How Paper Rex and FNATIC secured their Champions showdown

Bryan Francis Published September 26, 2025

The eight teams remaining in VALORANT Champions are battling through a double-bracket tournament. On the first day of the playoffs, Paper Rex defeated G2 Esports, while FNATIC secured a win against DRX. Here’s what went down.

Paper Rex vs G2 Esports was a 3-map thriller

When the Playoffs draws were announced, everyone had their eye on one game, Paper Rex vs G2 Esports.

These two teams were touted as the favorites to win this event, and with the game having so much hype, one wondered if we would see a one-sided demolition. Instead, we got one of the best matches possible – a taste of what fans could expect in the grand finals if these two teams made it that far. All the maps during this series had a minimum of 24 rounds played.

• Map one ended on a score of 13-11 in favour of Paper Rex. At one point, G2 Esports were 10-6 up, but Paper Rex won 7 maps on the bounce to take the win. Both jawgemo and something showcased why they are two of the best duelists in the world.
• In Map 2, the game went to overtime. In the 24th round of the game, something secured a 1v3 clutch to take the game into overtime. Towards the end, G2 Esports secured two rounds in a row to take us to map 3.
• Map 3 was played on Ascent, and G2 Esports dominated during their attacking half. They took the lead with a scoreline of 8-4. When Paper Rex played on the attack side, they won the first six rounds back-to-back and took the win with a 13-11 scoreline. On this map, Forsaken played Omen, in top form with a KDA of 28/14/7.

One player we must give due is Leaf. On a niche pick like Chamber, he ended the map with a KDA of 30/19/3. With this win, Paper Rex made one step closer to the upper bracket finals, while G2 Esports awaits to see who they will face off against in the lower bracket.

Image credit: Riot Games/Valorant Esports

FNATIC gets the win over DRX

It’s amusing that we get to witness this match take place once again. The story of FNATIC and DRX is quite an interesting one. We have seen these two top teams face off against each other at every VALORANT Champions tournament since 2022. During VALORANT Champions 2021, we saw FNATIC face off against Vission1 as well (the previous DRX team).

Image: Riot Games/Valorant Esports (@valesports_emea)

This game wasn’t as nail-biting as Paper Rex-G2 Esports but it had some incredible moments.

• On Map 1, DRX took the lead 10-2. Many considered the game to be done. Instead, FNATIC proved to us all why they are still one of the best teams in the world. FNATIC clawed back an incredible comeback and won the map 13-11.
• On Map 2, we saw DRX take the lead and secure the win 13-8 in a close game.
• On the final map, FNATIC defeated DRX 13-5. While playing Killjoy, Alfajer secured the win with a KDA of 20/ 10 /9. With this win, the score between DRX and FNATIC is 2-2.

Paper Rex will face off against FNATIC now in the Upper Semifinals. At the same time, G2 Esports will face off against DRX during the lower bracket round 1 of VALORANT Champions 2025.

Featured image credit: Riot Games/Valorant Esports