Paper Rex, NRG Rally into VALORANT Champions Playoffs

Paper Rex and NRG each closed their group runs at VALORANT Champions 2026 with 2-1 wins in winners’ matches in Shanghai, securing top seeds in Groups C and D and guaranteed spots in the tournament’s upper bracket.

Paper Rex began the Shanghai group stage with a 2-1 victory over Team Liquid before meeting G2 Esports in the Group C winners’ match. Paper Rex lost their map pick Split 9-13, then won Haven 13-11 and Lotus 13-9. Players Jinggg and d4v41 supplied key performances across the two maps. The result extended Paper Rex’s head-to-head advantage over G2 to 6-2 and produced the first confirmed playoff berth of the event.

NRG finished atop Group D with a 2-1 result in their winners’ match and will enter the knockout phase from the upper bracket. The team has now qualified for three international playoff events in 2026, including the EWC.

Paper Rex’s qualification is their third international playoff berth of 2026 and their third appearance at VALORANT Champions, following entries in 2023 and 2025. NRG’s advancement is also their third international playoffs qualification of the calendar year.

Teams in the upper bracket advance to the knockout rounds with the structure that a first loss sends a team to the lower bracket rather than eliminating them outright. Paper Rex and NRG will await their opponents as the tournament moves into its playoff phase in Shanghai.

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