The competitive season on the professional Valorant scene is in full swing. After two regional qualifiers, two major Masters series tournaments have been held, and today we will talk about the latter. Yesterday, Masters Toronto 2025 ended with the Singaporean team Paper Rex winning its first major victory in the history of the Valorant lineup, and below we will tell you more about this event.

Basic information about the tournament

Before we begin, let's go over the basic information about the event itself. Masters Toronto 2025 took place from June 7 to 22 in a LAN format at the Enercare Centre in Toronto. Twelve VCT partner teams participated in the tournament, three from each competitive region: EMEA, Pacific, Americas, and China. They competed for a large prize pool of $1,000,000, as well as VCT Points, which are necessary to qualify for the world championship.

Paper Rex's long road to its first Masters victory

In the grand final of the tournament, we saw a tense battle between two well-known teams, Paper Rex and Fnatic. Although both clubs are considered among the best in their regions, Pacific ultimately proved stronger than EMEA, albeit not without a fight. On the first map, Sunset, the Singaporean team won 13:11, while on Icebox, the match went into overtime and ended with a 17:15 victory for Fnatic. However, Paper Rex did not give their opponents a chance and, thanks to victories on Pearl 13:10 and Lotus 14:12, became the champions of the tournament. You can read more about the results of the grand final and the best moments in our article – Paper Rex wins the VALORANT Masters Toronto 2025 final.

This was a legendary event for the team and its fans, as the team had never won a tournament since 2021, when the first international tournaments began. Most of the Masters series events ended with the team finishing in 2nd to 4th place, which is why it was sometimes even called the eternal silver medalist. Below you can see how the Masters tournaments ended for Paper Rex in previous years.

2021 – Masters Berlin

In 2021, when the professional Valorant scene was just beginning to develop, the team took part in one of the two tournaments of the Masters Berlin series. The team did not achieve any significant results at that time, losing both matches during the group stage and leaving the event in 13th-15th place.

2022 Masters Reykjavík and Copenhagen

Nevertheless, in the following year, 2022, the team completely redeemed itself and began its path to prize places. At the first event, Masters Reykjavík 2022, the team successfully advanced from the group stage and even reached the lower bracket semifinals, where it lost to ZETA DIVISION 0:2 and left the tournament in 4th place.

At the second event, Masters Copenhagen 2022, Paper Rex showed even better results and even reached the grand final. But in the end, in a tense battle with the Chinese club FunPlus Phoenix, they were unable to win and lost 2:3, finishing in 2nd place.

2023 Masters Tokyo

In 2023, only one Masters event was held in the Japanese capital Tokyo, and Paper Rex took part in it. After a series of victories, the team fell into the lower bracket, where it reached the final. However, the team failed to advance further. In the final match, the team faced Evil Geniuses, losing 2:3 in a tense battle and leaving the tournament in third place.

2024 Masters Madrid and Shanghai

Last year, the team also participated in two Masters tournaments, but again did not win either of them. The first Masters Madrid 2024 repeated the scenario of 2023, during which Paper Rex fell into the lower bracket and advanced to the final, where they lost to Sentinels 1:3 and left the tournament in 3rd place.

At the next Masters Shanghai 2024, the team performed slightly worse. After the group stage, the club again fell into the lower bracket, but this time did not reach the final. In the quarterfinals, the American club 100 Thieves defeated Paper Rex with a score of 2:1, as a result of which the latter left the tournament in 5th-6th place.

2025 Masters Toronto

In 2025, two Masters tournaments were also held, but Paper Rex only participated in the last one in Toronto, where it became the winner. Interestingly, this time the team did not fall into the lower bracket. After the group stage, the Singaporean team advanced to the playoffs, where it easily defeated: G2 Esports, Sentinels, and Wolves, all with a score of 2:0, and in the grand final, it defeated Fnatic 3:1, thanks to which it took 1st place and received the long-awaited title of champion.

To better understand the situation, below we will list all Masters events starting in 2021 and indicate Paper Rex's final result so that you can see the big picture.

• Masters Reykjavík 2021 – Did not participate
• Masters Berlin 2021 – 13th-15th place
• Masters Reykjavík 2022 – 4th place
• Masters Copenhagen 2022 – 2nd place
• Masters Tokyo 2023 – 3rd place
• Masters Madrid 2024 – 3rd place
• Masters Shanghai 2024 – 5th-6th place
• Masters Bangkok 2025 – Did not participate
• Masters Toronto 2025 – 1st place

As you can see above, Paper Rex participated in 7 out of 9 Masters events, which is an excellent result compared to most VCT teams. In addition, out of the 7 tournaments in which the club participated, 5 ended with prize places from 1st to 4th, which brought the team $665,000 in prize money.

Community reaction

In the end, when Paper Rex managed to win their first international event, the team's viewers and fans were incredibly happy. In the comments, apart from congratulations, fans wrote only one word, “Finally,” which emphasizes the incredibly long journey of the team, which we described above.

In addition, the official Valorant account and Riot representatives separately congratulated the winners on this achievement. A message appeared on the game's social media with the caption “Third time's the charm.”  In it, company representatives mentioned Masters Copenhagen 2022 and Valorant Champions 2023, where the team took second place, and finally the current Masters Toronto 2025, which broke the streak of second places and brought the team victory.

Final distribution of teams and prizes

Masters Toronto 2025 offered a large prize pool, as well as VCT points, which are necessary to qualify for the world championship. Below you can see the current distribution and prizes that the participants received for each place.

• 1st place Paper Rex — $350,000 and 7 VCT Points
• 2nd place Fnatic — $200,000 and 5 VCT Points
• 3rd place Wolves Esports — $125,000 and 4 VCT Points
• 4th place G2 Esports — $75,000 and 3 VCT Points
• 5th-6th place Gen.G Esports, Sentinels — $50,000 and 2 VCT Points
• 7th-8th place XLG Esports, Rex Regum Qeon — $35,000
• 9th-10th place BiliBili Gaming, Team Liquid — $25,000
• 11th-12th place Team Heretics, MIBR — $15,000

Masters Toronto 2025 is over, but there are still many exciting events ahead. The third and final stage of qualifiers, the Esports World Cup, and the World Championship. Stay tuned to our portal to find out about all the events on the professional Valorant scene.