Hard facts of KOI relegation

#1

serot

They breached contract due to unlucky circumstances with their co-streamer going on mental health hiatus. This makes them the most replaceable team in VCT EMEA.
Riot also happen to desperately want to keep M8 in franchising for presumably business reasons.
KOI just so happens to also be the worse bundle seller by their own admission, compared to M8 who are the 3rd best selling as far as the latest stats say.

KOI fans, I get that it feels unfair, but its honestly just unlucky. Riot has no hidden agenda against your team specifically, contrary to what some of you think. Wrong circumstances at the wrong time. KOI is definitely a good org that would have been worth keeping had M8 stocks not been so high in Riot's eyes. Just hope for 2027 partnership.

#2

Kirya

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Shouldve replaced m8 with sen instead of koi tbh

#13

serot

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just make all the teams SEN ur right

#21

Yistyy

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well that wouldn't make sense, m8 is a european organization.

#30

keqingooner69

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0/10

#32

grisx23

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Wah wah wah everything is bait

#3

Aayan

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I'm not a KOI fan, but I don't like how Riot just let in M8 after they throw a hissyfit, imo that type of behaviour shouldn't be rewarded

#5

AlexSMTx

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M8 the spoiled child of VCT?

#7

Aayan

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After getting insta-relegated too btw

All I'm saying is
I know who I'm hatewatching next year

#10

vlrteam

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m8 match viewership booms, instantly justifies this fiasco for riot

#51

SleepingSnorlax

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I am with you bro they literally put up 5 disasterclass entire stage 2 with the most highest watching

#24

Anguibok

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Definitly, they could have JUST waited for 1 year, or ask the Faria idea "T2 got a path to inter start next year not this one", but nooooo it have to be "I want 2026 or I dont take 2027 and go to concurrences :]"

#15

Conceit

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Do we know it's m8 that is being brought in or is that just the rumor? I'm just curious

#18

Aayan

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Not certain, but it's a pretty credible rumour

For a few days now there's been speculation of Riot removing an org to allow M8 back in, but most of the rumours were around BBL

#43

gamergirl

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why do you accuse m8 of throwing a hissyfit when the organization literally took money invested in VCT and put it in CS

there was literally no hissy fit

if you want to be objective, blame riot because EMEA literally relies on M8, and with no org even close to M8 in ascension contention, the region is doomed, so ask ur self

M8 takes VCT money and goes into CS, likely making the same money and views there (they were not a vct partner and still spent over 1m), or Riot loses a top 3 EMEA team in a region where views are dying

#26

Anguibok

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It's 95% for M8, where where already rumor about BBL and FUT getting booted for M8, plus the moove make absolutely no sense if it's not to save M8

#4

bearmans

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KOI don't have watchparty streamer? i think if they have one they should've been ok right?

#6

Mortadelo

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They have a whole ass studio and a much bigger costream than 80% of VCT EMEA, that's not the issue

#8

Bernazoka

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really? i havent seen them in the recent matchesd

#12

Mortadelo

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They're on SergioFFerra's stream not on Ibai's anymore and they costream every single game not just KOI's ranging from like 10k to 20k viewers. Much more than GX and TH for example that are around 5k. And a bunch of others, does NAVI have costreamers for example?

#16

Bernazoka

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I know that navi has a chinese streamer but i dont know anyone else

#46

Skwish

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they have somarcus too

#9

bearmans

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so if that's not the issue, riot really wants them to be out of partnered team.
but again, i never seen one KOI wp ever.

#17

Mortadelo

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It's because their contract stated Ibai had to be the one streaming but he stepped down from all watchparties due to mental health so they replaced him with someone else, not as big but better than most other teams.

Either way that's just the excuse Riot found because they had to kick someone to get M8 in and exploiting that loophole was the only way to do it, they couldn't kick anyone else

#42

Congo1

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You are correct but Riot just made a correct business decision and they didnt act wrong either. It is their right

#45

Mortadelo

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Maybe in the short term they did. But 1 they just set an awful precedent for everyone else giving in to M8 demands and 2 Really upset KOI who they’re forced to keep doing business with because they are a massive part of LEC

#11

AlexSMTx

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imo it's weird all around. I think KOI did a pretty bad job during the 3 years in VCT which is why I don't think it's totally undeserved but it's weird how KOI proposed to fix one of the issues RIOT complained about and RIOT just said "nah" and kicked them lol. Both parts are at fault but to some extent depending on how u see it. KOI should've done better earlier and RIOT just got tired and looked for whatever reason to kick them, even if unprofessionally, to get in M8 who gives them more bundle sales and viewership.

RIOT needed a sacrifice, and KOI who wasn't competitive, didn't sell bundles and initially broke their contract was the easiest target for them.

#14

bearmans

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yeah evaluation should be done earlier and give them warning(s) first.

#19

serot

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Lack of warning was probably because the need to keep M8 happened at the end of the season when they got relegated. If they didn’t get relegated KOI probably would get away with the contract breach.

#20

x_knowitall39_x

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theyve been raising warnings/concerns since 2024

#22

Mortadelo

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In January 2025, Riot reportedly sent the first real warning to the organization, notifying KOI of its contractual breaches. A few months later, in May, Riot met with Fernando Piquer, Chief Strategy Officer of OverActive, in Berlin to once again discuss these issues. Piquer then outlined the projects and processes the team had implemented to address the situation. From KOI’s perspective, no further warnings came after that meeting. On the contrary, the organization says it had been working actively with Riot on the 2026 bundle, which gave them the impression that their place in the league was no longer in jeopardy

https://www.sheepesports.com/en/articles/valorant-vct-emea-koi-the-reasons-behind-the-exclusion/en

Next thing they heard after this was a random meeting being called telling them you're out and we anounce it tomorrow

#31

x_knowitall39_x

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Riot claims it flagged these shortcomings several times. Sheep Esports sources, members of KOI, confirmed that Riot had in fact raised concerns time to time throughout the 2024 season. However, the club was dealing with complications following its merger with Movistar Riders and MAD Lions KOI in January 2024, a move that caused significant administrative delays.

paragraph right above it. they weren't clueless of the matter. I feel more inclined to believe that the koi solutions weren't what riot was looking for if they have been voicing problems about koi since 24 moreso than randomly kicking a org for a different org and needing a scapegoat reason

#33

Mortadelo

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Brother half of EMEA's teams don't have a costream above 5k viewers. KOI had one of 10/20k. The costreaming was never the issue.

#35

x_knowitall39_x

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costreaming was part of the issue cause it aint ibai doing it. its like signing sen for tenz to costream and you got zekken doing it. missing out on a large fanbase

#36

looola

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he wasnt doing it for health reasons and was still present at the watch parties but thats such a bullshit reason to kick them out of the league, if u dont like it as Ibai said u can just tell them and he will be the one costreaming it but I cant understand how it is a problem when they have invested more money in players, content creators and have the biggest watch party after Gentlemates? Kameto doesnt stream KC games and I dont see them being in danger of getting kicked out of the league, the truth is Riot needed to kick someone to keep Gentlemates and KOI is the only team they could do without risking to get sued but its still so dumb, its like teenagers getting mad over small things that could be solved with a bit of communication, doesnt make sense to backstab one of the pilars of the LEC either

#39

looola

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dejale, es retrasado el americano este que no se habra visto nada de eros, anonimotun, fernando o ibai hablando de ello y va usando a eros como fuente para decir que no es como dices tu cuando eros confirmo que es como dices tu jajajaja

#38

looola

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btw the source you are using just had a stream talking about it and confirmed it was basically just a way to get Gentlemates in, its such a lame excuse to kick a whole org with 24h notice because of a something that could be solved with a 5 minute meeting, many orgs have raised concerns and probably breached contracts too but its a partnership relationship in which u should raise these concerns and work on it, Riot had a meeting a few weeks ago with KOI and they said they were really happy with SergioFerra (their main costreamer who btw gets almost 20k average even when KOI is not playing), Ibai even said that this caught him off guard because he thought that their costream was the one thing Riot was happy about so your theories dont make much sense, its just awful communication from Riot for months and now even more so for kicking them out, u cant just kick an org with 24h notice over such a small thing while asking them 2 days ago what colour they want for their bundle, its clear that the communication from Riot has been awful and this was a rushed decision taken by a couple executives because they didnt want to lose Gentlemates and KOI were the only ones you could kick without getting sued

#47

hell_on_earth

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sheepesports had a stream and confirmed this?

