Paper Rex releases captain d4v41 and Jinggg from VALORANT roster

Paper Rex released captain Khalish “d4v41” Rusyaidee and Wang “Jinggg” Jing Jie from its VALORANT roster, Riot Games’ tactical shooter, on Oct. 31, 2026, after the Singapore organization’s early exit at Champions 2026 in Shanghai.

Free agency opened across every region when Paper Rex made the split, and the organization kept its VCT Pacific partner place ahead of the 2027 season. The organization is one of eight partners selected by Riot Games for 2027 and 2028, so the departures are a rebuild by choice rather than a league mandate. Riot reduced partner teams per region from ten to eight for the 2027-28 period, leaving 32 across four regions. Paper Rex is owned by IMPLS Entertainment Pte Ltd and can reshape its roster without needing to qualify.

Paper Rex’s Champions 2026 run ended in Shanghai after a quarter-final loss to LOUD by 2-0 on Oct. 7, 2026, and a lower-bracket round-one defeat to T1 by 2-1 on Oct. 9, 2026. The Shanghai event featured a $2,250,000 prize pool, and LOUD defeated Team Vitality in the title match.

Before the early exit, Paper Rex won VCT Pacific Stage 1 in 2026 and finished second at Masters Santiago and at Masters London in 2026. Jinggg helped Paper Rex finish second at Masters Copenhagen in 2022. Both players had reached the Champions 2023 final with Paper Rex, finishing as runners-up.

d4v41 joined Paper Rex at its 2020 founding, beginning on its CS:GO roster before switching to VALORANT. Coach Alexandre “alecks” Sallé called d4v41 the most experienced player on the team and an older-brother figure to his teammates. Jinggg joined on Sept. 28, 2021, and spent five years with the organization, building a reputation for aggressive play on Raze. Liquipedia’s records show both players in the starting line-up for the VCT 2025 Masters Toronto title, Paper Rex’s first international trophy.

d4v41 used a farewell video to say he would join a new team and asked supporters to follow him there. He also asked fans to keep backing Paper Rex once both players had left, and he did not name the organization he would join. On X, Jinggg said he was looking forward to what comes next, had not announced a next team, and neither player has named a destination. The previous week, d4v41 said his contract was close to expiring and Paper Rex had allowed him to pursue other opportunities.

Open qualifiers begin later in November 2026, and VCT 2027 Pacific Kickoff guarantees Paper Rex a seeded place. The event takes place in Bangkok, Thailand, from Jan. 11 to Jan. 31, 2027. The 12-team field mixes eight partner organizations with four winners from qualifying. The top three finishers at Kickoff qualify for the season’s opening Masters in February 2027.

Riot’s open qualifier rules say most regions need three players from that region on a five-player roster. Teams must keep three of five players between events to carry their progress into the next event.

EMEA’s eight partners for 2027 include Fnatic, BBL Esports, FUT Esports, Team Heretics, Team Liquid, Gentle Mates, Karmine Corp and Team Vitality. The cut left eight partners in each region for 2027-28.

The roster has three players left after the departures, and the organization has yet to announce a full 2027 lineup. Strafe Esports reported, citing Sheep Esports, that Jason “f0rsakeN” Susanto and Ilya “something” Petrov will remain. Sheep Esports reported on Oct. 29, 2026, that Paper Rex expects Jhon Patrick Ramos “PatMen” Mendoza back after he spent a season with Global Esports.