Valorant Champions Tour 2022: Stage 2 - Masters Copenhagen will return on July 22 with an action-packed semifinal matchup between Paper Rex and OpTic. With teams having had a four-days hiatus to set up new strategies, the semifinal series promises better than envisaged.

The North American representative, OpTic, made their way to the semifinals by taking down DRX 2-1 in the second round, having defeated their regional rivals, XSET, in a dominant fashion. Paper Rex, on the other hand, overwhelmed two European teams, Guild and Fnatic, without dropping a single map to secure their spot in the semifinals.

Can OpTic Bring The Trophy Home Again?

OpTic kicked off their playoff run with a clean win over XSET. The two NA teams clashed on Haven, where XSET could only secure two rounds in the first half. Despite having a better attack, their disjointed fashion gave OpTic a significant lead to end the map. Bind was no different from Haven as OpTic Gaming dominated the second half with the help of an outstanding defense performance by Pujan "FNS" Mehta.

In their semifinal series against DRX, OpTic proved again why they are the reigning masters champions. Having been bested on Fracture 13-4, OpTic bounced back to the series with an encouraging win on Breeze. The decider map was Bind, and it was OpTic who took the advantage heading to the second half. After capturing two flawless defense rounds, OpTic wasted no time in ending the series.

Paper Rex, on the flip side, participated in the tournament as the first seed of APAC Stage 2 Challengers. Fans did not expect the team to be dominant against Fnatic even though they pulverized Guild in the quarters. However, The Singapore-based team conquered Fnatic on Ascent and Bind led by Jason "f0rsakeN" Susanto. He completed the series with a superior 45/39/9 game score, according to Spike.GG.

Valorant Master Copenhagen will be back with a live audience tomorrow. The defending Masters Reykjavik champion will try to protect their crown, while Paper Rex will want to make Asian FPS fans proud with a convincing victory. You can watch the semifinal series on the official Valorant Twitch channel.