54 minutes ago
1
Some rivalries have a predictable ending. For Nongshim RedForce and G2 Esports, that ending keeps being the same one: NS wins.
At the Esports World Cup 2026, playing out in Group C on July 3, Nongshim RedForce defeated G2 Esports 2-1 in a Valorant series that was closer on paper than the final map suggested. The decisive moment came on Haven, where NS player Dambi, operating as the Neon specialist, secured a four-kill round that blew the scoreline open and put the match out of reach for G2.
The map breakdown tells the story cleanly. NS took Breeze in dominant fashion, 13-5, before G2 found their footing on Sunset and leveled the series at 13-7. Then came Split, where NS closed things out 13-6, with Dambi’s Haven performance serving as the signature moment of the series.
What happened on Haven
A four-kill round, or “4k” in competitive shorthand, means one player eliminates four of the opposing five in a single round. In this case, Dambi used it to seal momentum. NS was already ahead, and the 4k turned a tense map situation into a controlled close. Neon, the agent Dambi was playing, is built for exactly this kind of chaos: high mobility, speed-based mechanics, and a kit that rewards aggressive, unpredictable movement. On Haven specifically, a three-site map with multiple long corridors and tight choke points, a fast-moving Neon can appear where defenders least expect her.
A pattern that should worry G2
This is not the first time these two teams have played, and the results have been consistent in one direction. Back in March 2026, Nongshim RedForce beat G2 Esports 2-1 again, that time during the Valorant Masters Santiago playoffs. Different tournament, different map pool, same scoreline, same winner.
Two 2-1 results in major international competition, both going to NS, starts to look less like a coincidence and more like a structural problem for G2. The North American squad has shown they can take individual maps off NS, which means the talent gap is not enormous. But converting that into series wins requires consistency over three maps, and NS has proven they can weather G2’s better moments and still close it out.
What this means for EWC 2026 Group C
NS entering the group stage with a clean win over G2 gives them a confidence baseline and a seeding cushion. The Dambi performance specifically will be on film, and teams preparing to play NS will have to account for a Neon player who can single-handedly shift the course of a round.
G2, meanwhile, needs to regroup. A 2-1 loss in a group stage match is not fatal to a tournament run, and one map win over NS on Sunset shows they are capable of competing at this level. But the deficit in the head-to-head record is real, and if these two teams meet again in the bracket, history is not on G2’s side.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
English (US) · 