Karmine Corp is just one BO5 away from the LEC Spring Grand Final and a ticket to the MSI in Vancouver. KC will face MKOI this Saturday to decide their fate, in a rematch of the upperbracket that the Spanish org upset a fortnight ago (3-2). The winner will take on G2 Esports on Sunday, to finally crown the Spring 2025 champion. Right after securing his spot to the Finals week-end by defeating Fnatic (3-0), Raphaël “Targamas” Crabbé discussed: the FNC series, KC’s flexibility in draft, potential fear of running out of steam by the end of the year, his team’s ambitions and the balance of power between the top 4 in Europe.

Ethan: Last split, we were also able to discuss after the victory against Fnatic in playoffs. Let’s be honest, this time, it was much easier.

How do you feel after today’s series?

Targamas: I’m glad. I’m really happy with how we played today, now “job’s not done” as they say. The most important thing is the qualification for the MSI and there is still a BO5 for it. As long as this BO5 is not won, I won’t be able to be entirely reassured, but for now I’m happy with how we played today in any case.

Ethan: Today I have the impression that you have accepted to enter the Fnatic playground, In draft as well as in game, with strong botlanes who want to fight early and attract junglers. It’s a type of gameplay that we haven’t necessarily been used to seeing of you, in the LEC at least. I think that at First Stand we saw you play this type of botlane a lot anyway.

Do you think you can be comfortable in any style with Caliste, even at the highest level?

Targamas: I think one of our strengths with Caliste is that we can really adapt to all the needs in draft. There are for sure champions we’re more comfortable on than others, but there aren’t really champions we refuse to play or at least aren’t confident playing on-stage. Really, we’re in a mindset where we want to be able to play everything. We knew that against Fnatic, the botlane was going to be very important. Because their sololaners are not at the level of ours. So for me, the BO was going to be played out on the botlane. Fnatic is a team that we have played a lot in scrim and we know that when the botlane is mastered, they have a kind of no chance of winning. That’s kind of their only angle of winning against us, when the botlane can explode and they can snowball on it.

So we knew we had a big responsibility, but also I was a little surprised by the way Fnatic drafted. They gave us a lot of good situations and it really made it easier for us because I think we had two really positive match-ups in games 1 and 2.

Game 3 is a little more of 50-50 but we did well and then the fact that we were already 2-0 inevitably put them under pressure to do more than they had to do in the match-up and it put them in a bad situation. But yes, I’m really happy.

Ethan: Little big up to Jactroll who said you weren’t even the best LFL botlane in 2023… You said it a little, they put you in situations where you were comfortable and I think about the regular season where you tried a lot of new things, in draft especially with new approaches. And since the playoffs, I have the impression that you guys have come back on styles that suit you the most. Today again, with a lot of range, scaling mages and junglers that Yike is used to be playing. All that made your success in Winter and I remember you saying that you didn’t want to limit yourself to that and go further, especially after First Stand.

What is the reason for KC to have come back to this comfort style? Is it that you no longer have a safety net, that maybe put a bit of pressure on you?

Quelle belle journée pour les fans de la Karmine ! pic.twitter.com/4lu79D6mpV

— Karmine Corp (@KarmineCorp) June 3, 2025

Targamas: I don’t think we particularly dropped picks. I guess the pick that comes to mind is the VI that we haven’t played in the playoffs yet. It’s a pick that we’ve banned a lot. It’s a pick that is also very popular with European teams, especially Fnatic. Heretics, yesterday, they first pick him and Sheo made a big game on it. And last week, same she was pick game 1 against us and that put us in trouble from the beginning. It’s not that we don’t want to play it anymore, it’s just that we didn’t have the opportunity to play it again, given the priority that the other teams put on it.

Ethan: And beyond Vi, I’m also thinking of Vladi, who started to prioritize more melee champs, and this weekend he hasn’t played any.

