NRG vs Paper Rex Prediction VCT Masters Santiago 2026 | EsportScanner

NRG and Paper Rex clash on March 15, 2026, in the Lower Bracket Final of VCT Masters Santiago 2026. The winner advances to the Grand Final to face Nongshim RedForce — the loser is eliminated from the tournament. VCT Masters Santiago 2026 is the first international Valorant event of the 2026 season, held at Espacio Riesco in Santiago, Chile, with a $1,000,000 prize pool. The Lower Bracket Final is a Best-of-5. A Grand Final spot against Nongshim RedForce is on the line. NRG enter this match having gone L W W W L across their last 5 series. After winning Americas Kickoff and beating BBL and Paper Rex in the Upper Bracket, they fell 0-2 to Nongshim RedForce in the Upper Final on March 13 and dropped into the Lower Bracket. NRG held a 100% win rate on Pearl throughout this tournament — winning that map in every series — until their loss to Nongshim ended that run. With Ethan, skuba, brawk, mada, and flex player Keiko, NRG have the firepower and experience to run it back. Paper Rex arrive in strong form, going W W L W W in their last 5 series. After losing 0-2 to NRG in the Upper Semifinals, they bounced back with a clean win over All Gamers on March 10 and a convincing series victory over G2 Esports on March 14 to earn this rematch. Their star performer recorded 57 kills against G2 in that Lower Bracket run — the highest individual output of any player in this stage of the tournament. Head-to-head at VCT Masters Santiago 2026: NRG and Paper Rex are locked at 1-1. Paper Rex won 2-1 in the Swiss Stage, NRG won 2-0 in the Upper Semifinals. This Lower Bracket Final is the deciding match between these two sides. EsportScanner AI gives NRG a 52% win probability based on their 1-0 head-to-head lead in playoff maps at this tournament and their 100% Pearl win rate across 3 series. What to watch: - Pearl map selection: NRG won Pearl in every series at Masters Santiago before their loss to Nongshim. If Pearl appears in the map pool, it is NRG's most reliable win condition — Paper Rex will likely ban it immediately to remove NRG's biggest strength across a Bo5. - Paper Rex's star output: their key player posted 57 kills against G2 across the series — averaging over 19 kills per map. If NRG cannot shut down that individual performance early in Map 1, Paper Rex have the momentum and confidence to take this series and force a Grand Final against Nongshim. Make your prediction on EsportScanner and earn Scanner Points.