Paper Rex’s VALORANT Champions Shanghai collapse: Is fear of losing their biggest problem?

Ahsan Kabir Published October 12, 2026

Paper Rex (PRX) was noted for its aggressive style, unexpected tricks, and capability to compete with the best VALORANT teams.  However, Paper Rex’s campaign at the Champions Shanghai 2026 tournament has failed. Despite taking big leads, PRX failed to close out important maps against LOUD and T1, leading to their elimination.

Following PRX’s defeat on October 9, Alexandre “alecks” Sallé, the head coach, made an unexpected announcement about the difficulties haunting the team when under pressure. Is there a deeper problem behind PRX’s repeated defeats? Let’s look at the main reasons behind the latest collapse and what it could mean for the team’s future.

Paper Rex’s Champions Shanghai collapse against T1

Image credit: Valorant Esports

At the Champions Shanghai 2026 playoffs, Paper Rex suffered a 0-2 defeat against LOUD. They lost Split with a score of 9-13 after leading 8-4 at one stage followed by a loss at Sunset of 13-15 in overtime after taking a lead of 9-3 earlier in the match. After this defeat, PRX was sent down to Lower Round 1 where it met Pacific rivals T1 in an elimination match.

Although T1 defeated Lotus with a score of 13-7, PRX came back by winning 13-6 against T1 on Ascent. Finally, in the last map, Summit, PRX was leading the game 9-3 at halftime and then later gained an advantage 11-6. However, T1 dominated seven consecutive rounds and defeated PRX with 13-11.

According to Alecks, their repeated finals losses have created fear of losing. Alecks also blamed himself partly for PRX’s exit from the league because of the possibility that he was unable to properly prepare his players. He emphasized that PRX needs to deal with mental issues first.

The problem started against LOUD

Following T1’s defeat, PRX faced the same challenges during its previous playoff round against LOUD on October 7.

On Split, at halftime, PRX had an 8-4 advantage, but eventually lost 9-13. The team then suffered another comeback on Sunset, where LOUD recovered from a 3-9 deficit to win 15-13 in overtime. Thus, LOUD was able to achieve a clean 2-0 finish. These results indicate that the problem of PRX goes beyond a poorly played map. While PRX can consistently out-frag opponents in early duels, they struggle to retain strategic control when games get tight.

Image credit: Valorant Esports

PRX coach Alecks admitted losing several major finals affected the team’s mindset and created fear of losing. “It’s a byproduct of losing so many finals,” he explained. He believes PRX needs “some deep mental work” during the offseason and plans involve multiple sports psychologists addressing the problem. “If not, it will never fix,” he warned.

Alecks also admitted players got overwhelmed by emotions after losing a commanding lead against T1. Taking partial responsibility, he said, “either I did not prepare them well enough, and that’s definitely on me,” while the stressed team must find a way to overcome the mental barrier.

For a deeper look at what happened in the upper bracket round 1, check out our full article on the Paper Rex vs Loud match.

Two international finals, but no trophy in 2026

It was quite surprising that PRX failed so badly at Champions Shanghai given their exceptional track record like the 2022 season.

After losing 0-3 against Nongshim RedForce, Paper Rex took second place at Masters Santiago and secured VCT Pacific Stage 1. Later, they made it to the finals at Masters London and lost against Leviatán 3-2.

Unfortunately, PRX’s performance fell dramatically in the second half of the season after they finished 13th-16th at Esports World Cup, 5th-6th at VCT Pacific Stage 2, and ended Champions Shanghai in 7th-8th place.

As Alecks stated, PRX had to deal with pressure after a series of lost finals. At the same time, it has to be mentioned that fear of defeat can’t explain everything. Both LOUD and T1 played very well against PRX by adapting strategies and punishing their mistakes.

Has Paper Rex’s roster stability become a problem?

Another issue is PRX’s long-term stability of its roster. Jason “f0rsakeN” Susanto and Khalish “d4v41” Rusyaidee have been members of the team since 2021, whereas Ilya “something” Petrov started playing for them in 2023, Wang “Jinggg” Jing Jie re-joined the team in 2024, and Adrian “invy” Reyes became a member of it in late 2025. This consistent team played aggressively and made decisions collectively which made it win Masters Toronto in 2025 and two international finals in 2026.

On the other hand, f0rsakeN, d4v41, Jinggg, and something have their deals expiring in 2026, whereas invy has his contract expiring in 2027. This is why the offseason becomes crucial for PRX, though it does not mean that there will be any changes in the roster. The question is whether the current roster can get over its mental problems.

Can PRX fix its mental barrier in the offseason?

Image credit: Valorant Esports

The plan for PRX in the off-season, according to Alecks is to have his team concentrate on mental preparation. It will be useful for PRX to work with the sports psychologist so that players can manage pressure well, bounce back after lost rounds and remain focused during critical times. Tactical skills of the players need improvement as well as their ability to respond to the opponents’ changing tactics and communicate effectively.

Paper Rex had previously demonstrated their superiority by winning the Pacific Stage 1 championship and making it to two world finals during 2026. Despite this, they were incapable of delivering the best outcomes when it mattered the most. The onus is now on PRX to rebuild their mental resilience and convert map advantages into match victories.

With the playoffs already live, follow the remaining contenders via our VALORANT live section.

Featured image credit: Riot Games

Related to:

Paper Rex VCT Champions Playoffs