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DRX has knocked out Paper Rex from VALORANT Champions 2025 after a dominant 2-0 win, booking their place in the Lower Bracket Final against Fnatic. The victory means the Korean side keeps their championship hopes alive while the Masters Toronto champions head home in fourth place.

This latest clash between two Pacific heavyweights was a true classic. It marked the 17th time DRX and Paper Rex have met, but their first ever encounter on the Champions stage. Paper Rex came in as clear favourites after a season filled with silverware, yet DRX arrived well-prepared and confident in their game plan.

The match began on DRX’s pick, Ascent. Paper Rex started strong, taking an 8-1 lead behind Wang “Jinggg” Jing Jie’s lights-out performance on Sage. He finished the half with 20 kills and only five deaths as DRX trailed 9-3 at the break. Despite the deficit, DRX refused to back down.

Song “HYUNMIN” Hyun-min led the charge in the second half, tearing through Paper Rex’s defence with aggressive mid-control and confident first duels. His precision completely shifted the momentum. Although PRX reached map point first, DRX forced overtime and held firm to close out Ascent 15-13. HYUNMIN finished with an incredible 36/19/1 KDA, eight first kills, and an average damage per round (ADR) of 220, topping even Jinggg’s impressive stats.

“I just had to put confidence into my team and for myself, so I just started peeking everything,” HYUNMIN said in the post-match interview, smiling about his fearless play.

Next up was Paper Rex’s map pick, Lotus. DRX adapted instantly, swapping HYUNMIN’s Waylay for Raze and matching PRX’s Raze-Yoru composition. The change worked perfectly. DRX claimed the first pistol round thanks to a 3K from HYUNMIN and traded rounds evenly through the first half before edging ahead 7-5.

The second half saw DRX completely take control. A clean pistol and bonus round win pushed them to an 11-5 lead. While Paper Rex fought back with a few strong A-site hits and a clutch Showstopper from Jinggg, DRX proved too solid to break. They closed out Lotus 13-8, with MaKo standing tall on Omen at 17/8/14 and HYUNMIN adding another 19 kills to cap off his monster series.

Across both maps, HYUNMIN ended with a staggering 55/32/4 KDA and 200 ADR, cementing himself as one of the standout players of the tournament.

With this win, DRX have matched their best-ever international finish from Champions 2022 and are now one step away from the grand final. Their next challenge will be against Fnatic, who dropped to the lower bracket after a 2-0 defeat to NRG earlier in the day. The winner will advance to face NRG, who remain undefeated so far in Paris.

Fans can catch the Lower Bracket Final and Grand Final of VALORANT Champions 2025 live on the official VALORANT Champions Tour YouTube and Twitch channels.