The Paper Rex way: A discussion with coach alecks

The past 12 hours for all of the participants at VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 - Masters Santiago 2026 have been an unimaginable whirlwind of chaos.

After an exciting start to Masters Santiago, the 1-0 teams immediately began their preparations following the draw show, hoping to qualify for the playoffs the following day. With a full day of prep, teams began to unwind before their next day of matches, only to scroll on social media and find out everything had changed.

Paper Rex head coach Alex "alecks" Salle, however, had no issues with the chaos.

“I actually hadn’t prepared anything for Gentle Mates The only thing we talked about was what maps we were going to play,” alecks chuckled. “When they told me they were doing the draw, I was like, okay, sure.”

It wasn’t for a lack of preparation for their opponents. This all came down to an approach that alecks had refined throughout his time as Paper Rex’s head coach.

After every match on the international stage, alecks takes time to unwind and rest his mind before jumping back into his duties at 5am in the morning. So when he needed to re-draw quickly, he immediately got NRG before heading back to sleep, confident he'd figure it out the next day.

“I know some coaches were like, 'oh we wasted five hours', but I’m okay. I’m just gonna wake up at 5 or 6am and figure this out. Very lucky, actually.”

For some, pushing your preparation for an opponent until the day of the match could be seen as last-minute, but for alecks, it is his way of ensuring every moment as a coach is done with excitement.

Refining Paper Rex

Alecks has been a part of the Paper Rex organization ever since the start of 2020, where he and the rest of the team began their quest in CS:GO before switching to VALORANT one year later in 2021. Refining the process for preparation and practice took years of experience and trial and error.

“Yeah, we never won in CS:GO,” alecks laughed.

Alecks mentioned that the team tried everything from “cramming scrims” and “going all out” to make it work, but it didn't. What worked best was building a base of support to alleviate the pressure from his players so they could succeed in the best way possible.

“I found that the best thing to do was have a day break regardless. If it’s only one day off, then we will have a half day off and do some small scrims,” alecks said. “Anything else adds to the mental stress. I just don’t want to add any extra stress because I already know everyone has very high expectations, and we have the highest expectations of ourselves.”

Part of that was playing on the players' personalities as natural entertainers. Whether it was playing Mario Kart at events or creating content for fans, the players on Paper Rex embrace what it means to appreciate everything that comes with being a pro esports athlete.

“When we created the team, we decided that we wanted to be entertaining,” alecks shared.

One of the biggest topics in esports centers around burnout and the natural exhaustion that comes with being a professional esports athletes. Rigorous days pursuing a single mission to win can break down a passion that once burned brightly. That feeling is something that alecks has always sought to prevent in his duties as the Paper Rex head coach.

“I don’t want them to be anywhere close to being exhausted,” alecks said. “I want them to approach the stage with a sense of excitement.”

Despite their nature as entertainers in competitive VALORANT, Paper Rex stands as one of the most consistent teams at international events. Ever since their first international tournament at VCT 2021 - Stage 3 - Masters Berlin - Group Stage, Paper Rex have only missed two international tournaments. A big part of that stems around his players' natural competitive drive to win.

“As much as we try to goof off a lot, they all want to win,” alecks said. “It’s part of my job to make sure we do that. I have a whole coaching staff now compared to earlier in my career, where it was just me.”

Paper Rex has become a refined system over the years. These improvements have resulted in multiple Grand Finals appearances, alongside one international championship at VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Masters Toronto 2025.

How Fans Inspire Paper Rex

In his final moments, alecks reflected on why he loves his job as a VALORANT head coach. It was a question he always thought about when deciding on how to build the Paper Rex team environment, and what it is today. A one-word summarization that alecks came up with was “fans”.

“I think about why we do this, and it’s because we enjoy the connection with the fans,” alecks said. “We enjoy going to different countries, meeting new fans, and trying to excite them with our playstyle.”

He began to highlight the crowd at VALORANT Masters Santiago alongside the excitement he could feel sitting in the coaches' booth after every single round. Whether it was a wave of roaring cheers after a clutch or the Paper Rex chants, alecks found gratitude in every single moment.

Prior to Paper Rex’s switch into VALORANT, alecks was a CS:GO coach where the Asian CS:GO player base was difficult to navigate. In VALORANT, he and the Paper Rex team are among the most popular teams in the world. That shift in nature is what makes alecks feel grateful every single day, and why he continues to strike a balance between seriousness and fun.

Paper Rex has officially qualified for the Masters Santiago playoffs after defeating NRG in the Swiss Stage. Now, they will move forward in their quest to win their second international trophy because the end goal is to always win for the fans. It will be interesting to see if Paper Rex can add another trophy to their sole Masters win or if VALORANT Masters Santiago will crown a new champion.

Be sure to follow THESPIKE.GG for more VALORANT esports content like this all throughout VALORANT Masters Santiago.

(Photo by Liu YiCun/Riot Games)