Karmine Corp: A Red Winter is Coming to LEC Versus

LEC Versus kicks off on Saturday, January 17. Among the twelve teams competing this split, the Red Wall stands tall in European League of Legends. But walls are only as strong as those who defend them. After a 2025 season that ended in disappointment, Karmine Corp has rebuilt—not just to defend, but to conquer.

Hotspawn sat down with Quentin “Zeph” Viguié, KC’s new assistant coach, to discuss the roster’s potential, the challenge of blending different cultures and playstyles, and what it will take to turn this collection of stars into a championship team.

A Song of Ice and Fire

Zeph’s path to KC wasn’t straightforward. Initially seeking a head coach position, he ultimately joined as assistant coach alongside Reapered—a pairing that brings together Western creativity and Korean discipline.

Reapered has a lot of experience, and there are also two Koreans who don’t speak that much English in the team. Since Reapered was available, has the experience, and is Korean, it was the natural choice for KC to secure him.

The dynamic between the two coaches is still forming, but their philosophies already show interesting contrasts. Where “Reapered tends more toward safe, 50-50 drafts”, Zeph prefers to push for calculated risks. “I’m the type of person who tries to make my drafts 80-20, even if that means going for exotic picks. I always prefer to aim for winning the draft hard, setting traps, and things like that. But I understand his stance, when you are the better team, you can just take the handshake in draft and always win.”

For Zeph, the real challenge lies in bridging two worlds. “The challenge I have is changing the Koreans’ perspectives on things they haven’t necessarily seen. Koreans are very good soldiers—if a champion is meta, they’ll learn it and play it. But when it comes to extending beyond that, getting creative, they can be more reluctant.”

A New Banner – “World class, easily top 5 in the world on many champions”

Busio’s arrival wasn’t supposed to happen. With Canna and Kyeahoo already occupying the two import slots allowed under LEC residency rules, adding an LCS support seemed impossible. But the American had an ace up his sleeve: a Polish passport, granting him a possibility for European residency. The best possible news for KC.

Busio is excellent. His Bard, Poppy, Leona, Rell—all the standard picks, he plays them very well. Even his Karma lanes are excellent. It’s truly world class, easily top 5 in the world on many champions. I didn’t know him personally before, but from what I heard, he’s a great person too. At such a high level, every tiny upgrade matters. And Busio will bring us a lot in that sense. On another note, with FlyQuest and Inspired, they were very good at playing the 2-1-2 on the map— with the support/jungle not really playing on the same screen. And I usually tend to adhere to this gameplay philosophy, in which you play for all the resources.

Beyond the gameplay, Zeph highlights a quality that sets American players apart: communication. “Americans communicate incredibly well with their teammates outside the game—explaining emotions, speaking in a way that doesn’t hurt. Jojo and Busio are impressive in their communication. I’ve worked with players from every country, and Americans always surprise me.”

When asked where Busio ranks among LEC supports, Zeph doesn’t hesitate: “He should be contesting for first place. Him, Alvaro, Labrov, and… Mikyx if he feels like tryharding.”

The Warden Of The Wall

This past year, Canna truly established himself as the best toplaner in the region. Which is why KC committed to his contract extension this offseason, until 2027. His consistency during the bootcamp has only confirmed what the LEC already learned: this is a player you can build around.

Canna has an impressive level. In the weeks we’ve played—we’ve had about three weeks—there were stretches of seven or eight days in a row where he maintained a consistency at such a high level. It’s very impressive. Nothing to say. He’s just a very good player who does a lot of things well. Good in lane, good in sidelane, good at his role. And he speaks English well—I think he just chooses not to talk much, but when he does, you wouldn’t think he’s Korean. He has a nice accent.

Canna’s Totem status isn’t just about stability—it’s about being the reference point against which every other LEC toplaner is now measured.

The Young Wolf – “On meta champions, it’s world level”

Kyeahoo is perhaps the largest unknown quantity on the roster. Coming from a struggling DRX squad in the LCK, the Korean mid laner flew under most radars. But Zeph has seen enough to believe.

On meta champions, it’s world level. For example, Jojopyun is world level, Caps is world level—I don’t see why Kyeahoo wouldn’t be. I’ve even seen many VODs of him, and he held his own against players like Showmaker in lane, back in LCK. From what I’ve seen so far, he’s very strong. He might be better than Jojo in some aspects—teamfights on certain champions, for example—and less strong in others, like sidelaning. But don’t worry, when we need to play sidelane, we will.

There’s another dimension to Kyeahoo’s arrival: the language barrier. “He has been learning English for about three weeks [Editor Note: The Interview was held on January 1st]. But it’s shocking how fast he’s learning. He doesn’t always understand different accents—especially Busio’s American accent—but generally, he’s progressing incredibly fast.”

