Nongshim RedForce Nongshim RedForce Korea Rank #3 Rb Goo Sang-min (구상민) Persia Yang Zi-on (양지온) Francis Kim Mu-bin (김무빈) Dambi Lee Hyuk-kyu (이혁규) Ivy Park Sung-hyeon (박성현) has signed Goo "Rb" Sang-min (구상민), adding one of the biggest names in Korean Valorant. Additionally, the team has also bolstered its coaching ranks ahead of Pacific Stage 2, picking up a familiar face in So "Sungmin" Seong-min (소성민).

Sungmin, who had his start in professional Valorant as a manager with Rio Company Rio Company Inactive SungJin Ko Sung-jin (고성진) Sunday Kim Min-soo (김민수) kanade Um Hyun-sung (엄현성) LuZ Lim Ui-jun (임의준) Jinboong Kim Jin-won (김진원) and Tartarus Tartarus Inactive Delta , has held coaching roles with SLT Seongnam SLT Seongnam Korea Rank #7 C1ndeR Ko Jae-hyuk (고재혁) Klaus Kim Min-hyuk (김민혁) XuNa Kim Tae-geon (김태건) oonzmlp Shin Sang-beom (신상범) Zexy Jang Suk-hyun (장석현) and Mizzou Esports Mizzou Esports North America Unranked xelA Alex Cheun wPanda Mason Lubinsky Conch Connor Aoun Ponder Jack Ponder PIGGY Devin Donnelly , but in 2024 helped Sin Prisa Gaming Sin Prisa Gaming Inactive Persia Yang Zi-on (양지온) margaret Kim Ji-woo (김지우) Dambi Lee Hyuk-kyu (이혁규) Francis Kim Mu-bin (김무빈) Ivy Park Sung-hyeon (박성현) lift the Pacific Ascension trophy. He became the T1 Academy T1 Academy Korea Rank #6 Pkm Park Kang-min (박강민) Moothie Yoo Seung-Woo (유승우) exa Kim Lee-hwan (김이환) GangPin Chae Jung-moo (채정무) Efina Kim Nak-yeon (김낙연) head coach not too long after, where he has coached the Korean giant's reserve squad to a third-place finish in Stage 2 of WDG Korea Challengers. He reunites with the Sin Prisa squad, who were acquired by Nongshim RedForce ahead of their debut year in VCT.

Rb's return to Korea and, on a broader scale, the Pacific stage comes a year and a half after he left DRX DRX Korea Rank #2 Flicker Kim Tae-hee (김태희) Flashback Cho Min-hyuk (조민혁) MaKo Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관) free1ng No Ha-jun (노하준) HYUNMIN Song Hyun-min (송현민) Estrella Park Gun (박건) BeYN Kang Ha-bin (강하빈) for Chinese side Titan Esports Club Titan Esports Club China Rank #12 Haodong Guo Haodong (郭浩东) lucas Yunkun Lu (路昀昆) Abo Han Bohao (韩博皓) TvirusLuke Chen Cheng-ching (陈振庆) Coco Ding Dajian (丁达建) . As an original Vision Strikers Vision Strikers Inactive stax Kim Gu-taek (김구택) Rb Goo Sang-min (구상민) Zest Kim Ki-seok (김기석) BuZz Yu Byeong-cheol (유병철) MaKo Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관) /DRX member alongside fellow Korean veterans stax and Zest , Rb was one of the most prominent figures in Korean Valorant's earliest days. As the team's Duelist, he helped establish one of the biggest superteams of the pre-franchising era.

Just before the shift from VS to DRX, Rb's role deviated from the mainstay Duelist to other roles, such as Sentinel or Initiator, due to the addition of BuZz . In the lower bracket final of Champions 2022, the final VCT event before the beginning of the franchising era, Rb played all four agent roles in a five-map loss to OpTic Gaming OpTic Gaming Inactive .

In 2023, Rb took on the flex position of the team, playing every role. He helped DRX to a semifinal finish at LOCK//IN São Paulo, as well as a 7th-8th finish at Masters Tokyo and a 5th-6th finish at Champions 2023. That following offseason, Rb left DRX. After three years of competing under the Vision Strikers and DRX banners, which saw the Korean juggernauts display a still-unprecedented 102-0 undefeated streak, he joined Titan Esports Club, one of 11 Chinese teams selected for franchising in the 2024 season of VCT China. Through one and a half seasons with Rb, Titan has gone 6-11 in league play, failing to reach the playoffs of any regional event.

Rb's addition will force role changes within the Nongshim squad. While Rb has not been the permanent Duelist of his squad since his earliest Vision Strikers days, his flexibility will mean that one of the five original Ascension-winning players will be bumped from the starting roster, joining original Nongshim player Xross on the bench.

Rb returns to Korea with a tall task at hand. Nongshim, facing relegation at the end of the season if they do not meet the performance-based promotion and relegation benchmarks for Ascension teams, will need to, at the very least, qualify for Champions 2025 if they wish to spend another year in the top flight of professional Valorant.

They face an uphill battle, currently ranked eighth in the championship points standings for VCT Pacific, and entering Stage 2 in the same group as DRX, Rex Regum Qeon Rex Regum Qeon Asia-Pacific Rank #7 Monyet Cahya Nugraha xffero David Monangin Jemkin Maksim Batorov Kushy Bryan Carlos Setiawan crazyguy Ngô Công Anh , and Gen.G Gen.G Korea Rank #1 Foxy9 Jung Jae-sung (정재성) Ash Ha Hyun-cheol (하현철) t3xture Kim Na-ra (김나라) Munchkin Byeon Sang-beom (변상범) Suggest Seo Jae-young (서재영) Karon Kim Won-tae (김원태) , three teams who have qualified for Masters events in 2025.

With Rb's addition, Nongshim RedForce Nongshim RedForce Korea Rank #3 Rb Goo Sang-min (구상민) Persia Yang Zi-on (양지온) Francis Kim Mu-bin (김무빈) Dambi Lee Hyuk-kyu (이혁규) Ivy Park Sung-hyeon (박성현) 's full roster is now:

  • Yang "Persia" Zi-on (양지온)
  • Kim "Francis" Mu-bin (김무빈)
  • Goo "Rb" Sang-min (구상민)
  • Kim "margaret" Ji-woo (김지우)
  • Lee "Dambi" Hyuk-kyu (이혁규)
  • Park "Ivy" Sung-hyeon (박성현)
  • Jeonghwan "Xross" (정환)
  • Kim "SilKanoN" Gyeong-min (김경민) (Head coach)
  • Ma "ValAnalysis" Hyun-sung (마현성) (Coach)
  • So "Sungmin" Seong-min (소성민) (Coach)