Nongshim RedForce Nongshim RedForce Korea Rank #1 Xross Jeonghwan (정환) Rb Goo Sang-min (구상민) Francis Kim Mu-bin (김무빈) Dambi Lee Hyuk-kyu (이혁규) Ivy Park Sung-hyeon (박성현) defeated G2 Esports G2 Esports North America Rank #2 jawgemo Alexander Mor BABYBAY Andrej Francisty trent Trent Cairns valyn Jacob Batio leaf Nathan Orf in an overtime 2-1 in the upper bracket semifinal at Masters Santiago, guaranteeing themselves a top-three finish in their first international event.

Both teams secured their own map picks relatively easily as G2 won Abyss 13-7 and Nongshim won Corrode 13-7. Nongshim came out on top in a close 14-12 banger on Split to win the series.

G2 picked Abyss, which is the only map in Nongshim's pool where Dambi does not play his signature Neon, for the first map. G2 started up 6-3 off of winning the pistol round and punishing Nongshim's aggressive pushes multiple times, while Nongshim managed to make it 7-5 after Ivy used his Astra Gravity Well to deny the plant on low time in round 10.

The rest of the map was smooth sailing for G2 as a second pistol and a bonus win extended their lead to 11-5, allowing them to close out the map 13-7 following two successful B retakes. Dambi still had a solid showing individually with 17 kills, but it was the Waylay on the other side in BABYBAY topfragging with an 18/13/4 KDA and 157 ADR.

Back on Neon, Dambi took over Corrode, running down G2 despite their best efforts to counter him with the Judge and the Odin; the Duelist collected 20 kills and five first bloods on Nongshim's 10-2 attack. G2 attempted a comeback off the back of a round 14 force buy win, but an Ivy 4K in a thrifty round secured a 13-7 win for Nongshim. Dambi ended with a 25/15/8 KDA, a 1.65 rating, and an unreal 224 ADR.

Ivy finds four in a map-winning battle for B main.

Split delivered yet another banger decider. After a 4-1 start for G2, Nongshim wrested back control to an 8-4 lead as they began outpacing their opponents. Xross and Francis were instrumental for Nongshim's defense, combining for a total 31 kills in the half and providing consistent support to their site anchors.

G2 retaliated to a second Nongshim pistol with a force buy win, bringing the score to 9-6. From there, they mounted a comeback, reading into Nongshim's fast pace and shutting them down with clean holds and retakes to find match point at 12-11.

Backs against the wall, Nongshim dug their heels in, first forcing overtime with an overwhelming B hit. From there, they outwitted G2 in overtime, pushing deep into A main for two kills in their defense round and winning their attack round off of a surprise attack Operator in the hands of Francis into a Dambi 3K to win out 14-12.

Dambi comes alive to put an end to the series.

Dambi once again ended with the most kills for his team as Neon after a strong attacking performance, ending with 24 for a series-leading 66/48/14 KDA and 1.28 rating overall. leaf had the most kills on Split as Viper with 25, while Francis dealt the most damage on Yoru with 23 kills and 173 ADR.

G2 will return to the stage tomorrow in an elimination match against BBL Esports BBL Esports Europe Rank #3 Crewen Ali Eren Sargin Lar0k Yusuf Kaan Kanber Loita Utku Kart Rosé Eren Erzan lovers rock Umut Pekdoğan as the third Americas team in a row to face the only remaining EMEA representative. Nongshim will await the winner of Paper Rex versus NRG in the upper final.