LOUD fights from half deficits, sweeps Paper Rex

Despite losing one series in groups, LOUD LOUD Brazil Rank #1 lukxo Lucca Travaioli DaviH David Cruz Darker Sebastián Castro Cicuamia erde Roberto Lobos tkzin Enzo Zimiani loan rekindled its Stage 2 playoffs form and did the impossible as an inexperienced international squad: defeat Paper Rex Paper Rex Asia-Pacific Rank #2 invy Adrian Jiggs Reyes Jinggg Wang Jing Jie f0rsakeN Jason Susanto d4v41 Khalish Rusyaidee something Ilya Petrov . LOUD swept Paper Rex 2-0 in the second match of the Valorant Champions 2026 playoff stage, sending PRX to the lower bracket and securing another all-Americas match in the uppers.

Split was map one, with Paper Rex running a classic comp of double-Duelist with something on Yoru and Jinggg on Raze. LOUD ran a near mirror with a Neon instead of a Raze, and despite losing the pistol, a round two eco win made the start of the series tense. PRX still reached a 4-2 lead, and while erde kept up his form from the end of Stage 2, LOUD found themselves down 8-4 at the half.

Paper Rex, specifically both something and Jinggg, looked unstoppable to start the series, and LOUD needed to match that firepower with some of their own. With a pistol win and bonus round conversion, that firepower turned out to be lukxo and erde. As the half stretched on, it looked as if LOUD were a different team, nearly ending the map with a perfect second half. Paper Rex looked lost on the defense side, only winning one round thanks to a something ace as LOUD completed the map with a 13-9 comeback.

Considering Split was Paper Rex's map pick, Sunset was a big hill to climb. LOUD looked dominant on the map regionally with the Sage Chamber comp, which is what they opted for. Paper Rex matched the composition with one change: a solo Raze from Jinggg and something on Chamber. Starting on the defense side, PRX looked very comfortable, taking the first pistol and a lead after a bonus round loss. LOUD looked surprised by the defensive aggression from Paper Rex, as f0rsakeN led his team to a 9-3 lead.

Even more so than map one, the ever-aggressive Paper Rex looked as if the map was theirs, especially moving to the attack side. Yet, just like map one, a pistol round loss and bonus loss turned the map on its head. LOUD stole seven consecutive rounds in a row for the second time, led by a lukxo defense-side Chamber masterclass. PRX was able to stop the bleeding to force overtime, but the team couldn't clutch its way out of its problems. LOUD earned a 15-13 win in OT, taking the series 2-0 with two massive second-half comebacks.

PRX alecks on the matchup of styles against LOUD: “We were a bit more loose; I think [LOUD] played very well. It's not a firepower thing; the way they work the map is intelligent. If you play against that and are not on your A-game, you're going to leave holes that someone can walk into, and that's what happened on Split.”

PRX something on the blown leads: “It comes down to hesitation and not playing as a team, in a way where we question every situation. We need to work towards it in the future. Give it to [LOUD]; it was hard to fight against them individually.”

LOUD erde on the comebacks on both maps: “I think we were just trolling a little bit on both starting halves, but we built a good mental from our time in Sao Paulo. We knew what they were doing, what they were trying to do every time.”

The Valorant Champions 2026 playoffs will continue tomorrow with the following matches: