KC Reapered: “I want to find out our weaknesses.”

The LEC Versus kicked off this weekend and there was the in-house derby as Karmine Corp (KC) faced off against sister team Karmine Corp Blue. After the main team victory over their academy squad, we took the occasion to discuss with head coach Bok “Reapered” Han-gyu, who shared his thoughts on what he described as “a slow start”, his decision to recruit kyeahoo, and why this first split is all about identifying weaknesses rather than chasing trophies.

KC Reapered LEC Versus Day 1 Interview

Ethan: After that victory against KCB, how do you feel?

Reapered: It does feel like a very first game. There was a lot of nervousness, a lot of hesitations during the game. And surprisingly, KCB played really well in the early game. They took some advantages, made some risky plays, and got rewarded for it. So from there, we were kind of behind, and everything looked like a slow start.

Some teams start fresh and aggressive from the beginning, but I guess we are the slow starters.

Ethan: Clément, KCB’s director, told me that what he truly liked about your profile was that you’re a true leader with a lot of experience managing groups of people.

Would you say leadership is your best quality as a coach?

Reapered: Yeah, probably. This project is a big project, obviously. They are looking to build a mixed-culture roster with players from France, Sweden, Korea, and even the USA. Luckily, I’ve been working with lots of European players when I was in NA, and also with Korean and American players. So that experience probably fits this project very well.

Bonne journée pour rappeler que #KCWIN a gagné contre #KCBWIN et on n’allait pas passer à côté de ca pour vanner nos propres annonces 😁 pic.twitter.com/qEercOjaeY

— Karmine Corp (@KarmineCorp) January 18, 2026

And it’s not just about the experience. I’ve had a 10-year coaching career. I had lots of success, and also some failures. But that’s not a shame—that’s also part of my experience. I think that’s probably why they picked me.

And when I joined, after the bootcamp, I felt the same way: this is a perfect project for me.

Ethan: You’ve had many teams throughout your career, but this one feels particularly talented on paper.

Would you say this KC roster is one of the most talented you’ve ever had?

Reapered: It’s hard to tell for now because I’ve been with the 2015 EDG roster with Deft and Pawn, and we won MSI. So I’m not sure if I can say that right now, but we will see. Ask me again in one year (laughs).

Ethan: Last year with C9, you had a talented roster as well—a good mix of prospects, experienced players, and two Koreans. Yet you never really met expectations, failing to qualify for internationals.

Looking back, what went wrong last year?

Reapered: There are some things that could be personal, so I can’t tell exactly why. But in the end, it wasn’t going well for us, and the expectations didn’t meet what we were hoping for. It is what it is, sh*t happens.

Ethan: Have you learned anything specific from last year’s failure that will help you with Karmine Corp this year?

Reapered: Obviously, successes and failures are all experiences I can use for my future. I’ve learned a lot these past couple of years. I didn’t make Worlds three years in a row. Before that, I was one of the coaches who made the most Worlds appearances. In a couple of these recent years, maybe I didn’t motivate myself that much, gave all my efforts at 100%, or there were some issues that were beyond my control. There wasn’t a specific thing I learned; it was a lot of experiences put together. So after these years, I looked back at what went wrong, what went well, and what my takeaways were.

There’s not exactly one thing I can point to, but more of a mixed feeling. When I see certain moments, my experience tells me: ‘This feels wrong, I need to fix this right now.’

I’ve already had that experience with this KC team. Something felt wrong, so I stepped up and spoke with the players for maybe two hours. We identified the problem, decided to get rid of it, and now the team is looking good (smile).

Ethan: There’s been a lot of questioning about kyeahoo since he’s not a well-known player in EU.

Why did you personally choose him over all the other mid lane prospects in Korea?

Reapered: When I received the mid lane options, there were a lot of choices. I watched their POVs and official matches. kyeahoo stood out to me as a player who knows how to win.

Even among mid laners of the same tier, there are very different playstyles. For example, last year with C9, I picked Loki because of Blaber and Vulcan on the roster—they’re very good at playmaking. So my mid laner’s job was solid laning, solid teamfighting, and not giving opportunities to lose the game himself.

On this roster, I see Caliste as a very reliable carry for the late game, and Canna can also carry. Yike can be a very good controller for the game. So I wanted one more playmaker-type player in mid lane, so that everything functions well in the early and mid game. Then later on, I have two carries on the side lanes. That’s the balance I was thinking about.

Ethan: In many interviews, you and other team members have said you have very talented individual players, but you’re not yet playing as a team.

What exactly does that mean, and how long will it take to build that synergy?

Reapered: What that means is, obviously, the laning is good, individual teamfighting is good. But the way I think about League of Legends, the difference between a strong team and a not-so-strong team… individuals matter a lot. That’s why we value players.

But even in the exact same moment, with the exact same items—if T1 plays, GenG plays, JDG plays, or another team plays—they play differently. The level of understanding might be different, even in a single dragon teamfight.

I want to reach a level that looks more like an international-level team. We’re not there yet. That’s what I mean.

Ethan: How much time do you think it will take?

Reapered: Maybe more than one split. I’m not expecting us to magically be there this split.

But we’re trying to get there and trying to get international stage experience. From there, we play against top international teams and learn more, boosting our skills. That’s the current plan.

Ethan: Obviously, you aim to win every split you play, but beyond results,

What would success look like for you in this first split?

Reapered: The first thing is the language barrier we have right now. kyeahoo and Canna—Canna has been here for more than a year, so he speaks English, but he’s kind of shy and doesn’t share his opinion very well in-game. kyeahoo wants to talk a lot, wants to ask for support and jungle many things, wants to fight a lot, but his English skills aren’t there yet. So we obviously need to overcome that language barrier.

🔵🔴 LEC 2026 Versus

Hier, nos équipes se sont affrontées et ont montré de grands espoirs. Aujourd’hui est l’occasion parfaite de montrer tout le potentiel de nos équipes ! #KCBWIN 🆚 @LosRatoneslol 🕔 18h00#KCWIN 🆚 @MovistarKOI_en 22h00
▶️ https://t.co/oZ90RtGcxP pic.twitter.com/il004zWebw

— Karmine Corp (@KarmineCorp) January 18, 2026

The second thing is: personally, I don’t really mind about winning or not winning this split specifically.

I want to find out our weaknesses and work on the project. Right now we know a couple of issues we’re working on, but there are more problems that will emerge after I fix these ones.

I want to spot those problems this split, and then get ready for jumping to the next level as an international-level team. That is the goal of the project for the first split.