Nongshim RedForce's Rb says there was no time to prepare — his Champions return after three years and KIWOOM DRX's first-ever absence land in the same week

The matchup was set the day before, and they won without preparing

On August 27, Nongshim RedForce beat Gen.G 2-1 in the upper semifinal of Pacific Stage 2. The win gave them enough Championship Points to secure the organisation's first Champions appearance. In an interview published the following day, August 28, IGL Rb described how he saw the match.

"I felt it was a really tough match, and luckily we were able to close it out, so I'm glad."

On preparation, he said there had been no time.

"We didn't really get any time to prepare. The match came the very next day, so we went into today without preparing anything."

He was not aware of the points-based qualification condition

Rb also said he had not understood in advance how the Champions berth would be decided. What he was thinking about during the match was not standings or conditions.

"Honestly, all I was thinking about was that I wanted to go to Champions again."

"There's a rule that lets you advance through the points system, so honestly, I didn't realise it at first."

The Yoru comp built at Santiago is back at Play-Ins

Saying they won without preparation does not contradict the comp that worked. At Play-Ins, Nongshim RedForce brought back a composition built around Yoru. Rb said the team had already practised it a lot back at Santiago.

"Speaking of the team's comps, personally, we've been preparing and practising this one a lot since the Santiago period."

Nongshim RedForce are the Masters Santiago champions. That means an option they could pull out even without time to build a last-minute plan had been in the locker ever since they won an international event.

He described the team's approach to patches as solving them

The interview also turned to changes in the meta. Rb characterised the team by how it reacts when something new arrives.

"Of course, in situations like that it looks like most people react negatively. But when something new comes out, we focus hard on solving it."

That framing connects back to the preparation question. Rather than opponent-specific prep, he presents the team's strength as the speed at which it processes change itself.

In the same week, KIWOOM DRX missed Champions for the first time since its founding

The same week as Rb's return after three years, a record went the other way. KIWOOM DRX lost 1-2 to Global Esports on August 26 and were eliminated after a 0-2 loss to T1 on the 28th. According to VLR.gg, Champions Shanghai will be the first event the team has not attended since it was founded.

Rb's Champions appearance was in 2023, and reports say he was with KIWOOM DRX at the time. However, this article has not verified whether the organisation was named KIWOOM DRX as of 2023.

Not preparing and having prepared are the same story

At first glance Rb's comments look inconsistent. He says he could not prepare for a match confirmed only the day before, and in the same interview talks about a comp the team has practised since Santiago. But reverse the order and it holds together: precisely because there was no time to build a last-minute plan, they went with the comp they already had on hand.

This is this article's reading, drawn from placing the interview alongside the playoff results; no source frames it this way. Rb states as fact that preparation was lacking — he does not say preparation was unnecessary.