Enough with the Red Walls – Karmine Corp in LEC Winter 2025

Karmine Corp’s story didn’t start too well in their first year in the LEC. After winning the EMs four times, the org and their historic player Lucas “Saken” Fayard fail twice in a row to climb higher than last place in their new league. After two disappointing splits and a few adjustments the org finally made it to the top of the standings, finishing in fourth place in the 2024 Summer Split. Now with the foundations laid out, 2025 is the year to deliver. No excuses this time either, especially with such a solid roster.

Caliste is the most anticipated rookie since Rekkles

Caliste made the front page of the most prestigious French sports magazine, l’Équipe. Some are already calling him “Caliste Al-Gaib” – in reference to the Dune saga – convinced that he is the chosen one who will eventually deliver Europe from this decade of misfortune. Others say he’s overrated and he’ll be no better than mid-tier among the league’s ADCs. But one thing is certain, everyone is eager to see him take his first steps at the highest European level, a stage he should already have reached last year. He is probably the most eagerly awaited rookie since the best Western ADC of all time: Martin “Rekkles” Larsson. And that was eleven years ago. Even though Rasmus “Caps” Winther joined since then, he was not as hyped.

Caliste was indeed expected to join the LEC right after his first split in the LFL. For a quite simple reason: he completely smashed the French league for his rookie split. Not only he won the MVP of Summer 2023, he also lifted the LFL and the EMEA Masters trophies. What’s more, he proved that pressure was not something that bothered him by winning the EMs in front of an audience of 10,000 people devoted to him and KC, in Montpellier. But he finally had to stay at KCB in 2024, after the LEC announced that the players’ age limit had been raised to 18. This year, he took on another role as he was more part of the leaders in the team. He only won one of the four trophies it competed for, but KCB was regarded throughout the year as one of the best teams in the ERL, on a par with BDSA.

What makes Caliste so special is not the fact that he was performing at such an early age (16 yo) or that he was also rank 1 of the EUW soloqueue. Caliste is that special because he is an ADC that is always pushing forward, he is so confident in his mechanical abilities that he’s never afraid to take the extra step. That will be his biggest hardship coming into the league in my opinion, will he achieve to stay as aggressive against players that are more prepared to punish him, and better mechanically? Will he still have that confidence, this carefree attitude?

The answer should not be long in coming because for his first game in the LEC, Caliste will face none other than his mentor. Another French ADC, who is widely considered the best in the region currently: Steven “Hans Sama” Liv. Both know each other for a long time, and discussed a lot about the game when Caliste was an adolescent. Hans also made no secret of his excitement in taking on his counterpart.

An XXL roster

The young ADC will be well supported in his quest for glory. Firstly, by Raphaël “Targamas” Crabbé the man with whom he won everything in the ERL at Summer 2023. Often disparaged by the community, I think that the support showed some very nice signs at Summer last year. But also that it would have been a shame not to try the botlane that left such a lasting impression at the time. Although I have to admit, I don’t have such a convincing memory of this duo in the laning phase, in pure 2v2. After Caliste, it’s the KC topside that I’m really looking forward to.

Starting with the new jungler recruit: Martin “Yike” Sundelin. The player has won seven LEC trophies – out of eight – in the past two years, and yes he was playing for the best team in the region, along with the best players in the region. But I am categorical when I say Yike had a significant impact on that team. With the experience he has now gained I’m afraid that G2 will deeply regret letting him slip to one of their direct rivals this year. Because that is what KCorp will be in 2025, a direct contender to all the domestic trophies, especially for the latest in Spring and Summer. Once they have matured their synergy and their confidence I believe they can become clear favorites for the title.

Then come the sololaners, with a promising rookie who at just 19 can already boast having solokill Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok in a “competitive” match. Vladimiros “Vladi” Kourtidis was part of the summer iteration of the Karmine Corp last year, which got the org back on track to the point where they were one win away from qualifying to the Season Finals. Despite his undisputed clutch factor, Vladi was pushed around a lot last year in laning phase. He will now have to prove that he can take his game to the next level in this area.

Just like the former T1 toplaner, who also arrived to turn things around last summer: Kim “Canna” Chang-dong. He, too, had his ups and downs last year. Where he was expected to be a cut above his direct rivals, he was sometimes taken out of the lane by the likes of Alex “Myrwn” Villarejo… That said, his ability to turn a situation around for his team has certainly struck a chord, and he just needs to recover his former glory in laning phase. The same that enabled him to lift a trophy in the world’s most prestigious league.