NRG gets its revenge, sweeps Nongshim RedForce

In a rematch of the Masters Santiago upper final, NRG got its sweet revenge, dominating Nongshim RedForce 2-0 to open up action in Champions Shanghai's Group D, the group of death.

There was plenty to watch, beginning with the pre-game map veto. NRG banned Abyss and Ascent, while Nongshim banned Summit and Haven. The series was played out on NRG's Lotus and Nongshim's Split, while the decider map of Sunset was unnecessary.

NRG won Lotus 13-5 and then won Split 13-10 to cap off a dominant first series in Shanghai.

While Nongshim has tended to ban Lotus this year, NRG has had several reps to perfect it, playing it 18 times throughout the year. While NRG fielded an Omen-Viper comp on the map with mada on Raze and brawk on Vyse, Nongshim went with an adjusted comp, its fourth unique Lotus comp this year alone. With Dambi 's Neon the lone Duelist, Francis was on Chamber as part of an Omen-Viper comp.

Early on, Nongshim struggled going up against Nongshim's defense. While teams like T1 have seen success with Chamber on Lotus, that same success was not replicated by Nongshim. Francis posted a 1-5 record in first engagements on attack, resulting in an 8-4 halftime deficit.

mada finds four to get one step closer to the finish line.

After the teams switched sides, mada continued to make his presence felt in the server. He ended Lotus with map-high marks with a 1.77 rating and 22 kills en route to closing out a clean victory with both pistols claimed.

Between maps, Nongshim head coach SilKanoN opened up about the decision behind the comp change. While the team has returned Francis to Yoru on some maps, he said that the agent is not quite as viable on other maps, with the team landing on Chamber as the replacement.

While Lotus was a suspect map for Nongshim, Split was that for NRG. The team had avoided the map for most of the year, with its last action on it coming in April during Stage 1. While bonkar 's squad has toyed around with different comps on the map this year, an all-new double-Duelist comp with mada on Neon and keiko on Raze looked strong early on.

NRG started Split by winning its third-straight pistol of the round, and kept Nongshim at bay to enter halftime up 9-3. An NRG pistol win would have spelled the beginning of the end, but Nongshim showed signs of life, clinching the pistol to kick off what looked to be a comeback.

While Nongshim chipped away at the NRG lead, NRG picked up rounds to interrupt Nongshim's flow, reaching match point with a three-round cushion.

NRG closes the series out.

Chasing back-to-back Champions titles, NRG got off on the right foot thanks to dominance from mada, whose 34 kills, 1.39 rating, and 9-3 record in first bloods set the pace in the series. In the losing effort, Xross had 27 kills, leading his team. While no Nongshim players finished with more than 30 kills, four players on the NRG side of the stage finished north of that mark.

From the Press Room

SilKanoN on Nongshim's Lotus: "We banned Lotus for much of Pacific because we didn't have time to prepare for it. It was good internally; we were pretty satisfied with our practices. As for today's Lotus, it felt like the players took a little bit longer to get warmed up."

bonkar on NRG's Split: "We tried a bunch of things. At the start of the year, we were playing the Deadlock comp, if you all remember. Right now it's just comfort picks for everyone. keiko was pushing really, really hard for it, to be honest. That's how we landed [on the comp]. Comfort picks for everyone."

Up next

Nongshim now moves to Group D's loser's match, one loss away from elimination, while NRG moves to the winner's match, one win away from clinching a spot in the playoffs.

Champions Shanghai will continue with the following matches:

• Karmine Corp vs. Xi Lai Gaming (Group D Opening)
• Global Esports vs. Team Vitality (Group B Opening)
• LOUD vs. EDward Gaming (Group B Opening)