Nongshim Just Got the Result I Said They Needed
Nongshim RedForce beat Paper Rex 2-0 in the Pacific Stage 2 playoffs, a rematch of the Masters Santiago final that answers the question I raised in July.
I said last month Nongshim needed a win over a real contender before I stopped worrying about them. Today they got Paper Rex.
The Scoreline
2-0. Abyss 13-7, Split 13-10. Not a demolition like Santiago, where Nongshim swept PRX 3-0 in the Masters grand final, but not close either. PRX came into the Pacific Stage 2 playoffs off a bye, rested, seeded high out of group play. Nongshim came in through play-ins, the harder road every single time this stage. That's twice now they've beaten the best team in the region, on two completely different paths to get there.
Why This One Counts
The 0-2 opener in July was the version of this team that actually worried me, the one where Santiago looked like a moment instead of a level. Full Sense and Gen.G had solved them by studying tape, and I wrote at the time that the reigning Masters champs hadn't found an answer for playing without surprise anymore. This is the answer. PRX isn't a team you catch off guard, everyone in the Pacific has had a full stage to prep for Nongshim by now, and they still lost.
Where Paper Rex Goes From Here
Double elim means this isn't the end of PRX's run. They drop to the lower bracket and have to grind back through it if they want Shanghai, a real fall for a team that walked in on a bye. Nongshim moves on to Gen.G in the upper bracket semis.
I'm done calling their form a fluke.