Alecks hails Monyet and anti-strats despite Paper Rex VCT Masters Madrid exit
Dubbed as the battle of the bundles, the jarring contest between Paper Rex's explosive nature and Sentinels' particularly bullish was VALORANT in its raw and enjoyable form.
VCT Masters Madrid has been rather taxing on both organisations, with Sentinel's appearing visibly exhausted by the sheer volume of matches, and Paper Rex having hit a wall trying to unlearn their habits to find a new method of madness with a controller.
But it was Sentinels who came out on top, and with it, Paper Rex was sent home to endure a long flight back to East Asia before being thrown back into the action again in just over a week's time.
After their exit, Head Coach Alexandre "Alecks" Sallé has now told GGRecon that new recruit Cahya "Monyet" Nugraha has much more to give after enjoying his best map in Paper Rex's vibrant jersey, and has basked in the fun of combatting anti-strats as the Pacific roster bows out of VCT Masters Madrid in third place.
Alecks backs Monyet to keep improving after early VCT Masters Madrid lessons
Click to enlargeThere's a strange atmosphere in the Paper Rex camp, knowing that they still have much more to offer before they get back to their best, but still managing to go toe-to-toe with the juggernauts and in-form rosters like Gen.G and Sentinels to secure a bronze medal at the opening Masters of the year.
"Right now, I don't feel anything," said Alecks, after the match.
"I'm sure, when we go back and watch the game, we'll notice that we probably could have done a little bit better. But, I'm happy with the achievement."
But the main bulk of focus for Paper Rex's fans, critics, and simple enjoyers of their playstyle, was Monyet.
The new addition to the Paper Rex roster raised a lot of eyebrows following their second-place finish at Champions last year, but with Wang "Jinggg" Jing Jie tied up with mandatory military service, there have been big shoes to fill.
Monyet's debut on the main stage was one of conflict though, shining in some matches, while struggling in others.
Still, Alecks was full of praise for the 18-year-old after their loss to Sentinels.
"His Split game was the best he's played," Alecks told GGRecon. "I watch him practice every day, he's actually a lot better than he lets on."
It's a learning curve though.
"His Split game should be more consistent, in my opinion. The real problem is that we can't seem to get him going early - or he gets going early and then he slows down throughout the game - I think that's a learning process. After he makes one mistake, he gets really bothered by it.
"I don't think that's very hard to coach that out of him.
"So, I think we can look forward to a better, more complete player by the year."
Alecks on VCT Masters Madrid tactical battles
Click to enlargeDespite their loss, this marks Paper Rex's fourth top-three finish in VCT LANs, having earned silver at Masters Copenhagen 2022 and Champions 2023, and bronze at Masters Tokyo 2023 too.
And with another long run at an international event under his belt, Alecks has embellished the tactical bouts this time around, not only against other teams but within his own camp too.
"I think I learned how to deal with anti-stratting against other teams," he said when quizzed about what nuggets of knowledge he could take away from Madrid.
"This tournament we were studied. I don't think we've been studied to this extent for a while. We had to change game by game and I actually really enjoyed trying to predict what people are thinking.
"It's a new thing to me because this happens less now, compared to two years ago."
Having already matched up against other mastermind coaches such as Christine "Potter" Chi, Alecks also enjoyed coming up against Adam "kaplan" Kaplan this year, adding, "I'm just pleased we beat him on Split."
For Paper Rex, now, they have just over a week before Pacific starts, and with the roster also wanting to get some time in to go to their respective homes and see family, which very much moves the goalposts towards learning on the job once they open their accounts with a match against T1.
