On August 27, BNK FearX defeated Nongshim RedForce 3-1 in the Play-In stage of the 2026 LoL Champions Korea (LCK), held at the Jonggak Chzzk LoL Park. BNK FearX will now face HANJIN BRION, who lost yesterday, for a spot in the Playoffs, while Nongshim RedForce was eliminated following today's loss.

In Game 1, first blood came during a Void Grubs fight. Although BFX's VicLa scored a kill on Galio, Nongshim won the teamfight with Kingen's Camille securing two kills and Lehends' Shen grabbing another. Nongshim then caught Raptor's Lee Sin in the mid lane and secured the Dragon. Looking sharp right from Game 1, Nongshim effectively snowballed their early lead.

Gradually building advantages, Nongshim widened the gap, winning back-to-back teamfights and securing objectives, taking both Dragon and Baron. They comfortably closed out Game 1.

In Game 2, Nongshim struck first in the mid lane as Sponge's Nocturne and Scout's Locke combined to take down Raptor's Vi. BFX responded by picking off Lehends' Lulu, and both teams continued to trade skirmishes around the bottom lane. In a major teamfight where players Teleported into the top lane, BFX secured a massive victory as Ahri scored a triple kill. Despite this, Nongshim steadily kept pace and scaled up.

At the 21-minute mark, BFX eliminated Lulu and then Kingen's Ambessa, successfully taking Baron. From there, they snowballed their lead, won the fight at the next Baron, and destroyed Nongshim's Nexus to equalize the series at 1-1.

In Game 3, BFX got off to a smooth start as TaeYoon's Ashe picked up early kills, but Nongshim successfully struck back in a Dragon fight by killing Olaf and Seraphine. The skirmishing continued with both sides trading kills, while BFX secured the Rift Herald. Nongshim then won a mid-lane teamfight to overtake BFX in gold, but BFX swung the gold lead back in their favor shortly after by winning the next teamfight and taking Baron. After claiming Baron, winning the subsequent fight, and securing the Dragon Soul, BFX destroyed Nongshim's Nexus at 36 minutes to take a 2-1 series lead.

In Game 4, BFX cleanly took down Kingen's Gwen with a top tower dive. Nongshim retaliated by invading the enemy Raptor camp to kill Raptor's Xin Zhao, then eliminated VicLa's Taliyah in the mid lane. Scout's Ryze gained momentum by roaming top to kill Clear's Nidalee. However, BFX outmaneuvered Nongshim in macro play and built up a significant gold lead.

BFX then caught Sponge's Wukong and destroyed the tier-2 mid tower, building a gold lead of over 3,500 by the 18-minute mark. BFX further expanded the lead with a decisive victory in a top-lane teamfight. Despite Nongshim being on the back foot, Scout's Ryze fought hard to keep them in the game, but BFX took Baron and maintained their onslaught. Nongshim made a desperate last stand at their bottom tier-2 tower, but suffered a crushing defeat. Ultimately, BFX secured victory in just 25 minutes, defeating Nongshim 3-1 in the series.