In the group D decider match at Champions Shanghai, Nongshim RedForce Nongshim RedForce Korea Rank #1 WoohyuN Moon Woo-hyun (문우현) Xross Jeonghwan (정환) Rb Goo Sang-min (구상민) Francis Kim Mu-bin (김무빈) Dambi Lee Hyuk-kyu (이혁규) Ivy Park Sung-hyeon (박성현) defeated Karmine Corp Karmine Corp Europe Rank #4 dos9 Zhumagali Dastan LewN Burak Alkan Avez Hazem Khaled SUYGETSU Dmitry Ilyushin N4RRATE Marshall Massey 2-1 in the first-ever meeting between the two teams to earn their spot in playoffs and send KC home.

The series began on KC's map pick of Sunset. Both teams traded even blows in the first half as KC ground out slow attack rounds with their Viper-Chamber composition and Nongshim attempted to mount quick responses with their Waylay-Yoru one. KC held a 7-5 lead after two consecutive clutches from SUYGETSU rounded out the half.

SUYGETSU salvages a dangerous anti-eco with a 1v3 clutch.

KC continued to hold their lead for the rest of the map, converting the second pistol to go up 9-5. NS at one point narrowed the gap to 9-8 after exploiting the A site three times in a row, but KC stayed in control to a 13-9 conclusion. SUYGETSU and N4RRATE stood apart from the rest, scoring KDAs of 21/8/1 and 22/12/1 respectively.

Summit was a contest between two highly defensive compositions as KC's Viper and Chamber collided with Nongshim's Sage and Chamber. As the team to start on defense, KC took an initial 4-1 lead, but Nongshim found the solution they needed in the form of heavy Mid pressure to mount an impressive 7-5 attack. From there, Nongshim showed no weakness on their own defense, winning every remaining round to post a dominant 13-5 score. Dambi topfragged on his signature Neon with 17 kills.

Rb sprays down three to secure Summit.

The final map was Haven. Equipped with their signature Neon-Yoru frontline, Nongshim once again mounted a 7-5 attack into a near-perfect defense, winning the map 13-6 and taking the series 2-1. While KC put had some success in the first half, particularly in lateround situations, their slower-paced approach to attack was no match for Nongshim's relentless and proactive pushes. Dambi was the main culprit, exceeding his performance on Summit with a stunning 26/13/9 KDA and 1.88 rating.

From the Press Room

KC Avez on his takeaways from his first Champions: “I think it was a pretty good experience, to be honest…I'm going to get a lot from it, not only me, but all of my teammates. Even if it's not the first international, it's a big tournament, so you're always getting experience from it…the future for me looks very bright with this team…we maybe ran out of [a] little bit of gas at the end, but at the end, we were very positive to each other, we tried to find solutions. Sometimes it's not gonna work and that's completely fine; we did our best.”

NS Dambi on recovering his form and performance during the match: “This is my first Champions; I really wanted to do well, and right after we suffered our first map loss, I was frustrated at myself because I know what I am capable of and…this might be the last map I get to play here…I wanted to pop off…and that kind of mentality, I was fortunate enough to showcase that on our second map and onto the decider.”

Up Next

With this result, Nongshim takes another step forward while KC's year comes to an end. The group stage will conclude tomorrow with the following matchups: