Karmine Corp Lift their fourth LFL trophy | Double trophy potential for KC now Open

The best ERL league gave its verdict this Thursday. Karmine Corp Blue – the academic team of Karmine Corp – was pitted against French league newcomers Ici Japon Corp in the grand final of the LFL Flash-In. For this first split of the year, the Blue Wall stood up to the newly promoted Octopus of Div2 to win in style: 3-1. It was KC’s fourth French championship trophy.

The first game looked tense, with KCB 3k golds behind early on. But their mastery of teamfighting and objective set-ups enabled them to regain control of the game. The second game, however, was a mere formality, as they won in 26 minutes thanks in particular to a recital by the two sololaners. With Jeon “Howling” Ho-bin’s Jax never troubled throughout the game, IJC secured their first play-off victory over KCB on their 6th attempt. In a game 4 that went down to the wire with 3 Elder Drakes, Karmine Corp Blue came out on top, even giving a nod to the ancients (Caliste and Targamas) with their signature Senna-Nilah botlane.

KCB and IJC, the first two teams to qualify for EM Winter

KCorp Blue were off to a poor start in the Winter split, having started the group phase 1-3 and escaped elimination thanks to a tiebreaker victory over Game Ward. It was during the Swiss Stage that the team finally managed to show its true potential, winning in BO3 against two direct title contenders: Galions and Solary.

The Blue Wall then confirmed its unshakeability, winning the Upper Bracket final against IJC (3-0) in an even stronger fashion as they just defeated them in the Grand Final. This victory was mainly due to a huge step up in all aspects of the game from the mid/jungle (SlowQ and Boukada) who have shown a completely different face since the group phase. From my point of view, Volodymyr “Maynter” Sorokin – author of a near-perfect split in which he outclassed every toplaner in the league – has confirmed that he doesn’t belong in the ERL and that it’s imperative that he joins the upper tier, which is cruelly lacking in quality toplaners.

KC is still in contention for a historic double on the LoL esports scene, as the first team will meet G2 Esports in the LEC final today.

WE ARE BACK IN BUSINESS! 🔥

Ready for EMEA Masters Winter Split, @LFLOfficiel is the first region to have all its teams qualified!

Welcome aboard @KarmineCorp & @icijaponesport pic.twitter.com/TPxSeHtZHL

— EMEA Masters (@EMEAmasters) February 26, 2025

As for IJC, they have nothing to be ashamed of after this convincing first split, despite the obvious gap separating them from the champion – who defeated them twice, allowing only one game to go by (5-1 overall). Ici Japon will still have the opportunity to take part in their first EMEA Masters: a first for a freshly-promoted team… Well, almost, since Karmine Corp also managed to do so in 2021, just after joining the LFL. They even won the famous ERLs trophy at the time.

Perhaps a good omen for IJC and their star player Lee “Hans SamD” Jae-hoon? Like Maynter, the ADC was also the author of a superb split overall, confirming his status as a top prospect in the AD Carry position. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him join the upper echelon asap, just like Galions’ midlaner – also very impressive throughout this split: Tolga “Serin” Ölmez.