KC Reha: “We must be the best team in the league, it has to be indisputable”

Karmine Corp entered the LEC Summer Split in a very convincing way. The first dominated NAVI in the fastest BO3 of the year and then took down the rumored “scrims champions” GIANTX. After the second victory that put KC in a great spot ahead of Week 2, HotSpawn sat down with Rehareha “Reha” Ramanana to discuss the early game weaknesses of his team, the issues they faced in Spring, and the clear reason behind Nisqy’s arrival.

How are you? Explain to me a little bit what happened against GX.

Reha: I’m doing very well. We were playing a very important BO3 for the regular season against GX, who decided themselves to come to our group… We knew it was going to be a disputed BO3. They are perhaps one of the teams that perform best in scrim, so we knew that they had a good level. And I think that game 1 was a bit controlled, even if we made a few little mistakes. And game 3 went well. I think Game 2 was a bit difficult; we made too many mistakes. And after that, we didn’t really have the tools to come back, so… there you go, I think we f*cked up, it happens. But otherwise, overall, I’m very happy about the weekend, we really had 4 good games.

Ethan: We know that you’re always a threat when there’s the mid-game coming up, when you have your setups, when you can play teamfights. But even today, you were a little exposed on your biggest weakness, which is the early [game]. And I find that often it goes through the mid-jungle-sup. There are a lot of mistakes, especially when they play proactive champions that have a little less agency in teamfights.

Do you think that fixing the early game is the last step to make you the team that would be unquestionably the best in Europe?

Reha: Yes, I think it’s an ongoing process, we know we have to work on it. I think the first step, when we started bootcamp for the summer, was really to get our mid-game back in place, to put back in place our objective setups, our fundamentals, and I think we did that very well. But when it comes to the early, it’s not like there are things that are missing, it’s not like there are processes that are missing, understandings that we don’t have. For example, in Game 1, the Trundle skip, we know he can do it, but we make the mistake. In game 2, all the information was given; we just made the wrong decisions. And then that’s it, it’s more a question of reviewing why we made these judgments, why we make mistakes. What’s quite funny, I think that maybe we’re not the best, we’re not the smartest in the early game. But I do think that in lane, we’re one of the best in the league.

Une fin de semaine en 2-0 tout ça grâce au câlin de Targamas ?!
Découvrez le débrief du match dans l'After Game avec @Orange_France ! pic.twitter.com/dSrkU2BigQ

— Karmine Corp (@KarmineCorp) August 4, 2025

Ethan: I agree, it’s often in skirmishes and everything that you get caught.

Reha: Yes, that’s right, it’s in skirmishes, on the objectives… We’re a team that’s like quite greedy on the early objectives, so we try to contest everything a little bit. It’s something we’re aware of, and then it’s about reviewing, reiterating these processes. There’s only game 2 where I felt like the early was really catastrophic. Game 1, we die, we give kills, we give grubs, but in reality, we’re still in control. We know how our composition works and we know that we will be able to control these games. I’m not too worried, even if I know it’s something we’re going to work on.

I think people expect that we have games a bit like Fnatic, or G2 — I don’t even know if G2 do that. But it’s games where it explodes, where you are 8k gold ahead at 20 minutes… It’s not necessarily realistic, especially against a good team, and GX is a good team.

So, we know that there will be skirmishes that are important early, and if we don’t clutch them, well, yes. I still think that we win the skirmishes that we need to win, especially, for example, in game 3. I think that all the fights around Azir, all the fights around the botlane, we know that they are going to fight. We are there, we are on the screen, we know that we can win, we have evaluated everything, and then we win these skirmishes. Anyway, that’s something we’ll keep looking at.

Ethan: And in relation to that, I want to insist a little bit because I think that the big gap with Asia was mainly in the early game. I don’t know if you’ll agree with me, but concretely, what I had the impression of seeing is that they are much more proactive and incisive than we, and in particular, they sometimes even draft compositions and game plans that are really made to play early. And it’s not something we often see in Europe.

Do you agree with that, and aren’t you a little worried about what could happen at internationals if you don’t solve these early issues?

Reha: That’s a good question. I don’t think that Asia is drafting differently than we are, or at least Europe. I think there are some teams that are drafting differently, especially G2. But I think the metas are pretty much the same everywhere. There are champions that will pop off in one league and not in the other, for example, Annie or Yorick, stuff like that. But overall, I think the metas are pretty much the same.

Maybe where they are more incisive, it’s on level 1s. I think that in Europe, we are not necessarily very aggressive in level 1. We see things in scrim that don’t happen too much in officials, but that doesn’t mean it’s a scrim thing, I think it’s a fair thing.

