100 Thieves kept its Champions Shanghai campaign alive with a 2-1 lower-bracket win over Nongshim RedForce on October 9. After taking Summit 13-5 and dropping Sunset 13-9, the Americas team closed the series with a 13-1 victory on Ascent. The loss ended Nongshim’s tournament run, while 100 Thieves moved on to another elimination match.
The series began on Summit, selected by 100 Thieves, where the team won 13-5. Nongshim answered on its pick, Sunset, taking a 13-9 map to level the match. Ascent became the decider, and 100 Thieves produced the largest margin of the series with a 13-1 finish. The sequence matters: the match was not a straight sweep, and the decisive map came only after each side had secured its own pick.
A three-map series turned on the decider
The map order gives the clearest factual outline of the contest. 100 Thieves opened with a comfortable result on Summit, but the 13-9 Sunset loss returned the teams to level terms. On Ascent, the final map, 100T allowed Nongshim only one round. That wide margin made the decider much more one-sided than either of the first two maps.
That recovery was essential because the lower bracket offers no second loss. 100 Thieves entered the series after falling to G2 in the upper quarterfinal. Another defeat would have ended its Champions run. By winning, it preserved an opportunity to continue through the longer route, but the team still needed to win subsequent lower-bracket matches to reach the later stages.
For Nongshim, the opposite consequence applied. The Korean side had reached the upper quarterfinal after a strong group stage, then lost a close three-map series to Vitality. The 100 Thieves match was its lower-bracket chance to recover. The 1-2 result made the Vitality loss its first tournament defeat and the loss to 100T its second, which ended the campaign under the double-elimination format.
The outcome also changes how the playoff bracket should be read. 100 Thieves did not return to the upper side; it survived in the lower bracket and remained one loss from elimination. Nongshim’s place became vacant for the next round, while the surviving team advanced. Those are separate facts from the map story: a dramatic final-map score does not mean the tournament path became easy for the winner.
The match’s three scores show two different forms of control and one competitive response. Summit gave 100T an early lead, Sunset showed Nongshim could force a decider, and Ascent settled the series. It is reasonable to call the final map decisive because it determined the winner. It would be speculation to say that a particular substitution, timeout or mental factor caused the 13-1 score without further match evidence.
The win extends the run, but the margin for error is gone
For 100 Thieves, advancement is the concrete gain. The team avoided elimination and earned another match in Shanghai. Its route remains demanding: the lower bracket requires continued wins, and every further loss ends the run. The Ascent score can provide confidence, but one map cannot guarantee the same level in a different matchup.
Nongshim leaves with a 1-2 series result in the playoffs and no further chance to climb the bracket. Its loss does not erase the earlier group-stage achievement that brought it into playoffs. It does, however, mark the end of its 2026 Champions campaign. This distinction keeps the report balanced: the team qualified for the knockout stage, then could not survive its two playoff matches.
The most useful takeaway for readers is the contrast between the path and the endpoint. 100 Thieves needed all three maps but finished with a commanding decider. Nongshim forced the extra map and then could not carry its Sunset momentum forward. The final result is clear; explanations beyond the verified series record should wait for player or coach comments.
The bracket now gives 100 Thieves the chance to continue, not a guarantee of a deep run. Its next opponent and match time should be checked against the updated event schedule before publication, because lower-bracket pairings can change as other series conclude. What is settled is the survival result: 100T won, Nongshim was eliminated, and the Ascent decider finished 13-1.
100 Thieves defeated Nongshim 2-1, taking Summit 13-5 and Ascent 13-1 around a 13-9 Sunset loss. The win keeps 100T in the lower bracket; Nongshim’s Champions run is over.
