Paper Rex has become the latest team to qualify for Valorant Champions 2025, following their victory over T1 in VCT 2025: Pacific Stage 2. The qualification comes as no surprise, with Paper Rex having a historic year in Valorant.
It means they are the fourth team to qualify for VCT Champions 2025, joining G2, Sentinels, and Fnatic at the Paris tournament, which will conclude in the 20,300-capacity Accor Arena.
Paper Rex in 2025
Paper Rex’s defeat of T1 made them the first Pacific team to qualify for VCT Champions 2025. That means only China has no confirmed representative.
Paper Rex have already had a historic year after their Masters Toronto victory, which saw them shake their so-called “silver curse.” The 7 Pacific points earned from that victory were a substantial boost in their quest to qualify for Valorant Champs, which they have now confirmed.
The roster’s powerful and explosive playstyle has made them a firepower powerhouse that few can live with, and all of those ingredients came through in Toronto to give the Pacific region its first international trophy.
Despite that, they failed to back up the victory at EWC 2025, where Heretics eventually took the crown with a Grand Finals win over Fnatic.
Paper Rex fell 2-1 to Fnatic at the Esports World Cup, losing the final two maps 13-3, 13-8 in maps that honestly didn’t feel competitive.
With Paper Rex only dropping two maps so far in VCT Pacific Stage 2, they are favourites with esports betting sites to win Pacific Stage 2. It feels like they are learning to balance their explosive playstyle to gain consistency.
Whether that consistency can be taken to the international stage remains to be seen, but we know they can win Champions; if they play their A game, they may prove to be unstoppable in Paris.
Paper Rex joins G2, Sentinels, and Fnatic at Valorant Champions 2025
The Valorant Masters Toronto Champions become the fourth team to qualify for the event. G2 had guaranteed their place at the event in Toronto in June, earning enough Americas points to guarantee their place in Paris. Sentinels were the second team to guarantee their place with victory over Cloud9.
Fnatic made champions by defeating Apeks in their final EMEA Stage 2 group game. With each match being worth 1 EMEA point, Fnatic were made to wait to qualify after they lost to eventual group winners, Team Liquid.
Subsequently, Fnatic will begin their EMEA Stage 2 playoff run in the upper-bracket semis, with Liquid starting in the UB semis. Despite that, Fnatic remain favourites to win the split, and one of the favourites to win Champions in 2025.
Darragh Harbinson is an esports writer specialising in Counter-Strike. He has written for Esports News UK, Esports Insider, UKCSGO, Dexerto, and Rush B Media.