In a week that held high expectations for LEC debutants Karmine Corp, the French powerhouse faced an unexpected setback, concluding their first week with a 0-3 record.
In an interview with Dot Esports following KC’s loss against MAD Lions KOI, head coach Jakob “YamatoCannon” Mebdi shared his insights on the team’s debut in the league, delineating their path ahead of the second week of the 2024 Winter Split. While acknowledging the squad’s current situation, he underlined that when a team is “forged through challenges and hellfire,” they can come out “stronger than ever”—and that with the right adjustments, KC can find success in the remaining games.
“We played worse today than the previous two days,” YamatoCannon said to Dot on Jan. 15, “but I don’t think that really matters.” Despite their start to the split, the head coach emphasized the need for his team to maintain perspective, focusing on the long-term goal of playoff qualification and improvement over the next few weeks.
KarmineCorp entered the LEC under intense scrutiny, given their stellar performance in the LFL and EMEA Masters in previous years, including last year’s Season Finals in Montpellier. Their victories had cultivated significant attention, fostering excitement for their debut in the highest league in the region, resulting in a record-breaking viewership weekend for the LEC. The spotlight on KC intensified due to the ardent support of their fans, creating an atmosphere of eager anticipation for their debut in the competitive LEC arena.
After the match against MAD Lions KOI, the head coach stressed the importance of allowing players to “digest the moment” before rushing into post-match discussions, highlighting the psychological impact a 0-3 start can have while underlining the need to separate oneself from the “heavyweight” of the scoreboard.
Using the “exposure of [KC’s] weaknesses” as a foundation for the team’s improvement, YamatoCannon pointed at discipline and “great determination” as the factors needed to face the challenges head-on. “We can choose to make this 0-3 weekend the biggest blessing that we could have possibly gotten,” he said.
The head coach underlined there are six more games to play before the end of the regular season, and the team can emerge stronger from their current position. In the face of a “ruthless” regular season marked by best-of-ones and a new patch, YamatoCannon highlighted the necessity of “bouncing back quick” by putting in the work and making the most of the time between the end of the first week and the start of the next one.
And while there is a “long list” of improvements the team needs to make, he acknowledged the impact of recent patch changes had on KC’s draft. But despite the need to retrace draft strategies and make macro decision-making improvements, YamatoCannon expressed confidence in his team’s ability to overcome the situation.
“We need to bring forward a higher level of trust for each other and a higher level of confidence,” he said, ”because I think that we are a lot more capable than what we’ve shown.” Now, with “a lot more data” to work with, the focus heading into the second week of the 2024 LEC Winter Split will be put on how KC can become “more headstrong” while maintaining that trust and making sure that it translates on the Rift against their opponents.
As Karmine Corp faces the challenge of a winless start to the LEC season, YamatoCannon’s pragmatic approach and commitment to the team’s improvement paint a hopeful picture for the blue wall of fans following the team’s journey into the league.
