Cloud9 defeated Paper Rex in an emphatic 2-0 series. The C9 head coach Matthew ‘mCe’ Elmore expressed his joy at eliminating Paper Rex from VCT LOCK//IN in a post-match press conference.
Cloud9 dismantled Paper Rex in their match at the international tournament as the North American side defeated their opponents 13-8 and 13-4 across two maps. The VCT LOCK//IN series was a revenge match for the C9 head coach as Paper Rex sent his previous team, The Gaurd, home at Masters Iceland in 2022.
The Guard were a young team with little experience on LAN and were one of the first teams eliminated at the first VCT international tournament of that year.
“Those guys were not very gracious winners behind the cameras after [The Guard] got knocked out and I took the higher road on that and didn’t say what I wanted to say when I was fist bumping and up there with them,” mCe said in a post-match press conference.
“So I felt really good because that’s what should have happened the first time if my last team had a little bit more experience. But you know, firstly, I can’t blame them at all, we tried. Man, it feels good to send those f***s home.”
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Cloud9’s Jordan ‘Zellsis’ Montemurro chimed in after mCe. “If you weren’t going to say it then I was,” he said with a laugh.
C9 continues on at VCT LOCK//IN
That was for the boys. @trentFPS @JonahP_ @neT_valorant @valynfps 💜💜💜💜 Making a statement to start. #C9WIN 2-0 against a great team. Sorry no more Benkai walkouts 😭
— Matthew Elmore (@MatthewCElmore) February 15, 2023
Cloud9 will move on to play DRX in the second round of the tournament. This matchup also brings some baggage with it as C9 knocked the South Korean team, called Vision Strikers at the time, out of Valorant Champions 2021 in the group stage.
Both teams have kept relatively the same rosters, with only one change from DRX and two from the North American team. The two will face off on February 18.