t going down without a fight, and eventually, we would get another overtime.
Paper Rex would start overtime on the defensive side and would default, allowing D4v41 on the Vyse to take full control of C site.
FNATIC would enter the traps of D4v41, and with that intel, PRX would surround and suffocate FNATIC, bringing the match to 13-12.
Switching to the attacking side, Paper Rex would default yet again, but to bait out FNATIC.
F0rsakeN and Patmen would have spike and looked to try and see if anyone was at B site.
PRX, though, would rotate over to A site, but FNATIC’s Alfajar and Chronicle would be there waiting for them and take out Patmen D4v41 and Jinggg.
F0rsakeN picked up the spike, and Something would join his teammate and find themselves in a four versus two situation.
The two would quietly rush over to B site and quickly plant with 30 seconds left.
Now with control of B site, they awaited FNATIC’s arrival.
F0rsakeN would catch FNATIC’s Boaster by surprise and take him out, while Something would find Crashies' head and take it clean off.
Chronicle would enter the site but be quickly taken out, and at the same time, Something would see Kaajak and eliminate him, securing the win for Paper Rex.
Immediately after the cheers of joy from the fans roared over the Enercare Centre and Paper Rex would jump out of their seats, hug one another and cry tears of joy as they finally won a trophy.
From being in second place at VCT Masters Copenhagen and at VCT Champions Los Angeles 2024 to winning VCT Masters Toronto.
From being the uncrowned kings of the Pacific, the Paper Rex Express finally arrived at their coronation and became the Masters of Toronto, with the conductor, the IGL of Paper Rex F0rsakeN, winning tournament MVP.