Talk about a turnaround. Karmine Corp Karmine Corp Europe Unranked dos9 Zhumagali Dastan LewN Burak Alkan Avez Hazem Khaled SUYGETSU Dmitry Ilyushin N4RRATE Marshall Massey kept its foot on the gas in its opening match at Champions Shanghai, dominating Xi Lai Gaming Xi Lai Gaming China Unranked WsLeo Huang Pinwei (黄品维) Sharks Qiu Ge (邱戈) Lysoar Liang Youhao (梁优好) NoMan James Man Rarga Arthur Churyumov happywei Deng Minwei (邓闵维) in a 2-0 sweep to remember.

The series was played out on KC's Sunset and XLG's Abyss. KC won Sunset 13-3 and Abyss 13-6.

Entering Sunset, both teams had reason to think they could take the lead in the series, but the regional trophy from KC carried more weight into this matchup. Both teams featured their star players on their most comfortable agents, but the Chamber of N4RRATE and Fade from Avez immediately took over the map.

After earning the first pistol win and a bonus round conversion, KC truly ran away with the first half. XLG offered no solutions on the defense side to the methodical style from the EMEA victors, as four of five KC players ended the half with 10 kills or more. On the flip side, happywei ended the Sunset defense with 0 kills, forcing XLG to come back from a 10-2 deficit at the half.

KC convert a 2v5 over XLG on Sunset.

Rarga single-handedly pulled XLG within a kill of a pistol win, shooting four down and threatening an ace, but Avez shut those hopes down. KC ended Sunset 13-3, a quick and comfortable first map for the tournament.

That placed XLG in a position to play Abyss, a map that China was without to end the year, to try and take the series to map three. This time, KC changed the comp to double-Duelist with N4RRATE on Yoru and had to fight through a Harbor variation of double-Duelist from XLG.

In a flashback to map one, KC started hot, and XLG struggled to stop them. Map one was complete team domination from the KC side, but map two was the N4RRATE show with a star performance on the Yoru against a formidable Yoru in Rarga. Once again, KC entered the half with a strong 9-3 lead, but for an attack-sided map like Abyss, the series wasn't over just yet.

Moving to the attack, XLG finally started to play up to their competition, taking the pistol and bonus to move to 9-6. Yet, despite a good attack half from Lysoar , N4RRATE only improved as Abyss dragged on, preventing the comeback. Abyss went towards KC 13-6, and the series was over almost as soon as it began.

From the Press Room

XLG NoMan on struggling form heading into Nongshim match: "We lost to ourselves today. We practiced against [Nongshim Redforce] a lot so far, and we know what to expect."

KC ZE1SH on the comfortable win: "I am pretty happy about how we did today; I wasn't that stressed out, to be honest. I didn't smash my table, so that was proof I was happy. I'm really confident in them, and they all share that they give space to one another. I trust them 100 percent, and will keep working hard to keep enjoying matches."

KC N4RRATE on the victory: "Keep working on what we're doing and keep confidence high."

Up next

Champions Shanghai will continue tomorrow with action in Group B, with Group A taking to the stage on Sunday.

Champions Shanghai will continue with the following matches: