After Paper Rex won the VCT Pacific League’s inaugural trophy in May, they found themselves without their MVP award-winning VALORANT player Ilya “something” Petrov at Masters Tokyo.
Something, who is Russian, faced a myriad of visa issues that completely sidelined him from the biggest tournament of the year so far. Thankfully for Paper Rex, though, it looks like the end of the issues is in sight.
According to both something himself as well as a report from leading Asia-Pacific publication VALO2ASIA, the player has received approval on his application for a visa to enter the U.S. next month for VCT Champions in Los Angeles.
Earlier this month, on July 9, something tweeted a casual message to his followers, saying that he will see them at Champions. Though many fans took this as evidence that his visa troubles were now behind him, others questioned the reliability of the information given Paper Rex’s initial unclear communication about his Japanese visa status last month.
Even something had to clarify in response to his own tweet, saying “FOR REAL NO BAIT TWEET” in the replies.
After VALO2ASIA’s report, it looks fairly safe to say that something should be on the stage in Los Angeles in August.
This is great news for Paper Rex, who with the addition of their MVP duelist have a serious shot at not only making it far in Champions but also winning the event entirely.
The team finished third at Masters Tokyo behind second-place Evil Geniuses and winners Fnatic, but Paper Rex’s own match against EG was a close 3-2 loss. It seems like the team’s only big hurdle is Fnatic, who have unquestionably been the best team in the world this year.
The great news for Paper Rex is that their substitute player, Patiphan “cgrs” Porsi, has proven that he can step up to the plate with the rest of the incredibly experienced roster. Many VCT fans predicted that Paper Rex would suffer without something, but the team has clearly not been neglecting the integration of their sixth man into the team structure.
With something added back in, he can bring more of his aggressive playstyle and innovative agent choices into the mix, which puts Paper Rex around the top of the shortlist of possible Champions winners.
It looks like fans can count on seeing the Russian superstar walk out in the classic Paper Rex dinosaur jersey on stage in Los Angeles later this year. But whether or not he brings out Reyna is another question altogether.
