LOUD beat Paper Rex 2-0 on October 7 in the second match of the Valorant Champions 2026 playoff stage, a result that sent the Asia-Pacific No. 1 seed to the lower bracket and kept another all-Americas matchup alive in the upper bracket, according to VLR.gg. The Brazilian team fell behind early on both maps, then took control after halftime on Split and Sunset.
The win stood out because LOUD had already dropped one series in groups and entered the playoffs as an inexperienced international lineup. Instead of fading against Paper Rex’s pace and firepower, the team found answers on both maps and finished the series with two straight comebacks.
Split started with Paper Rex in front
Paper Rex opened Split with its usual double-Duelist setup, using something on Yoru and Jinggg on Raze. LOUD played a near mirror, replacing the Raze with Neon. The first rounds were messy for both sides: Paper Rex lost the pistol, LOUD answered by winning the round-two eco, and the map stayed close through the opening stages.
Paper Rex still built the stronger first half. The APAC side moved ahead 4-2, and even with erde continuing the form he had shown at the end of Stage 2, LOUD went into halftime down 8-4. Paper Rex looked comfortable taking space, and for much of the half it seemed to be controlling the map at its own tempo.
That changed quickly after the switch. LOUD won the pistol and converted the bonus round, with lukxo and erde taking over as the team’s main sources of pressure. VLR.gg said LOUD looked like a different team in the second half, nearly finishing the map with a perfect defensive run. Paper Rex managed only one round after halftime, and even that came off a something ace. LOUD closed Split 13-9.
Split mattered even more because it was Paper Rex’s map pick. The opening deficit did not last once LOUD settled in, and the comeback erased the edge Paper Rex had built through the first 12 rounds. The finish also showed how quickly the map flipped once Paper Rex lost control of the economy after halftime.
Sunset followed the same script, just from a bigger hole
Sunset was supposed to be the harder map for LOUD. The team had looked strong on it regionally with a Sage-Chamber composition, and that was the setup it chose here. Paper Rex matched most of that structure, changing only a few pieces: Jinggg played a solo Raze while something moved to Chamber.
Paper Rex looked even better on defense than it had on Split. It took the pistol, then survived a bonus-round loss to keep the map in hand. LOUD struggled to deal with the aggression coming from Paper Rex’s defensive side, and f0rsakeN helped guide his team to a 9-3 halftime lead. At that point, Sunset looked like Paper Rex’s map to lose.
The second half changed everything again. Paper Rex lost the pistol and the bonus round, and LOUD immediately took control of the pace. The Brazilian side won seven rounds in a row for the second time in the series, with lukxo delivering a strong Chamber performance on the defensive side before LOUD carried the momentum into attack. Paper Rex eventually slowed the run enough to force overtime, but it could not find the rounds it needed to escape. LOUD finished Sunset 15-13 and completed the 2-0 sweep.
The pattern across both maps was the same. Paper Rex built first-half leads, LOUD won the key pistol and bonus rounds after halftime, and the Brazilian side used those openings to take over the round economy. On Split, the comeback came from lukxo and erde. On Sunset, lukxo’s Chamber play helped anchor the turnaround once LOUD got on attack.
- Split: LOUD won 13-9 after trailing 8-4 at halftime.
- Sunset: LOUD won 15-13 in overtime after trailing 9-3 at halftime.
- Paper Rex won the opening pistol on both maps, then lost control after halftime.
- LOUD strung together seven-round runs on both maps after switching sides.
- The sweep sent Paper Rex to the lower bracket.
VLR.gg framed the result as a major upset because LOUD is an inexperienced international squad taking down Paper Rex, which entered the match as a top-ranked APAC team. The way the series ended made that contrast clearer. Paper Rex had the first-half leads and the more aggressive early game, but LOUD stayed composed through the early deficits and cleaned up the late rounds on both maps.
Paper Rex spent most of the series reacting instead of dictating. Its style created space early, but once LOUD won the opening rounds after halftime, the Brazilian team controlled the economy and forced Paper Rex into recovery mode. The defense-side aggression from Paper Rex on Sunset, in particular, could not hold once LOUD stabilized its own setups and started chaining rounds together.
The result keeps LOUD alive in the upper bracket and sets up another Americas matchup on the next step of the playoff tree. Paper Rex heads to the lower bracket after watching both of its first-half leads disappear in nearly the same way.
Valorant Champions 2026 playoffs continue tomorrow with 100 Thieves vs. G2 Esports and Team Vitality vs. Nongshim Redforce in the upper quarterfinals.
Two maps, two halftime leads, two seven-round streaks from LOUD… Paper Rex basically queued into the same movie twice and still did not leave after the credits. The real villain here was the pistol round, apparently. You lose that after halftime and suddenly the whole map turns into a budget comeback simulator.
lol yeah, PRX really said ‘we’ve got this’ and then handed LOUD the keys to the economy. Two comebacks in one series is nasty though, can’t even call that luck twice.
the pistol into bonus swing is the bit that hurts most. once they lost those, PRX were basically playing save-a-thon simulator
You think the comeback was mostly the pistol or just PRX crumbling after halftime? Those are a bit different problems.
Had a ranked game like that yesterday, down 3-9 on Sunset and the enemy team just tilted after we stole pistol. Once the bonus fell apart it was free rounds.
ranked is one thing, playoff Valorant is way harder to flip. teams don’t usually just give you both pistols and let you breathe
that was not a comeback, that was a throw
People are gonna overreact to ‘inexperienced international lineup’ but PRX losing both pistols and still not adapting is the bigger issue here.
not really, the ‘inexperienced’ part matters. keeping your head after two slow starts against PRX is not something every new international team does
So PRX just forgot how to finish rounds after halftime, and that’s a badge of honour now?
fair enough, we’ll see
9-3 cursed again
it kind of was because LOUD won pistol and bonus on the flip both times. that kills the whole round count maths fast
paper folded