After GE’s reverse sweep: what Pacific’s finalists take into Shanghai

Global Esports won the September 6 Pacific Stage 2 final in Busan, defeating Nongshim RedForce 3–2. Inven Global’s report of Riot’s announcement records GE’s earlier 1–2 loss to Nongshim and subsequent 3–1 win over T1. GE, Nongshim and T1 therefore finished first, second and third. The rematch matters because GE had to find a different outcome against the same opponent after returning through the lower bracket.

Nongshim took the first two maps before GE won the remaining three; UdoTan received the final MVP. Inven Global identified UdoTan and xavi8k for GE, and Francis and Xross for Nongshim, as key figures in the final map’s engagements. Calling the runner-up simply poor would erase the opening of the series. The more useful review separates the early strengths from the response that changed the later maps.

VLR’s draw lists T1 against 100 Thieves in Group A, GE against Team Vitality in Group B, and Nongshim against NRG in Group D. Champions has not started, so there are no group results to infer from those pairings. GE supporters have reason to feel excited, but new opponents and map choices change the problem. Our question is whether their ability to respond during a series survives that change in conditions.

Pre-match comments on VLR’s Pacific final page included predictions for either side and discussion of map bans. These are individual opinions rather than an official strength measure. The useful follow-up is to compare the actual veto with those expectations, then watch how entry support and trade attempts change between maps. Those are our viewing criteria; the comments themselves do not prove what either team prepared.

Riot’s Shanghai audience notice separates 15:30 entry, a 16:30 preshow and a 17:00 match start, all in local China time. The September 24 opening session therefore converts to 18:00 KST. It should not be copied into T1’s or Nongshim’s individual fixture. The team pairings we checked still showed TBD start times. Confirm each team’s dated fixture separately before making a viewing plan; the table below labels the known time as a session start.