VALORANT: With Jinggg back in the main roster, Paper Rex determined to return to top form at VCT Pacific Stage 1
Jinggg returned to Paper Rex's main roster after he was declared unfit to serve his National Service in Singapore, which previously forced him to step away from pro play.
Singaporean VALORANT powerhouse Paper Rex are looking sharper than ever after they opened their campaign at the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) Pacific Stage 1 with a dominant 3-0 sweep over South Korea's T1.
This was the team’s first win after the return of star duelist Wang “Jinggg” Jing Jie to the main roster on 29 March. For Jinggg and coach Alexandre "Alecks" Sallé, Paper Rex are determined to return to top form as they adjusted to their star duelist's return to the lineup.
“We started a bit nervous, we were nervous in the first half,” coach Alecks admitted, saying that it was the defensive half where PRX performed better.
“I haven’t played [professionally] for so long, so I needed time to adjust,” Jinggg said. “But we adjusted pretty well and yeah I think we played alright today.”
According to Jinggg, when he returned to the pro scene, he didn’t feel much of a difference in-game. In fact, while he wasn’t part of the main roster, Jinggg didn’t slack off.
“It wasn’t that hard... because for me, I’ve had a lot of practice,” said Jinggg. With more free time in his hands last time, he said he “felt like [he] played even more than [he] used to play” at the time.
Jingg also emphasised that he still enjoyed the game, so he played as much as he could.
“I didn’t really slack off because I knew, if you slack off, people are just going to get better than you, and you’re going to fall behind. So I just continued playing the game so that I stayed on top,” he said.
Jinggg also didn’t feel pressure from playing against T1 in their home court.
“I don’t really have pressure based on whatever home country I’m playing with. To me, it’s like I feel like we’re friends from around the world,” said Paper Rex's duelist, noting that his team also has supporters from everywhere, including Korea.
'Starting from zero' later in the year
Of course, there still are some adjustments that the team needed to make to reintegrate Jinggg back to the main roster.
“It just means that we’re starting from zero later in the year. We’re going to restart and build up toward the end of the year as usual,” coach Alecks shared.
According to Paper Rex's coach, they weren’t given much time to practise, so they reviewed what they did in previous tournaments in the past year to prepare for Stage 1.
”The main problem is when you do that, you're one step behind everyone else. The meta changes a little bit,” Alecks added, noting Lotus being a different map that they have to work.
On top of that, Cahya "Monyet" Nugraha — who replaced Jinggg in Season 2024 while he was away — had already prompted changes within the team in the few months he was in the main roster.
“Monyet was integrating quite well with us, so for us to reintegrate Jinggg, we have to do it all over again.”
Although Monyet’s performance wasn’t perceived to be the best in VCT Pacific Kickoff, he started to make waves in VCT Masters Madrid last March and was instrumental in Paper Rex's third place finish there.
Now with Jinggg back, the priority for Paper Rex was to make sure he was “comfortable.”
“We spent most of the time just making sure that Jing is comfortable because re-debuts are very... [difficult],” said coach Alecks.
Paper Rex's coach also shared that they hoped that Jinggg would play well “because there is a small amount of pressure” with a re-debut, but believed that the PRX duellist managed it well.
“I think every year, we approach it where we have this mentality where we start from zero,” Alecks added.
When asked about the Paper Rex playstyle, coach Alecks also believes that the current playstyle works for the team and doesn’t need to be changed.
“I think we still believe in being aggressive. … ‘refine’ would be a better word [than change],” he said, emphasizing the need to work on it throughout the year.
To coach Alecks, the team wants to “qualify for every event possible”.
“We have to take it game by game because we are restarting. We are a new team again. We have a lot to learn."
The true test of how good Paper Rex is following the return of Jinggg will be when they face the South Korean VCT Pacific Kickoff champions Gen.G.
“Our next match is Gen.G. I think it will be a big challenge,” coach Alecks shared.
PRX had previously lost 3-1 against Gen.G at the grand finals of the VCT Pacific Kickoff, and failed to take revenge twice when they faced the South Korean powerhouse in VCT Masters Madrid.
“Right now, they have proven they are better than us for the last three matches. So, I hope that we can give a better performance next match,” added coach Alecks.
Anna is a freelance writer and photographer. She is a gamer who loves RPGs and platformers, and is a League of Legends geek. She's also a food enthusiast who loves a good cup of black coffee.
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