Paper Rex knock G2 Esports into the Champions 2026 decider

Paper Rex beat G2 Esports 2-1 in the Group C winners' match at Valorant Champions 2026, dropping Split 9-13 before taking Haven 13-11 and Lotus 13-9 to win the series and top the group. Jinggg led all ten players with a 1.17 rating and 259 ACS across the three maps, but the series turned on a single round: d4v41's 1v2 retake at 11-11 on Haven, the biggest win-probability swing of the match.

The result puts Paper Rex through at 2-0 in Group C after their opening 2-1 win over Team Liquid, and drops G2 — 2-0 winners over TYLOO in their opener — into the group decider.

Paper Rex banned Abyss and G2 banned Summit; Paper Rex picked Split and lost it 9-13, G2 picked Haven and lost it 11-13, and the Lotus decider went to Paper Rex 13-9.

Map 1: Split (G2 Esports 13-9)

G2 ran BABYBAY on Chamber and JAWGEMO on Neon behind leaf's Viper, valyn's Omen and trent's Skye. Paper Rex answered with Jinggg on Raze, d4v41 on Viper, something on Yoru, f0rsakeN on Omen and invy on Fade.

Paper Rex took both pistols and were level 6-6 at the half, then went ahead 6-7 in round 13 when f0rsakeN defused 31 seconds after the plant, and led by three after round 15. G2 answered with seven straight rounds from round 16 to round 22. The spike detonated in round 18 to level it at 9-9, and G2 then cleared the defenders off two consecutive plants in rounds 19 and 20 — leaf winning a 1v2 with both kills in the second — to move 11-9 clear. G2 won 9 of their 10 attacking rounds that reached a plant.

Map 2: Haven (Paper Rex 13-11)

Jinggg moved to Phoenix, f0rsakeN to Astra and d4v41 to Chamber; G2 put leaf on Yoru and kept BABYBAY on Chamber. Paper Rex opened with seven straight rounds, and G2 were 0-7 down before trent's retake in round 8 got them on the board. Three consecutive retakes from rounds 8 to 10 — trent, valyn and JAWGEMO, the last of them 14 seconds after the plant — cut it to 3-7, and G2 came out of the half 4-8 down.

G2 took the second-half pistol and the bonus and clawed back to 11-11 in round 22. Round 23 decided the map and effectively the series: d4v41 was left in a 1v2, took both kills and defused 26 seconds after the plant to make it 11-12, a 25% swing on a neutral win-probability model. Paper Rex closed it on defence in round 24 without a plant going down.

Map 3: Lotus (Paper Rex 13-9)

G2 took the opening pistol and the bonus, and Lotus was level 6-6 at the half. Paper Rex then won the second-half pistol through d4v41, converted the bonus, and took rounds 13 and 14 off successful attacking plants to lead 6-8. A four-round run from round 16 to round 19 put the map out of reach. Paper Rex reached a plant in 9 of their 10 attacking rounds and won seven of them; G2 got the spike down in just 6 of 12.

Why Paper Rex won

The series was far closer than 2-1 suggests: Paper Rex won it by two rounds, 35-33 across the three maps.

The split that decided it was defence. G2 won 20 of their 34 attacking rounds (58.8%) — above the 53.6% field average at this stage — but won only 13 of 34 on defence (38.2%). Paper Rex were more balanced at 21 of 34 attacking (61.8%) and 14 of 34 defending (41.2%). Neither team could retake: G2 recovered 7 of the 28 plants they faced (25%), Paper Rex 5 of 23 (21.7%). Once the spike was down and the attackers held a man advantage, the round was over — attackers ahead on numbers at the plant won 23 of 25 rounds across the series.

Economy is where G2's margin went. They were the better full-buy team, winning 25 of 41 (61.0%) against Paper Rex's 22 of 42 (52.4%), but won just 1 of 10 eco and semi-eco rounds to Paper Rex's 2 of 6, and lost 4 of the 6 pistols. Paper Rex have won 67% of their pistol rounds at this stage, the joint-best mark in the group stage.

Paper Rex also won in spite of their opening duels. something finished the series 5-16 in first kills to first deaths, the worst differential of the ten players, with four opening deaths in lost rounds on each of Haven and Lotus. d4v41 offset it at 12-6, the best in the series.

Standout performers

Jinggg was the series' best player at a 1.17 rating, 259 ACS and 173 ADR on 61/48/12, with an 8-6 opening-duel record. d4v41 followed at 1.10 and 229 ACS and delivered the round that won it. For G2, BABYBAY was the closest match at a 1.03 rating and 229 ACS, including a 25/17/1 Chamber map on Haven for 279 ACS. valyn posted the series' best KAST at 79%.

What's next for G2 Esports and Paper Rex

Paper Rex finish Group C at 2-0 and move on to the playoff stage. G2 Esports drop to the group decider on October 3, where they will face the winner of TYLOO against Team Liquid on October 1. Champions 2026 runs to October 4.

G2 Esports vs Paper Rex: key stats

• Series score: Paper Rex 2-1 (Split 9-13, Haven 13-11, Lotus 13-9)

• Total rounds: Paper Rex 35, G2 Esports 33

• Biggest swing: Haven round 23, d4v41 1v2 retake at 11-11 (25%)

• Jinggg (PRX): 1.17 rating, 259 ACS, 173 ADR, 61/48/12

• d4v41 (PRX): 1.10 rating, 229 ACS, 12-6 first kills to first deaths

• BABYBAY (G2): 1.03 rating, 229 ACS, 56/47/7

• Pistol rounds: Paper Rex 4, G2 Esports 2

• Retakes: G2 7 of 28 plants faced (25%), Paper Rex 5 of 23 (21.7%)

Round-weighted ratings across all three maps, as on the match page. Field averages cover all completed Champions 2026 group stage maps.

Image Credit: https://pprx.team/teams/valorant