In the wake of a top-four finish at
VALORANT Champions in Paris, Paper Rex addressed the media with measured clarity: head coach
Alexandre "Alecks" Sallé assessed a season bookended by resilience and silverware,
Patrick "PatMen" Mendoza reflected on a rapid ascent in his rookie tier-one campaign,
Jason "f0rsakeN" Susanto found perspective in family support.
Question for Alexandre "Alecks" Sallé:
As head coach, how do you evaluate the team’s overall year? You can also speak about each player individually. What goals are you setting for next season?
Alexandre "Alecks" Sallé: "If you win a trophy in any year, it’s a good year. We attended the two biggest events with Masters Toronto and Champions. In my view we did well at Champs. We lost to teams that finished in the top three, which means we were beaten by excellent opposition. I’m very proud of our overall performance, especially our resilience at the start of the year. The fact that we stayed together and pushed through difficult stretches is a huge milestone for the team.
As a group, I want the players to know I’m very proud of them. They improved all the way to this point. Maybe today wasn’t our best showing, but DRX are a team we face every year, we know how good they are. I realize many were underrating them at this event, but we knew coming in they would be one of the stronger teams regardless.
From a coaching perspective, was today’s defeat primarily a tactical issue, or do you believe mental and emotional fatigue from a pressure-filled lower-bracket run led to lapses in concentration and execution on the final map?
Alecks: It was probably a bit of everything. Tactically, we should have used our ultimates much better, or at least played around them more effectively. Even with two timeouts, I couldn’t find a way to break their defense on Ascent. HYUNMIN (Song Hyun-min) was hitting everything. So yes, there was a tactical component. On the other side, it’s Champions everyone wants to win, and the pressure is enormous. Sloppy rounds are bound to happen; this time, we had too many of them.
You’ve faced DRX many times this year, including today. Compared with earlier meetings, did you see any changes from them, and what stood out?
Alecks: The obvious thing is they’re using Waylay/Yoru everywhere. Beyond that, they were very well-prepared today. They used their three days intelligently. We should have taken it to a third map; everyone knows we really messed up the first one. They also had a head start, roughly two weeks preparation ahead of others, and they grew as the tournament progressed, which is crucial if you want a deep run. I’m happy for them.
Looking at your run losing the upper-bracket semifinal to Fnatic and then today win against DRX, what changed for the team that ultimately led to a top-four finish?
Alecks: Honestly, I’m not entirely sure. We couldn’t get Sunset, one of our best maps, and it was hard to build momentum. We focused a lot on our core map pool, and sometimes your strong maps can get a bit weaker; you can lose a little confidence. Today our reads on Lotus were very off and should have been better. So it comes down to confidence, prep time, many factors. It is what it is; everyone has the same amount of time. We just couldn’t get over the hump this time.
Question for Patrick "PatMen" Mendoza:
Reflecting on your first year in tier-one VALORANT, especially after winning Masters Toronto and the VCT Pacific title, you’ve become a standard-bearer for Philippine VALORANT. Beyond what you mentioned earlier, what are your thoughts on this first year at the top level?
Patrick "PatMen" Mendoza: Moving from tier two to tier one, I realized a lot, there are many excellent players. I’m still adjusting from my previous role as a flex Initiator often a flash agent. At Paper Rex, my agent pool has been narrower, partly because of the meta. For me, it’s about gaining experience and maintaining a strong mindset and mentality every time, and just keeping forward.
Photo by Tristan Toussaint/Tittooux
Despite today’s defeat, you joined the team mid-season and helped restore momentum. How do you look back on the year as a whole, and what’s your overall assessment?
PatMen: Since joining Paper Rex, everything has moved very fast. We battled through lower brackets, qualified for Toronto, and won it. Now we’ve finished top four at Champions, just qualifying for Champs is incredibly hard. I hope everyone is proud of themselves. The loss is tough to accept, but hopefully next year we’ll be an even better team.
Question for Jason "f0rsakeN" Susanto:
Even after a loss, every cloud has a silver lining. From your time in Paris at Champions, what’s the silver lining for you, something good that came out of this experience?
Jason "f0rsakeN" Susanto: My family is here. Even though we lost, they’re proud of me, and they all came to Paris. It was a surprise, not just my mom and dad, but my aunts as well. I just want to say thank you for continuing to support me.
Do you have a message for the viewers, especially those in Indonesia?
f0rsakeN: Thank you to everyone watching, especially in Indonesia. Thank you so much for the support, we might not even be here without it. Maybe we lost this year, but I believe we’ll come back. Thank you, all of you.
Question for Jacob "Mini" Harris:
You’ve come in like a storm this season and seen the team through ups and downs. Taking a reflective stance on your time so far, what have you observed, and how has this experience affected your own repertoire, especially given the big changes you’ve been part of?
Jacob "Mini" Harris: It’s a
cliché, but I genuinely think I’ve learned more from working with them than they’ve learned from me. We’ll see what the future looks like, whether and how we continue because it’s been frustrating at times. I haven’t been able to be with them in person much; I worked remotely for
Toronto. There are things I want to debrief with Alex about during the off-season so they can focus on them next year.
When I first joined, I was confused about why they were losing in APAC. They’re phenomenal at the game, and the results in officials didn’t reflect that. People think Panda and I joined around the same time and that results shifted, and while we each did good things, probably the others more than me, ultimately the team was already excellent and something had just gone wrong. Going forward, they know their style and identity; it’s about pushing an extra 10–15% in a few areas. If they do that, they’ll be very strong next year.
The last time you stepped back from coaching, you mentioned the stress, even joking about losing your hair. Has this stint reignited your love for coaching and being behind the team?
Mini: Yes. When I do broadcast work, everything is theoretical, on paper. Here it’s practice. Working with a team whose style is very different from what I’m used to is fun and rewarding. And as someone coming in from the outside, it’s less stressful. I can sometimes be calmer than Alex because of that."
Header Credit Photo: Liu YiCun/Riot Games
