From Ascension to Santiago: How Nongshim RedForce Won a Valorant Masters

Twelve months before it lifted a Masters trophy, Nongshim RedForce was playing in a tournament most fans skip: VCT Ascension Pacific, the event that decides which teams get into the league at all. It came through. Then, in Chile, it stopped losing.

On Sunday, March 15, 2026, Nongshim RedForce (NS) beat Paper Rex 3-0 in the grand final of VCT Masters Santiago at the Espacio Riesco. It was the Korean team's first global title, the first Masters ever won by a team promoted through Ascension, and the start of a season that made NS one of the stories of the year.

Where NS came from

Nongshim RedForce, better known to many Korean fans for its League of Legends team in the LCK, built its first Valorant roster in 2023. For two years it sat outside Riot's partner league. In 2025 it played Ascension Pacific, the promotion tournament, and came through it to earn a place in VCT Pacific 2026.

The team did not ease in. It went unbeaten through Pacific Kickoff, the season-opening tournament, and arrived in Santiago with momentum that turned into a 14-match winning streak stretching back to Ascension.

The run in Chile

As a Kickoff winner, NS started Masters Santiago directly in the playoff stage. It beat Gentle Mates and G2 Esports, then swept NRG 2-0 to reach the final. It never dropped into the lower bracket.

Paper Rex, the Singaporean team that had won Masters Toronto in 2025, was the opponent and the favourite. The first map, Corrode, seemed to confirm it. PRX led 8-4 at half time. NS then rebuilt the map round by round, and a late two-kill play from Jung "Xross" Hwan helped close it out 13-11.

After that, the final was one-sided. NS won Split 13-4 and Abyss 13-3. The prize was $350,000 and 6 Championship Points; Paper Rex took $200,000 and 4 points.

Dambi, the MVP

The tournament MVP was Lee "Dambi" Hyeok-gyu, who played Neon and Waylay, two of the game's fastest duelists, and carried NS through the bracket. After the final, he made his ambition plain: he said he wants to achieve "the Grand Slam."

What happened next

Santiago was not a one-off. NS stayed near the top of VCT Pacific all year. In Stage 2 it beat Global Esports twice, in the group stage and in the upper-bracket final, and led the grand final 2-0 on September 6 after winning Sunset 13-11 and Split 13-2. Global Esports then won Abyss, Lotus and Haven for a reverse sweep, 3-2, and the title.

That second place still sent NS to Valorant Champions 2026 in Shanghai as Pacific's second seed, one of two Korean teams there alongside T1. In the playoffs, NS met Team Vitality, the eventual finalist, and lost. Brazil's LOUD went on to win the title; our season review has the full story.

Why it matters

Korean Valorant has had a strange reputation: strong individual players, but fewer world titles than Korea's history in other esports might suggest. NS's run answers that in the most convincing way. It shows that a team outside the original partner group can climb through Ascension and win an international event within a season, which is exactly what Riot designed Ascension to allow.

For 2027, the question is whether NS can add the other half of Dambi's ambition. A Masters title is now in the cabinet; a Champions title, the hardest trophy in the game, is not. For the wider Korean picture, read our VCT Pacific story. Valorant is free to play on PC.