History repeats as Nongshim RedForce downs BOOM Esports to re-ascend

Two teams whose histories are forever intertwined wrote the next chapter of their rivalry in the VCT Pacific Ascension lower final, clashing for a VCT slot for the second time in the past year. In a rematch of last year's grand final, Nongshim Redforce defended the reputation that it set as Sin Prisa Gaming Sin Prisa Gaming Inactive Persia Yang Zi-on (양지온) margaret Kim Ji-woo (김지우) Dambi Lee Hyuk-kyu (이혁규) Francis Kim Mu-bin (김무빈) Ivy Park Sung-hyeon (박성현) , defeating BOOM Esports 3-1.

BOOM won Bind 13-11, Nongshim won Ascent 13-6, Corrode 14-12, and Lotus 13-6.

Both teams elected to stick with their usual bans, with BOOM removing Sunset and Nongshim removing Haven. BOOM's first pick of the series was Bind, the same map that was the fifth map of last year's grand final, which ended with Nongshim on top, 17-15.

The teams fielded mirror comps, going for double-Controller, double-Duelist looks with a Fade. Francis and Shiro , the former IGLs of their respective teams, were on Yoru for this map, which has been a permanent pick for Francis this tournament and a trend for Shiro, who has played the agent in nine of the team's 14 maps in the event. BOOM started the map on attack and threatened to go on a run. They won the first six rounds of the map and were threatening to stage a blowout. However, a well-timed Nongshim timeout helped the Korean squad end the first half on a high note, down just 7-5.

The second half started with chaos. Nongshim won the pistol, which was followed by a BOOM eco, and then a Nongshim eco to respond. An exchange of runs resulted in a 10-10 tie, with neither looking in true control. A strong site take gave Nongshim an 11-10 lead, which was responded to with a BOOM thrifty.

Despite Dambi 's best efforts, going 28/18 and finishing as the highest-rated player on the map, BOOM had the edge on Nongshim, avenging their Bind loss from last year by winning 13-11. natz led the way for BOOM, picking up 22 kills while shutting down entry to sites on multiple occasions.

Nongshim's pick of Ascent brought forward a few intriguing storylines. Nonghim went with its mosquito comp, pairing Yoru and Waylay, sticking with its decision to move away from Fade onto Sova. Meanwhile, BOOM had a more classic comp, centered around Killjoy, a double-Initiator pairing of KAY/O and Sova, and Jett and Omen to round it out. BOOM opted to start out on defense, which is typically the stronger side of the map, but Nongshim has thrived on the attack side with its Duelist duo. In its last three Ascent appearances, Nongshim went 24-12 in its attacker halves.

Francis and Dambi thrived on attack, acting as the perfect one-two punch for Nongshim. With BerserX 's Killjoy utility often parked on B, the A site was a favorite for Nongshim. Francis's Gate Crashes into Hell were rarely contested, while Dambi got maximum value out of his Saturate. Nongshim entered halftime with an 8-4 lead, which quickly ballooned to 10-4 to claim both pistol rounds on the map. While Francis's third-round Operator did not pay dividends immediately, proactive play and, of course, sharp shooting helped Nongshim close out the map comfortably, winning 13-6.

Francis logged map-high marks with 21 kills and six first bloods, while Xross added a further 17 kills.

Corrode, the next map, came with the surprises starting during the agent select process. While BOOM stood strong with its usual double-Controller comp, with Sage and Neon, Nongshim turned heads for its first Corrode appearance of the event. Francis was moved off of Yoru for the first time at Ascension, onto KAY/O to pair with Rb 's Sova, while a Viper-Omen pairing and Dambi's Waylay rounded out the comp.

Nongshim, using several different variations of Ivy's Toxic Screen, split up portions of the map and used different speeds during its executions to make things tough for BOOM, claiming an early 7-2 lead. However, BOOM started to catch onto Nongshim's win conditions, eventually clawing back to make the halftime score a manageable 7-5. Nongshim found its fifth pistol of the round to open the second half to extend its lead, but BOOM never went away. Using whitecat 's Neon to take quick and easy presence in mid, BOOM won five of the next six rounds to tie things up at 10-10. From that point on, the teams were nearly inseparable.

With whitecat leading the charge for BOOM and Dambi struggling to get into a rhythm, it seemed as though BOOM was set to go full speed into the end of the map, but in the round with a 12-11 lead, the kill feed was painted like a candy cane, alternating between green and red with Nongshim just barely finding the edge to force overtime.

And in OT? Dambi proved that it didn't matter if he was slow through the first 25 rounds of the map. If he showed up when it mattered, he would bring Nongshim to within one map of re-ascending. And he did just that, picking up four kills in the round following a successful Nongshim attack to bring Nongshim across the finish line, 14-12.

Lotus, the fourth map of the series, was one of Nongshim's strongest as of late, but also one of their most scoutable maps. Nongshim's last three Lotus games have been highlighted by dominant attack sides. Against Velocity Gaming Velocity Gaming Asia-Pacific Rank #6 SkRossi Ganesh Gangadhar , Nongshim claimed a 10-2 halftime lead, and against Motiv Esports Motiv Esports Asia-Pacific Rank #2 wayne Wayne Chang , they went up 11-1 before the halftime break.

With Nongshim fielding the same double-Duelist, Neon-Yoru comp, BOOM appeared to have the best comp to counter the fast and chaotic Nongshim, with Vyse and Viper armed with delay-heavy utility that looked to slow their opponents down. BOOM held Nongshim's usually explosive attack side at bay, entering halftime on even terms at 6-6.

But on defense, Nongshim impressed. They played proactively, fighting for space, picking off the BOOM players, and making them look desperate. Nongshim won a sixth pistol round of the series to kick off the beginning of the end. While Francis was the key figure the day before on Lotus, the supporting cast stood up strong. Xross , the newest promotion to the starting lineup, led the way for Nongshim, with 19 kills at the end of the map. Nongshim shut out BOOM in the entire second half, sweeping their way to a 13-6 win to claim the final Ascension spot and defeat BOOM in a win-or-go-home match for the second year in a row.

Francis, whose 70 kills in the series were a joint-high alongside whitecat, was named as the MVP of the tournament. He finished with the highest ACS of any player at 249.5, averaged 0.87 kills per round, 0.20 first kills per round, and had the third-highest rating of all players at 1.17.

With the win, Nongshim will compete in its second season in VCT. They join SLT as an ascended squad for the 2026 season, meaning there will now be five Korean squads in VCT Pacific. Meanwhile, BOOM will be relegated to the Challengers level, set to spend the 2026 season in Valorant's second tier for the first time since 2024.