Targamas: I think there is also a question of the teams that are adapting. There are a lot of Akali bans, especially when you keep the pick for a little later in the draft. Same, I think that people, when they pick, they have the Sylas in mind, things like that. So I think it’s not so much that… We’ve never been thinking like “Ok guys we’re in a complicated situation, we’re going back to Maokai/Ivern.”

As I said about the botlane, the fact that we want to adapt to all situations is the desire for the whole team, all the players. I think that today we are the most heavily armed team in the draft, in terms of flexibility, in terms of being able to play everything.

The challenge is to make sure that we manage to get good drafts, but it’s made easier by the fact that we really have this whole range of possibilities that we also worked on during the split.

Ethan: We talked a lot about KC potentially being a bit burned with the Winter and First Stand sequence. If you are going to the MSI and the Esports World Cup in addition to this Spring:

Isn’t there a bit of a fear that the team will be burned for the most important moment of the year, which is the Summer/Worlds?

Targamas: I don’t see it that way personally. It’s easy to say when you’re not in it. In the world where we qualify and do everything, if you ask me again, maybe I’ll have another answer. But we truly have big ambitions in this team. And it’s a topic that we take seriously, so we also make sure not to burn ourselves out too much when there is no need. We took a lot of breaks during the regular season, since we could see that it was going well, there was no need to force it either. So I think that today we are still very fresh. Now, as I said, we have big ambitions in the team. And for me, I’m only speaking for myself but I really have a big motivation, big ambitions, and also I think there’s a very important point, which is that we really have hope.

We have a hope today to win the LEC, but we have a hope that if we qualify for the MSI, we will be there to win. As long as this hope is alive, as long as we can perform internationally, there will be no burnout from my point of view.

Ethan: Last week, Alvaro told me that each team in the top 4 in the LEC could beat the other and that there were no real favourites.

Do you agree with that? Or do you think that with the standards you’re talking about, you should be favourites in Europe?

Targamas: No, he’s right, they proved it anyway, they took us in BO5, now… As I said, I think we have big ambitions. That doesn’t mean we are necessarily at the level of our ambitions. In any case, last week, we weren’t. It’s something we keep telling ourselves. We know that we have to work, we have to be serious, we have to do all this. Because the LEC is not given either, and I think that last week gave us a good reality check. Nothing has been done, we haven’t qualified yet, we haven’t won the LEC yet. It’s nice to talk about winning the MSI, but we’re not even qualified for the MSI yet.

If we lose to MKOI again, we’ll have two months to bite our nails and wonder what bullsh*t we’ve done. The loss brought us back down to earth. Now it’s step by step. MKOI is the main focus, it’s a good team. I think that… I saw the face of Fnatic, I see the match against MKOI more complicated than the Fnatic games today. I think their solo laners have more to offer than the Fnatic sololaners today. So the BO will potentially be more difficult.

But now, these are teams that we respect. We know that they can win a BO5 against us, so we respect them.

Who’s with Targamas

Who’s the best player in the world right now?

Targamas: Chovy I guess, I don’t watch that much though.

Who’s the best player of all time, excluding Faker?

Targamas: Zeus.

Who’s your favourite champion?

Targamas: Senna.

Ethan: Not Pyke?

Targamas: Not anymore *laugh*.

Who’s your favourite teammate ever, excluding your actual roster?

Targamas: I think the teammate that I’ve had the most fun with is Flakked, because I think he’s a very, he’s a very funny guy, great mentality. Having someone like him, that makes everything more fun is very important when you are with the same people 24/7. And then I would say Saken becaue I spent a lot of time with him and eventhough it ended bad, I still think we won a lot together. Even though it’s not the highest, like not the LEC trophies, but at least in ERL we won a lot and we have a lot of memories together.

Who’s the toughest player you’ve ever played against?

Targamas: Keria, for sure.

Who’s the most broken champion in the game right now?

Targamas: Talon, I refuse to play against this champion.