Gen.G Esports defeated Nongshim RedForce 2-0 in the first round of the 2026 League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) regular season, held at LoL PARK in Jongno on the 26th. Gen.G secured a dominant victory in both sets, each time building a gold lead of over 10,000. With this win, Gen.G Esports has reached the five-win mark.

Gen.G Esports took the first set. Nongshim RedForce showed resilience until the mid-game, keeping pace in kills through plays led by 'Sponge' Bae Young-jun's Nocturne and maintaining a global gold lead by taking down top and bottom towers first. However, the teamfights proved to be their undoing. Gen.G Esports swept four kills in a one-sided teamfight at the third dragon, swinging the gold lead in their favor. They continued their winning streak from that point on, eventually widening the gap to over 10,000 gold to claim the first set.

Gen.G Esports pulled out a surprise pick in the second set with top-lane Twisted Fate. The game saw no kills for a significant amount of time, setting a new record for the longest time to first blood in the 2026 LCK. Despite the lack of kills, Gen.G held a global gold lead thanks to their dominance in every lane. The first kill didn't occur until after 12 minutes, when Gen.G caught 'Scout' Lee Ye-chan's Aurora during a dragon teamfight. Having seized the initiative, Gen.G snowballed their lead through side-lane pressure.

Although 'Canyon' Kim Geon-bu's Trundle was caught out once, it did not impact the flow of the game. Nongshim RedForce struggled to contain the split-pushing of Twisted Fate and Milio, and they were overwhelmed by Gen.G's kiting in teamfights. After picking off the opposing jungler and securing Baron, Gen.G scored a clean ace in the soul-point teamfight, once again creating a 10,000-gold gap. With that, Gen.G Esports secured the victory in the second set.