PRX wins fifth straight over G2 to clinch playoff spot

The seventh-ever meeting between two teams all too familiar with each other lived up to the billing, with Paper Rex claiming a 2-1 victory over G2 Esports to advance to the playoffs.

Both teams entered this match after finding wins in their opening matchups, with PRX downing Team Liquid 2-1 and G2 making quick work of TYLOO with a 2-0 win.

After winning the last four against G2 in VCT play, PRX extended its run of dominance over the North American side, now owning a 5-2 advantage in the series.

The match was played out on G2's Split, PRX's Haven, and the decider map of Lotus. In the map ban process, PRX banned Abyss and Ascent while G2 banned Summit and elected to finish the series on Lotus instead of Sunset.

Play began on PRX's pick of Split, a map that was a staple of its map pool earlier this year but was played less in Stage 2. PRX stayed with its double-Controller, double-Duelist look with Omen-Viper and Raze-Yoru, while G2 continued with its own tried-and-tested Omen-Viper comp with Chamber, Skye, and Neon.

While PRX's attack side was tightly contested, they didn't maintain that level through the rest of the map. An all-in-all well-rounded team performance from G2 saw the big plays come in roves, with four clutches coming in the second half to bolster a run of seven straight rounds to close out the map 13-9.

Simply stellar from leaf in the clutch.

After stealing PRX's map pick, G2's pick of Haven seemed sure to threaten PRX. The dinos had the map as their perma ban in Stage 2, and had not played it since May. Both teams went with double-Duelist comps with Chamber, but each team put its own twist on the approach. While G2 went with Neon-Yoru, PRX went for Phoenix-Yoru.

Off the bat, Paper Rex had a blistering pace to start Haven. A 7-0 start to the map quickly erased any afterthought of the Pacific powerhouse losing its own map pick. While G2 did claw back a few rounds to end its defense half, even getting to within one round after clinching the bonus on its attack side, the first-half deficit ultimately kept the team down.

Jinggg finds three to close out Haven.

After stealing each other's map picks, the stage was set for the series to be decided on Lotus. PRX went with the Yoru-Raze pairing once again, while G2 opted for its usual Omen-Viper double-Controller look.

Early on, the map had all of the makings of a typical Bo3 decider map. It started with G2 picking up just its second pistol round, followed by a run of three straight PRX rounds starting from the would-be bonus. The teams entered halftime tied with six rounds apiece,

Jinggg mows down four to end the first half.

Once PRX got onto attack, the game flowed smoothly. The dinos won six of the next seven rounds to reach match point. While G2 did claw back two rounds from down 12-7, it was ultimately not enough, as the team suffered its sixth-straight loss to Paper Rex dating back to 2025.

Jinggg was the runaway MVP of the series, dropping a match-high 61 kills with a 1.26 rating. BABYBAY , across two maps of Chamber and one of Vyse, had a team-high 56 kills in the losing effort.

From the Press Room

G2 valyn on the map veto: "People don't really know what goes into these vetos. It's obvious that [Paper Rex are] prepping Sunset. They didn't ban it, they banned Ascent, right? People online always give JoshRT so much flak for these vetos and they say, 'Why didn't he pick this map?' Guys, you don't actually know what's happening. Them leaving Sunset map 3 is proof in the pudding... I feel bad for Josh because he gets the blunt end of it."

Jinggg on PRX's pre-Champions rest: "So far going really well based on the last two matches. We've played really well. Energy and stuff, I can really feel it in the game. I think it's more of a good time for us to rest and of course we prepared as well, but I think the rest was probably the biggest factor that helped us win the last two games."

Up Next

Champions Shanghai will continue with the following matches:

• Karmine Corp vs. NRG (Group D Winners)
• Team Vitality vs. LOUD (Group B Winners)
• 100 Thieves vs. FUT Esports (Group A Winners)
• TYLOO vs. Team Liquid (Group C Elimination)
• Xi Lai Gaming vs. Nongshim RedForce (Group D Elimination)
• Global Esports vs. EDward Gaming (Group B Elimination)
• T1 vs. JD Gaming (Group A Elimination)