Karmine Corp's star LoL player, Caliste "Caliste" Henry-Hennebert, reflected on the Summer Split following the team's crushing 0-3 defeat to MKOI in the lower bracket final in Nice. Despite winning the Summer Season MVP title, the player remains focused on fixing the team's mistakes and preparing for his first World Championship (Worlds).
The defeat on home soil was a heavy blow for the team. Caliste openly called the result a "disgrace" and a "catastrophe," apologizing to the fans and families who spent time and money to attend. At the same time, he dismissed rumors of a mental boom within the squad. According to him, after a successful run at the Esports World Cup, where KC reached the final and defeated T1, the team lost energy and picked up bad habits in practice, leading to a decline in form.
Analyzing the reasons for the setbacks, Caliste noted that the team failed to adapt to the Summer meta as well as they did to the Winter one. Their main weaknesses were macro play, mid-game decision-making, and teamfights. The player also acknowledged his own responsibility, revealing that he had stopped calling the team's actions during teamfights and plans to bring this habit back. Furthermore, he defended the roster's current model of reduced communication, emphasizing that the Korean imports possess a sufficient level of English to convey all necessary information.
Winning the Summer Regular Season MVP award was a nice bonus for the player, but it did not replace his main ambition. Caliste stated he would trade this individual accolade for the LEC trophy in a heartbeat, as regular-season dominance means nothing without playoff victories.
Currently, Karmine Corp is shifting into maximum focus mode. On September 27, the team is heading to South Korea for a bootcamp. Despite the risks of double jet lag before their subsequent flight to the US, the roster consciously chose this path to practice with the best Asian teams. The main goal is to grasp the current meta and adopt the drafting approaches of top-tier opponents to avoid the mistakes previously made at MSI.
Caliste considers making it to the Swiss stage as the minimum satisfactory result at Worlds, while a successful run would mean reaching the semifinals. Being eliminated in the Play-ins would mean an absolute failure of the season for such an ambitious and expensive roster. Among his most desired opponents at the tournament, the player highlighted T1 and the Chinese team BLG, whom he wants to face for a matchup against star AD Carry Viper.
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