"I think probably because of the comps": Paper Rex's d4v41 on their slow start against LOUD in Valorant Champions 2023 (Exclusive)

Valorant Champions 2023 is heading into its final few matches. Day 12 of the tournament saw two Upper Bracket matches being played out, the first of which was between Paper Rex and LOUD. The match opened to an extremely competitive map which Paper Rex closed out with a 15-13 overtime score. However, LOUD absolutely dominated the second map, pushing the match to the decider map, Pearl. Paper Rex finally pulled back the series and closed it out with a 2-1 win over the Brazilians.

The second match was between DRX and Evil Geniuses. Evil Geniuses were favored heavily coming into the matchup, and they were able to deliver. They absolutely dominated DRX on the first two maps and took the Bo3 (best-of-three) by 2-0.

After the first match, Sportskeeda Esports' Sneh Jadhav got the opportunity to talk to Paper Rex's d4v41 to ask about the slow start that the team had in the entire series. He responded by saying,

"I think probably because of the comps"

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Paper Rex's d4v41 talks about why the team had a difficult time during the initial rounds against LOUD in Valorant Champions 2023

LOUD and Paper Rex have been in multiple international events, but this was the first time they had ever faced each other. Paper Rex started off the series very slowly, losing the first few rounds to LOUD. This ended up being the case on almost every map. However, after those initial losses, they were able to bring the match back in their favor.

During the post-match conference of Valorant Champions' Day 12, Sportskeeda Esports asked Paper Rex's player, d4v41, why his team always ended up starting out slow in the series against LOUD. Here's what he had to say:

"I think probably because of the comps I guess and also we never played or scrimmed them before. Having Breach and especially Fade I think is something that we are not used to and also it's gonna change the way they're taking map control for example like on Lotus. Also the way they play on C, only LOUD does that wall on C and I think we are not used to it and we're getting punished by and maybe like slightly overthinking from us."

He further added:

"We also technically don't have a single IGL and everyone's trying to contribute a lot of ideas so it's kind of like it goes blind you know like everytime everyone is trying to contribute everything in that one moment. So yeah I think probably over someone overthinks and the comms from them I would say."

Winning the series against LOUD has allowed Paper Rex to proceed further in the Upper Bracket. They have now guaranteed themselves a top-three finish in the Valorant Champions 2023.

PRX will face Evil Geniuses next in their next matchup of Valorant Champions 2023. The team that wins the series will make their way to the Grand Finals. PRX vs. EG will take place on August 24, 2023, at 12:00 pm PDT/ 9:00 pm CEST/ 12:30 am IST (next day).