This Sunday, Karmine Corp Blue claimed their first EMEA Masters title of the year with a dominant 3-0 victory over Los Heretics. The organization secured its fifth European Tier 2 championship in history, triumphing in front of their home crowd at Paris Games Week. American prodigy Johnny “Yukino” Dang sat down with Hotspawn to talk about winning his first EMEA title, his growth over the two splits with KCB, the passionate fanbase, and his future.
How do you feel after lifting the title?
Yukino: I haven’t really processed yet that we won 3-0. I still have the mindset that maybe we’re playing another series and I need to get ready for another series. I’m satisfied but not fully.
Ethan: Why is that?
Yukino: I feel like I can play a lot better individually. I feel like EU taught me a lot about having a really competitive mental. Before I was really immature, but I feel like going into EU, going to KC this year… My teammates, especially Maynter, they taught me a lot about discipline. I feel like I’m in the right mindset to be the best I can.
Ethan: It’s funny you say that because I was talking to Jojo earlier this year and he was kind of telling me the same. Like the fact that in NA players are kind of complacent with their level. And that here he kind of learned discipline and what it means to truly try hard.
Yukino: It’s true. I feel like I can improve way faster and every game I can get something out of it. While in NA, I don’t really get much besides mechanics.
Ethan: Today was expected to be a stomp from the outside, given your dominant run during the tournament. Eventhough you won 3-0, the game one and three were very close.
How do you explain that you maybe didn’t look as sharp?
Yukino: I feel like the two week break from our top four match and playing in the final, it was kind of hard to be able to focus every day. I feel like it’s hard to keep a routine when you have a two week vacation before going into a match.
Ethan: And was it difficult to find scrim partners?
Yukino: Actually we scrimed a bunch of mixed players. Like in the off season.
Ethan: The famous McDonald’s team…
Yukino: Yeah, Team McDonald’s. But honestly… They were good. They were not bad. We kind of got stomp in some of the games. There was even one day where we went like 0-5…
Ethan: So it could have been even harder than what it was today.
Yukino: Right. I thought our gameplay as a team was getting worse and then we scrimmed an actual team the day after, and we stomped them. But those mixed teams… They’re just different.
Ethan: I guess you heard that KC has a huge legacy at EMEA Masters. They have won four already. It was also the last dance of this roster…
Did all that background added any extra pressure on your shoulders?
Yukino: The only thing I was worried about is how I would play on a stage this time. Because last time was disgusting. At the office, before going on stage, I thought I was in peak form. The only concern that I had was if I can replicate it on stage. Game one, I wasn’t really satisfied with my performance even though we won. I feel like I could’ve solo carried the game. I was in so much situations where I had a really big lead over the enemies and I can for sure 1v9 games. Like, I did it against Misa and Los Ratones. So I wasn’t really satisfied with the performance I delivered. But I mean, good enough, I guess on stage, because enemies are also feeling the pressure. It was a crazy audience. I’m not really experienced on stage. Daglas and Kaiser played in LEC before, and they have experience on stage. So I was worried going into today thinking maybe if I choke. In the end, I feel like I played worse, but I wasn’t choking. I feel like I was still feeling confident with how I was playing.
Ethan: I feel like you’ve made tremendous progress individually this year. When you first joined KCB, you might not have been playing at your full potential, often being put on tank duty. But over time, you really leveled up and showcased your incredible talent during the Summer playoffs and these EMEA Masters.
How do you reflect on your growth throughout the year with KCB?
Yukino: Especially because they had a new jungler, they just wanted me to kind of be like Boukada [at the start]. That’s why I was playing a lot of Maokai and Sejuani. Because they were expecting me to just be a replacement of him. To have the same playstyle and play the exact same. But I feel like with a change in jungle, you have to change how the whole team plays.
Ethan: It was not your identity.
Yukino: It wasn’t my identity. And I feel like my teammates adapted to me really well. In my previous teams, I wasn’t really given a lot of freedom with how I want to play the game. I was still a rookie. I feel like jungle as a rookie… It’s pretty hard for me to be confident when, there’s some knowledge, things that I don’t know. Some fundamentals that I don’t know. I feel like in this team, towards the end, I was being a really good shot caller. Especially today, I feel like I was shot calling pretty well. But it took a lot of time for me to adapt to that and learn the fundamentals. I’m glad I can take a shot calling responsibility now because I do believe the jungler and support should dictate the map. So I’m really happy with my growth as a player.