In fact, you have to be able to say to yourself, ok, for sure, if you do that, you have a 100% chance of winning it. I think that’s one of the differences. I’m still not too worried because, when we were at First Stand, when we were scrimming the Asian teams, at the time, it’s not like the games were completely…

Ethan: But against HLE, that’s kind of what happened, they started to draft to play early, and it became complicated…

Reha: Yes, the thing is that they drafted for early, but then I think we’ve hurt ourselves too. There are things that got through that shouldn’t. I don’t know, the Taliyah-Sylas games are not supposed to… Well, yes, Sylas is stronger level 3, but it’s not supposed to be like that, right? Like today, for example, the Azir-Sylas game, I think that the Sylas game is unplayable.

Ethan: Here, you executed it well.

Reha: Yes, that’s it, so you see, in fac,t I think they’re just stronger on small timings in the game. On tactics, and I mean small moments of 30 seconds or a minute, a little plan to try to execute something, they’re going to be very, very strong. And also in fights, I think that’s also the big difference, that’s what we want to try to do, is to level up on that.

In fact we want to be the best team in LEC but before that we have to be the best team in mid game — in terms of macro — and the best team in team fights. And that’s for me what will make you win titles.

So, it’s hard to project ourselves, but if we have good compositions, we’ll see how it goes. And then if we get completely blown up in lane, like it happened against HLE, it means that we have to step up on that individually as well. And we’ll have time during Worlds to scrim over and over again against the Asian teams and work on it. I think it’s a big shoutout to Apples (KC assistant coach), because he works a lot on it with the players, especially the botlane and the midlane. He’s going to be very detailed in the laning phase, and without him, we probably wouldn’t be such a strong team, even if we have players who are already very good individually. But we’re solid on that, so I’m happy. It’s quite hard to project ourselves, to be honest.

Ethan: To come back to your last split, I heard the players talk about having made the mistake of easing off in Spring. Is that they might have been burned out for the most important moment of the year, which is the one you’re living right now…

Was it really a mistake to ease things off in Spring?

Reha: It’s actually a bit hard to say. You see, I’m the one responsible for the management of the efforts during the season. Anyway, it’s something I had in mind during Spring, because in fact, if you project yourself from December 2nd until the end of the EWC, we wouldn’t have had a lot of breaks, and that’s something I kept in mind. Not that I’m scared, but a little, you know.

I feel it when my players are tired. And as a result they’re going to be a little more tiltable or they play less well or by playing scrims over and over you find a little less interest in it… So that’s always what’s a bit difficult but it’s all a question of finding a direction and knowing what we have to work on in scrims. I think that in Spring we lost ourselves, and that is my responsibility.

Beyond that, I think that the management of the regular season was good, but there are obviously small regrets about the playoffs part, even if we lost to the champion twice in a row in Game 5. But we must be the best team in the league, we know that, it has to be indisputable. Then we have to understand why we didn’t manage to do it. And yes, obviously, there is a question of intensity in the practice, there’s a question of seriousness. But I’m aware of all that, it’s not like I’m letting them go for free, I’m aware that the season can be very long and that it can be very difficult for the players, even if they don’t realize it. I think that in fact, when you have this break time after the elimination and you miss the MSI, you’re disgusted. But I don’t know if there’s really this reflection of:

‘If we had gone to the MSI and EWC like MKOI and G2, what state would we be in mentally? And what state would we also be in, in terms of fatigue?’

That’s kind of the question we’re asking ourselves… Is it a blessing in disguise? Well, I don’t really know, in fact, I would have preferred to be at MSI than at First Stand, to be honest. But hey, I’m very happy to have won a title so…

Ethan: It might also have been more complicated to reach an MSI final than a First Stand final.

Reha: Maybe, maybe, you don’t know that, because at the end of the day, I think CFO did what? Top 5, top 6?

Ethan: Top 5, yes.

Reha: Top 5, so at least we would have made a semifinal, because I think that, for example, no one has managed to beat CFO in Europe, right?

Ethan: At the Esports World Cup in BO1, so not really.

Reha: I think we showed that we were better than them in BO5, and it’s not just that we won in BO5, it’s that it should have been a 3-0 if we didn’t make silly mistakes. I think on our best level, it’s a team that we can beat. If we get to a top 4 at MSI and we have more scrims, we would probably have acquired more knowledge. That’s more how I see it. But hey, we missed our Spring Split.

What I was telling the players yesterday is that: we win the Winter, and we go to First Stand, ok, nice. We miss the spring, it’s boring. But we don’t care all that. What matters is this Split. If you can make top 1, you’re top 1. If you fumble, if you don’t win and you’re not top 3, well your season is a complete failure.

Internally, we know very well that if we don’t go to Worlds, we’re not a competitive team, and we’ll not be happy. If you have the choice between First Stand and Worlds, well, it’s obvious. So in the end, you have to take everything you’ve been through since the beginning, everything you’ve learned. Either in-game or outside of the game, so that it makes you as strong as possible for that Summer.

Ethan: Next week, you’re playing a meaningful match because you’re playing against those who took your place in Spring. But also because if you win, you’re 99% away from a BO5 of Worlds.

