KC Targamas: “A support can counter a whole draft with his one and only pick.”

Karmine Corp won against G2 for the first time this year at Red Bull League of Its Own. KCorp’s support Raphaël “Targamas” Crabbé sat briefly with me to discuss the event and his hopes for next year’s support meta.

How does it feel to beat G2 twice after the last two years when they seemed invincible?

Targamas: It feels great, this year we didn’t manage to beat them once last year, we lost all three times in the regular season (out of the 3 splits) and we lost two nil in the play-offs (at the Summer). This is the first time that KC have beaten G2, and even if it’s not an official match it’s still a pleasure because both teams are rebuilding. We know it’s going to be one of the main contenders for the title next year and it’s a good boost for the team to start with a win against an opponent like that, it really gives us confidence for the future. That’s pretty cool.

I got the impression that you took the event seriously, I don’t know if you really prepared this event precisely or if it was just a competition in the middle of your preparations for next year?

Targamas: It’s an opportunity that other teams don’t necessarily have, well, that most other teams don’t have. In general, all the teams have a bootcamp in December. So we incorporate the RBLOIO into our preparation, in fact we use it as a tool to evaluate ourselves, to know where we stand. As I said, it’s a real opportunity to play show matches, and against good teams. It gives us a chance to see where we are with the training we’ve already had, and potentially what we still need to work on. And above all, it’s always a pleasure to play in front of so many fans. During the year we haven’t even had this chance, so we’re really enjoying it right now. Obviously we took RBLOIO seriously because, as I said, there is some big opponents and it gives us a chance to see where we stand.

Ethan: In the 2022 Spring Split, you had played 15 different champions in the regular season. We also remember your creativity with your next duo Caliste “Caliste” Henry-hennebert, back at Summer 2023 – you were the inventors of the now famous Nilah-Senna combo.

Is this something you want to do in 2025, to diversify your champion pool again? And could we expect more spicy picks or will it all depend on the meta?

Targamas: I think that Spring 2022 was quite a special context with G2. If I remember correctly, there were quite a few changes during the same season, quite a lot of meta shifts, and there weren’t really any stable picks in the support meta. In recent years it’s quite different, there are often picks that are very dominant. It has become a role where you take on support quite early in the drafts, like a Rell, a Nautilus or whatever, to be able to bring in the engage. That wasn’t really the case before, so we’ll have to see how things develop.

I’ve always liked to counter-pick in support because I think there are meta where it has a huge impact. In fact, there’s so many different gameplay and so many roles you can play as a support that you can really counter a whole draft with your one and only pick. So yes, it’ll just depend on the meta. On my hand, it’s always something that I like to do.

Lately I’ve felt a little bit that we’re moving more in that direction, especially because Rell has been nerfed. Well, the problem is that she’s been rebuffed right after, so at any given time we’ll be back with Rell quite early on in the drafts… I guess we’ll just have to see what Riot Games is cooking for us.

Rapid Fire Questions:

1. Pyke or Senna? Senna.
2. Lehends or Delight? Neither.
3. Hans Zimmer or Ramin Djawadi? Hans Zimmer.
4. Now that you faced both, G2 2024 or G2 2025? G2 2024.
5. Play a Worlds’ final against T1 or win a Worlds’ final against KOI? Win a Worlds’ final against KOI.

Check out our interview with Caliste “Caliste” Henry-hennebert.