T1 eliminate Paper Rex to keep VALORANT Champions campaign alive
T1 eliminate Paper Rex to keep VALORANT Champions campaign alive
T1 survived their first elimination match at VALORANT Champions 2026 after defeating Paper Rex 2–1 in the lower bracket in Shanghai.
The Korean representatives won Lotus 13–7 before Paper Rex responded with a 13–6 victory on Ascent. T1 eventually closed Summit 13–11 to secure their place in the next round.
The defeat ended Paper Rex 's tournament run in joint seventh–eighth place.
T1 take opening map
T1 established control on Lotus, their own map pick, and closed the opening game 13–7.
Paper Rex responded on Ascent, producing a convincing 13–6 victory to force a deciding map.
Summit decides elimination series
The third map proved significantly closer.
Both teams remained competitive throughout Summit, but T1 eventually secured the final rounds to win 13–11 and close the series 2–1.
The victory kept T1 alive after their earlier upper-bracket defeat against NRG.
Paper Rex , meanwhile, finished another international tournament without claiming the Champions title, having previously reached the finals of both Masters events earlier in the season.
T1 advanced to the second round of the lower bracket, where they would face the loser of the upper semifinal between G2 Esports and Team Vitality .
