Dead teams should not ascend via challenge rift, and I’d argue that challenge rift shouldn’t instantly ascend a team if that team is in combat.
The last member of their team died literally right before they ascended, but the body had not even hit the floor yet.
Screenshot is from more or less the frame right after they were all dead / right as they ascended. Killfeed confirms that we had killed all of them before they had ascended.
Challenge rift ascension really shouldn’t be a get-out-of-jail-free card for unfortunate combat situations.
IIRC we only got to execute one of the three, and that one still brought their stuff up with them anyway because all of their gear was in the AOE when they ascended, and I’m guessing they got to Ascend because we didn’t get to execute all of them.
Spent time fighting them, won the fight, but get basically nothing from it because they opted for challenge rift.