In the lower bracket final at VCT Masters Tokyo, Paper Rex and Evil Geniuses were vying for a spot in the finals, but unbeknownst to them, some Paper Rex fans in the Tokyo crowd were working out to celebrate the team’s success.
Showed on broadcast on June 24, one group of fans had a sign: “10 push-ups per Paper Rex round win.” After an eco round win on Split in the second half, the camera picked up on the fans doing their promised exercise. Then, as the team continued to win a total of 48 rounds, the production team kept showing them, not giving them any opportunity to skip their workout.
Partway through map three, with the map remaining close, the Riot broadcasters got in on the fun, showing the viewers that Paper Rex had won 30 rounds in the series, meaning those fans had done 300 push-ups, unless they slacked off when the camera wasn’t showing. But with cameras on them at that moment, they had to commit to the bit.
Twitch chat even got into the moment, similar to another tradition they made for this tournament. Much like how each Shorty kill was a $25 addition to charity for Twisten’s passing, each Paper Rex round win was 10 more push-ups for the fans. On top of the +25 spam in chat after a Shorty kill, Twitch chat started to spam +10 for a Paper Rex round win.
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Considering how exercise is good for the body, that moment also ended up being good for the map, as Paper Rex won it 13-10 to take their first lead in the series. As the series went on longer to a map five, it just made those esports fans’ arms weaker and weaker, though probably stronger when the event ends.
It didn’t get Paper Rex the win in the end, losing 3-2 in the lower finals to EG, but their fans got their workout in throughout the five maps.
