Nongshim RedForce have officially closed the chapter on Lee “Dambi” Hyuk-gyu, the 20-year-old Neon specialist who carried the South Korean side from the Ascension pathway to a Masters trophy in under 18 months. The organisation confirmed on November 3 that its journey with Dambi had come to an end, releasing a 15-minute farewell video titled “Thank you, Dambi” on its VALORANT YouTube channel, which passed 5,000 views within its first hour.
In the video’s description, NS traced his time with the team from its first steps on the Pacific stage to lifting the Masters trophy and fighting through Champions, and wrote that through every high and low “he always put the team first.” The organisation also thanked him for his performances and selfless plays, and said it would be cheering him on wherever his journey takes him next.
From Sin Prisa Gaming to the VCT Pacific stage
Dambi’s route to the top was anything but straightforward. Born in June 2006, he came up through Korean tier-two VALORANT with Our Growth Story and Gwangju Shadow before joining Sin Prisa Gaming in December 2023, and it was with that roster that he won VALORANT Challengers Korea Split 2 in July 2024 and then VCT Ascension Pacific in September 2024. Nongshim RedForce acquired Sin Prisa’s place in the league that November, so Dambi arrived in VCT Pacific under the NS banner alongside Francis and Ivy, who joined the organisation on the same day.
The first year in the league was a struggle, however, and NS were sent back to Ascension Pacific in 2025 and had to earn their place in VCT Pacific a second time, which made what came next even harder to predict.
Dambi’s Neon powered the most unlikely title run of 2026
The 2026 season turned out to be the best in the organisation’s VALORANT history. NS topped the VCT Pacific Kickoff in February to qualify for Masters Santiago as the region’s first seed, and in Chile they went through the event unbeaten, dropping just one map before sweeping Paper Rex 3-0 in the grand final on March 15. Dambi, who played Neon in the overwhelming majority of his rounds, was named MVP of the event, and the title made NS the first team from the Ascension pathway to win an international VCT event.
The rest of the year brought more highs and a few painful near-misses, as NS finished seventh-to-eighth in Pacific Stage 1, took third place at the Esports World Cup, and reached the Pacific Stage 2 grand final in Busan, where they led Global Esports 2-0 before losing 3-2. At Valorant Champions in Shanghai, they beat Xi Lai Gaming 2-0 in the group stage to reach the playoffs, but a 2-1 loss to Team Vitality in the upper-bracket quarterfinals sent them down a path that ended in seventh-to-eighth place.
The partnership snub that set up the rebuild
The farewell lands a fortnight after NS learned it would not be part of VCT Pacific’s partnership programme for 2027-28. When Riot’s Pacific partners were confirmed between October 19 and 21, NS were left out despite their Masters title, alongside KIWOOM DRX, Global Esports, DetonatioN FocusMe, BOOM Esports and RIDDLE ORDER, while Rex Regum Qeon, ZETA DIVISION, Gen.G, GAM Esports, Paper Rex, Crazy Raccoon, T1 and FULL SENSE took the eight seats, as we laid out in our full list of VCT partner teams for 2027-2028.
Founder and CEO Evans Oh responded by confirming on X that the organisation will stay in VALORANT for 2027, refine its roster and competitive goals, and keep investing in its fanbase. Moreover, according to Riot’s VCT global contract database, every NS player contract was set to expire at the end of the 2026 season on November 2, with head coach SilKanoN the only member of staff signed through 2027, while coach Sungmin had already announced his departure. Dambi himself said in October that NS had given him permission to explore his options for next year while talks continued, and today’s video confirms that those talks did not end in a new deal.
A Masters MVP hits the open market
Dambi now enters free agency as one of the most decorated players available in the Pacific, with a Masters title, an event MVP award and a Kickoff win on his record at just 20 years old. No new team has been reported yet, however, and partnered and non-partnered sides alike are still shaping their rosters ahead of VCT Pacific 2027, where the new Cups system decides who reaches Masters and Champions.
For NS, meanwhile, the task is to rebuild around SilKanoN without the player who defined their rise, and you can follow the roster and results as they change on our Nongshim RedForce wiki page.