How are you going to approach the match against MKOI, and how confident are you compared to Spring?

Reha: What’s interesting is that we couldn’t play MKOI in scrims after MSI and EWC. I don’t really know what form they are in; that’s the question I’m asking myself. In any case, it will be a good test. They’re a very good team, I think they’re one of the teams that performed best during… Well, not like the EU teams performed that well, actually. But we know they’re a very good team, so we’re already going to come up with a preparation that is, I hope, better than the BO5s we played against them.

And in reality, the most important thing is that we play our best game. If we play our best game, I think we can win. We can win, and we will win. So I think it’s a bit hard to say, I don’t really know. We scrimmed G2 a bit, so we know how they are, but it can turn out that MKOI is on a completely other level, that’s kind of the question I’m asking myself. Because when you look at it, they did Worlds, plus they did MSI, so that’s two international events where they took a lot of experience.

Ethan: They could also be a bit burned out…

Reha: They could, but it can also turn out that they stepped up a lot, and that would be good for Europe and for us. That way, we can draw inspiration from that, but we’ll see. I don’t necessarily have an opinion still, it’s heavy with meaning in terms of…

Ethan: Revenge?

Reha: Revenge, yes, there is revenge.

But hey, the real revenge will be in BO5. That’s for later. But it’s still important that we do a good BO3 and that we win. It’s mostly about the standings as you said, one BO5 away from Worlds.

Frankly, I think it’s good to be in 2-0 because the top 2 are necessarily between KC, MKOI, and GX. VIT can be a bit boring, but now we’ve beaten two teams, so that’s a good thing. And yes, it’s funny, the format goes so fast.

Ethan: You did the hardest part with two victories.

Reha: Yes, clearly, I think we’ve taken a good step forward. We’re still far away from Madrid and from BO5s, though.

Ethan: We hear all the reasons in the world for the arrival of Nisqy. It was quite blurry with the announcement video; it became even more so with the intervention of Caliste, etc. From an outside point of view, I have the impression that Vladi is not innocent in all this. Without saying too much, because obviously, I know that there is not everything can be said to everyone, we agree on that.

Can you, perhaps once and for all, dispel this vagueness and explain the reason for Nisqy’s arrival?

Reha: It’s simple, it’s an opportunity that few teams have. The fact that we have a player who has so much experience and who has participated in so many international events, that can help us qualify for Worlds without even playing… It also allows us to add a dynamic that is a little different to the team without being a 6-man roster. I think it’s really the term that confuses everyone, “is it a 6-man or is it not a 6-man? But wait, he played scrims, ah ye,s but he doesn’t play officials…” So it’s a bit weird. It’s a bit of that in-between.

I have to be quite precise and clear enough: Vladi is the person we want to invest in. And that’s the player we want to play with. And that doesn’t necessarily mean that Nisqy will never play, that’s kind of the in-between. In fact, it will also depend if we, as a staff, find it interesting to make Nisqy play strategically speaking, does it add something to the team? And that doesn’t mean that if we don’t use him in officials, there is no strategic interest, on the contrary.

It’s a bit of an in-between. I understand why it’s unclear, because suddenly, we ask ourselves the question of: “He’s there, but why?” It’s simple, if we have an opportunity like this, we still have a lot of time. Once again, we said we have 6 weeks before BO5 — and we realize that we have an interest in making Nisqy play strategically, because he has picks that are very particular and that it’s always valuable in BO5… That just gives us a crazy edge like CFO can have with Driver and Rest.

So, in the end, we’re not going to deprive ourselves of it, and without saying that Vladi is doing something or not being good, it just means “ok, we’re going to work in that direction”. That’s quite vague, but hey, I prefer to be quite precise on this point. I hope I answered. But it’s just an option. Because again, there’s something that people don’t understand, too. There’s something called the “roster lock”. That means that if we do a roster lock — it was on July 24th — in fact, our roster doesn’t change until the end of Summer and potentially Worlds. Because you’re not going to change a player that late. It’s good to have as many options as possible; it doesn’t mean that we want to change a player, it means that we have the most options for the rest of the season.

Notre roster est prêt pour le retour du LEC ! #KCORP pic.twitter.com/89wcWb1iyO

— Karmine Corp (@KarmineCorp) July 28, 2025

Ethan: Especially since, according to him, he received offers from other teams after you reached out.

Reha: Yes, that’s the thing, I think the other teams are realizing.

Ethan: You were ahead of your time, kind of.

Reha: That’s right, but the thing is also that it’s the first year of the full Fearless Draft. It’s also something that people don’t realize, it’s that before, when you changed a player, you changed a player for all the games. Whereas right now, not. It’s just that there is also the Fearless mode. There’s FlyQuest, there’s CFO, there’s GAM, who have 6-man [rosters]. And they’re real 6-man in these cases. We maybe want to have the opportunity to use Nisqy at certain moments like a joker. But for now, it’s going very well.