Ethan: I guess you saw the meme that the KC fanbase created, to discredit your performances in order to prevent you from being scouted by Tier 1 teams…
Yukino: Yes, when I saw that was happening to me, I knew I was doing a good job *laugh*.
Did you realize instantly that it was a meme, or maybe you took it seriously at the start?
Yukino: I kind of realized because I think it happened after my Misa performance. And it was some fake stats saying I was 3/23 while I was dropping full nukes on the ennemy team. I knew then that I was doing a good job. It was very fun. The fans are cool.
Ethan: I obviously have to ask you a bit about next year because it’s a topic a lot of KC fans are excited about.
But first, what’s coming next for you after this series? Are you travelling back home to take some rest?
Yukino: I’m definitely going home to take some rest. This offseason… I’m not sure. My whole roster is changing, so I don’t know how it’s gonna work in LEC versus. I’m gonna be playing LEC with a full new roster, maybe with players coming from Division 2…
I don’t really know them, so I don’t know how they work as a team. I always see them from soloqueue and in soloqueue, they’re pretty good. Some of those mixed teams we played in scrims. This is some of the players I’ll be [most likely] playing with. They’re pretty good.
It’s just when my whole team is changing, you have to start from the very beginning, right? And I guess some of the LEC teams, some of them are staying the same. Some of them are changing. I’m not sure what to expect.
Ethan: So you’re already projecting yourself playing in the LEC versus? It’s true that your contract runs out in 2026, but considering your performances, you don’t see yourself claiming a spot in a Tier 1 team already?
Yukino: I think my performance is good enough to play in LEC or LCS. Like I don’t really feel like I need one more year to develop. I guess maybe if I wanted to learn tanks, but… *laugh*. I do think the meta was really good for me. I feel like the champs that we played the past two splits were kind of similar.
Ethan: Vi, Xin, Jarvan, Pantheon…
Yukino: Yeah, I was on full Pantheon duty the last two splits.
Photo Credit: Elliot Le Corre / Webedia
If you could choose, would you want to join an LEC or LCS team in the future? Maybe in NA, you would be close to your loved ones?
Yukino: That, I don’t really care.
Ethan: Ok, so maybe competitiveness in EU actually seems better, right?
Yukino: Yes, for sure.
How do you see things for your future?
Yukino: I wouldn’t want to join a bad Tier 1 team. I feel like KCB… I’m doing good enough here.
I would be happy staying. I feel like my situation before joining KCB was really bad and I would want to pay them back.
Of course, I kind of paid them back with the LFL and EM trophies. But I’m really happy playing. I really like the fans. I really like how the people treat me here in KC. Like, where has this been my whole life? I never felt this much support back home. And even today, when I won, I was holding the trophy [in front of the fans]. I was like: “Where has this been my whole life?”.
I was in hell in NA Academy. I was not wanted by anybody. I didn’t know where my solo queue was going to take me. And KCB was like: “Heya, we believe in you.”
I just had to trust the process.
Do you have a word to close this incredible year you had with KCB?
Yukino: My teammates are the real MVPs. I feel like they were really patient with me and especially towards the beginning. If I was in their shoes and I had to play with a rookie that they have to develop for like four months. Especially when some of these players, they just want to go to LEC, right? They don’t really have time to worry about: “Oh, yeah, well, we need to develop this guy and he’s gonna 1v9 100%.” They had a lot of faith in me when I kind of feel sorry for them in a way… My first split: disgusting. Beginning of next split: also disgusting. I just don’t know how many people would’ve help me as much as them.
Photo Credit: Elliot Le Corre/ Paris Games Week
Do you also have a closing word for the fans?
Yukino: Just thank you for the support. After my debut… I wouldn’t really have faith as a KC fan either if a new jungler came in going 1/10 or 0/8 on stage. I’d be kind of worried… I feel like I can only be as good as I am because I know that I have to make the fans proud.
Ethan is an esports fanatic — not a Fnatic fan, don’t get him wrong. He previously worked for a French media outlet called Eclypsia, as well as Sheep Esports, for whom he covered a variety of scenes: from FC 24, R6, and RL to CS:GO, VAL, and more. But the main reason Ethan started writing in esports was to have the opportunity to work fully on his one true love: League of Legends. And that’s precisely what he is doing at Hotspawn. Be warned, his articles can sometimes ooze a little too much of his lack of objectivity towards the French scene and players…
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