Masters London Finals: PRX vs EDG Lore

PRX is OTW to the VALORANT Masters London Grand Finals, and they got their get-back against Champs 2023 opponent EDG. There’s more to this match than you think: here’s a recap of everything to know.

Today’s VALORANT Masters London Upper Bracket Final brought two game-changing teams together in a matchup with plenty of history behind it. Paper Rex is now one step closer to the Masters London trophy, but EDward Gaming may not be out of the running yet. Why was this matchup so close? What happened on Split? Why is this victory so important for PRX? Let’s dive in.

PRX in Masters London: the Protocol-Breaking Pros

Paper Rex (PRX) and EDward Gaming (EDG) both arrived in the VALORANT world as outliers. Hailing from the competitive sphere’s APAC region in Singapore, PRX originally gained renown for its unconventional team comps and unique playstyles.

When other teams create the meta, PRX defies it. This is the type of team that places strange smokes just to push out of them, uses one flash just to create space for another flash (see the video below), and selects agents with objectively ‘bad’ stats, yet still sweeps the competition.

At first, PRX’s VCT performance was a hit-or-miss. Their strategies had an edge since older, more established teams could not predict them or train for protocol against them, giving way to some flashy and memorable upsets. However, there were also many early games where PRX lacked cohesion and polish.

Recently, though, that’s changing: PRX showed a fearsome performance at Masters Toronto 2025, where they secured a 1st-place trophy. Earlier this year, they also scored second place at Masters Santiago 2026, ultimately falling to Korean org NS Redforce. All in all, PRX has qualified for eight VALORANT Masters events so far, proving they can supplement their creative plays with a newfound discipline and consistency.

EDG in Masters London: The China Region Trailblazers

EDward Gaming has an extensive history in several esports titles. League of Legends fans may be familiar, as the team won Worlds in 2021. However, for a long period of time, VALORANT did not include a Chinese circuit, so while they could compete in other East Asian leagues, the org couldn’t scale and represent their home country.

All that changed in 2023, when VCT officially introduced the region into its ecosystem. EDG surprised the world by sweeping through the competition: within just a year, the team had gone from fresh faces in the VALORANT community to household names. To make victory even sweeter, they won VALORANT Champions 2024 just a year later, becoming the first Chinese team to do so.

The team’s players have played a big part in its success. Zheng “ZmjjKK” Yongkang, mostly called ‘KangKang’ by fans, amassed a sizable fanbase early on, gaining repute for his energetic personality and silly antics (like rapping on-stage after a tournament win). KangKang and his teammates are very present on social media, often bantering with each other. KangKang has been on some crazy sidequests, and he even made an official music video called ‘Blood Oath’.

It’s not all sunshine and rainbows, though: while EDG performs well in China region events, it has struggled to regain its footing internationally since Champs 2023, and the team has been a bit sloppy in some recent matchups.

Will PRX Get Their Get-Back?

Though PRX has qualified for Champions since 2022, they have not yet tasted the glory of a Champions title. Making it to the final four of any international event is still quite the accomplishment, but reaching the pinnacle of VALORANT success would be the icing on the cake. By the way, remember when we mentioned EDG won Champs 2023? Their 2nd-place opponent was PRX. Imagine barely losing out on the biggest trophy in VALORANT, and then coming face-to-face with the team that beat you in the playoffs of another international event… yeah, you could say this matchup was probably a little bit personal.

It’s Time For Two Overtimes

EDG and PRX both put up a strong fight. The first two games were so evenly matched that they both resulted in overtimes: EDward Gaming won Breeze 15-13, while Paper Rex cinched Fracture 14-12.

The Uno Reverse: Whose Map Pick is This Again?

Something particularly funny happened in this matchup: both teams won their games on the opponent’s map picks. Though PRX prefers Breeze, EDward Gaming popped off. Much of the credit belongs to Sentinel and Controller flex CHICHOO, who fragged out throughout the game and maintained crucial map control as Viper. PRX Jinggg dropped a crazy 30-bomb on Omen, but it was not enough to clutch the game.

EDG is notoriously comfortable on Fracture. However, despite the close scorelines, PRX made an example of them with devious flanks and an extremely strong attacker side. This makes sense, as the team is famous for its aggressive pushes and unconventional site executes. However, it should be noted that EDG had some bright spots here: Smoggy scored a multikill clutch, and impressed with a hefty 29/17 K/D.

PRX Pummels on Split

Split, infamous for its important mid-section, was the deciding map. After the first two matchups, this could have been anyone’s game. However, PRX surprised by absolutely dominating, pulling off a 13-6 win. Interestingly, both teams had the exact same team comp, making it a complete mirror.

What made the difference? Well, for one, PRX invy was incredibly strong on Skye. He finished the game 20/10 with a whopping 17 assists, top fragging slightly above something’s 17/9 K/D. Having a good initiator makes all the difference on this map, because map control is king: taking control of mid with initiator utility significantly tips the odds in your team’s favor and opens the door to effective rotates. invy’s strong performance and abilities simply created more impact in a mirror comp and created opportunities for something to perform at his best.

What’s Next for PRX? Masters London Grand Finals

The win is sweet for PRX, but EDG is not out of the running yet. The team has dropped to a lower-bracket Semifinals matchup, and if they win, they could very well face PRX again in the Grand Finals.

EDward Gaming will face either Leviatan or Team Vitality in the lower bracket finals on June 20, 2026. VALORANT posts updates on its esports page here, and you can also stay tuned on EsportNow for further event coverage.