Forged In Valyrian Steel

Yike is the one player Zeph already played with—a reunion from their LDLC days in the LFL that the coach “always hoped would happen.” But familiarity doesn’t mean complacency.

Yike has always been excellent to me. [Maybe some people are questioning him because] he might lack personality in certain aspects of his gameplay. Elyoya is very creative, whether in teamfights or in the game generally. On the other hand, Skewmond is very reliable—he’ll have his high CS, he’ll be always strong in the game. Yike is a mix of both. I hope I can reshape him my way.

When asked what that reshaping could look like, Zeph’s answer leaves room for suspense: “Wait and see.”

The King In The Blue – “He’s already the best ADC in the league”

Caliste needs no introduction. The French ADC has been the cornerstone of KC since his first split in the ERLs in Summer 2023. He remains the star around which this new roster orbits, after a phenomenal first year in the LEC—where he was even crowned Rookie of the Year.

The first two days of bootcamp, he stank. But since he reached his peak form again, he’s been very strong. To me, he’s already the best ADC in the league—Hans Sama is very good too, but they have different strengths. My job is to discover what Caliste’s biggest strengths are and put them on display. The biggest advantage Hans has right now is that he already knows who he is. He knows what works for him. That comes with experience.

For Zeph, the task isn’t to change Caliste—it’s to find the optimal way to showcase what he already does best. Because even if he can play anything in the LEC, international tournaments—the main goal—are another beast where you have to play with your best cards. “Until I know his strengths by heart, I might misuse him. And that would be the worst thing I could do in the long run. But by the end of the year, I’ll find what works for him and what we should play. So he can shine to his full potential.”

Only The Pack Survives

The talent is undeniable. Yet, talent alone doesn’t win championships. Zeph is clear-eyed about the gap between where KC is and where they need to be.

The main area of improvement is playing together correctly. Individually, they’re excellent, but they don’t yet anticipate where their teammates are on the map. When I watch our games, there are many we win because we outplay people—or that we’re losing but we end up winning through outplays. And that’s a good thing, I’m happy we’re the best and can outplay. But I know we need to work on this because that’s where we can maximize the team’s level.

The comparison to last year’s KC roster is inevitable. Zeph believes this team has a higher ceiling: “We are a step above in terms of potential.” But potential means nothing without execution.

We could maybe qualify for Worlds with the level we have now. But winning Worlds? Impossible—or maybe not impossible, but extremely unlikely. We really need to be synchronized as a team on how we want to play the game. The only thing that scares me a bit right now is that we win games we shouldn’t win. I don’t know how much they’ll outplay on stage like they do in scrims. The only thing I’m sure about, is that if we are a team that understands how each one operates, we have more chances to win. If you don’t play as a team, you’ll never win Worlds, that’s it.

Marching to Texas – “The minimum for everyone is making Worlds”

The expectations are clear. For Karmine Corp, anything less than Worlds would be a failure. “The team’s general ambition is to make Worlds. That’s the minimum for everyone. Some want more,” he added. “Personally, I want to win at least two LEC titles. And I’d rather make MSI and Worlds than First Stand, if I had to choose—but if we can do all three, even better.”

The atmosphere within the team gives reason for optimism, especially after a 2025 season where internal issues undermined the roster from within. “There’s an incredible vibe. Everyone is nice—Canna, Busio, the players get along well. It felt natural. I haven’t seen any major problems. The question is: when there is a roadblock, what will we do? Can we talk about it? If we can, I don’t see a problem.”

The disappointing end of 2025—marked by internal turmoil and inconsistency—is behind them, Karmine Corp enters 2026 as a united house. The Red Wall remembers. And now, the pack hunts.

L'élite du multivers. #KCORP

Notre équipe #LEC pour la saison 2026 :

🇰🇷 @CannaXDXD
🇸🇪 @YikeLoL
🇰🇷 @kyeahoo0813
🇫🇷 @CalisteLoL
🇵🇱🇺🇸 @Busio

🇰🇷 @Reapered (HC)
🇫🇷 @Zeph_LoL (AC)
🇫🇷 @lol_Xenesis (Head of data)@Orange_France continue avec la Karmine Corp jusqu'en 2027, merci à eux… pic.twitter.com/9JWzBRfQbl

— Karmine Corp (@KarmineCorp) January 7, 2026

Karmine Corp 2026’s roster:

• Toplane: Kim “Canna” Chang-dong
• Jungle: Martin “Yike” Sundelin
• Midlane: Kang “kyeahoo” Ye-hoo
• ADC: Caliste “Caliste” Henry-Hennebert
• Support: Alan “Busio” Cwalina

Coaching staff:

• Bok “Reapered” Han-gyu
• Quentin “Zeph” Viguié
• Xenesis