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Nongshim RedForce picked up a crucial best-of-three win over HANJIN BRION on August 14, 2026, in the LCK Rise Group Rounds 3-4. The result flips the script on a matchup that had, for the first time in recent memory, tilted in BRO’s favor just over a week ago.
Both squads entered the day clinging to the bottom half of the Rise Group standings, making this less of a showcase match and more of a survival bout.
A rematch with real stakes
On August 5, HANJIN BRION had beaten Nongshim RedForce 2-1, with BRO’s ADC Teddy earning Player of the Match honors. That result was notable because NS had historically owned the head-to-head against BRO. The August 5 upset broke a longstanding pattern of dominance.
The rematch kicked off at approximately 10:00 UTC. NS secured the series victory, though the individual game scores from the August 14 match were not immediately detailed in post-match reporting.
Rise Group math gets complicated
The LCK’s Rise Group format sorts the league’s lower-seeded teams into a separate bracket where only the top three advance to the Season Play-In.
Before the August 14 match, NS sat at 7 wins and 16 losses. BRO was marginally better at 8 wins and 14 losses. NS’s victory tightens the gap between the two teams and keeps their Season Play-In hopes mathematically intact. For BRO, the loss is particularly painful because they had the head-to-head advantage coming in.
What this means for both rosters
For HANJIN BRION, Teddy’s Player of the Match performance in the first series suggested BRO had found a formula that worked. Failing to replicate it in the rematch raises concerns about consistency. BRO’s 8-14 record before this match already reflected a team that could compete on any given day but couldn’t string results together.
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