#48

looola

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it was eros and anonimotum who have their weekly podcast but their sources when it comes to spanish stuff its KOI and Ibai, who do you think leaks stuff to them if not the club directly? they are sources very close to the club, Ibai himself talked about it today in another interview with them today so there is literally no better source, sheep esports even if very reliable they dont know more than Ibai himself and they had no clue about KOI getting kicked out so according to them the fact that there was no rumours about it and they didnt manage to get the info with their network of information means it was a sudden decision taken by high executives which makes sense

#50

hell_on_earth

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ty bro

#23

Anguibok

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"KOI just so happens to also be the worse bundle seller by their own admission"
I dont think they have said that, I think they said they could have been better

#25

serot

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Pretty sure they said in their twitter video that they were the lowest in sales. Idk Spanish but that’s what the people in comments doing the translation said.

#27

Anguibok

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I've atch the video with the subtitle and a little bit understanding of spanish, and IIRC he just said it could have been better

#28

serot

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I mean either way the point is that KOI have low sales and M8 have high sales

#29

Anguibok

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Yup, low but not last

#52

SleepingSnorlax

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With how shitty the bundle looks this year I think this just lame excuse from riot rather than telling the truth

#34

DrudaL

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Riot claims it flagged these shortcomings several times. Sheep Esports sources, members of KOI, confirmed that Riot had in fact raised concerns time to time throughout the 2024 season. However, the club was dealing with complications following its merger with Movistar Riders and MAD Lions KOI in January 2024, a move that caused significant administrative delays.

idk if the article false or ibai blantantly lied about no warning from riot
https://www.sheepesports.com/en/articles/valorant-vct-emea-koi-the-reasons-behind-the-exclusion/en

#40

looola

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they knew but Ibai has taken a break from streaming this whole year due to mental health/physical health reasons so its Sergio Ferra (20k average even when its not KOI playing) who is doing the costream so they thought it was fine because Riot themselves communicated to them in a meeting that they were really happy about their costream, even if they raise concerns it doesnt make sense because u just dont expect to get kicked with one year left in your contract over such a small thing that could be solved by Riot telling them clearly that they need Ibai streaming or they will kick them, they never told them they were at risk of getting kicked because it wasnt a problem until Gentlemates got relegated and said they wouldnt comeback to Valorant, if KOI was in Giantx spot in terms of team performance they wouldnt risk anything even if Ibai wasnt costreaming, a couple Riot executives just chose to backstab the club to keep Gentlemates because KOI is the only team they could have kicked without risking to get sued, btw the only team to have a clause about Ibai having to costream certain hours is crazy when you have teams like KC who get no viewers without Kameto

#37

EndMePleaseUwU

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Riot has no hidden agenda against your team specifically

we just lying now

#41

looola

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"They breached contract due to unlucky circumstances with their co-streamer going on mental health hiatus. This makes them the most replaceable team in VCT EMEA." They still have one of the biggest watchparties in the region and VCT global with Sergio Ferra.

"Riot also happen to desperately want to keep M8 in franchising for presumably business reasons." Pretty dumb to backstab one of the pilars of the LEC and think it wont have consequences in League too

"KOI just so happens to also be the worse bundle seller by their own admission, compared to M8 who are the 3rd best selling as far as the latest stats say" They were 5th last year while not even winning a match, this year the bundle didnt sell because of terrible performance and because it was the same fucking bundle, it was obviously gonna go down but yeah its concerning that they are last but as soon as they start to perform the sales will skyrocket

#44

cristiadu

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it's not just unlucky, it's scummy as hell

#49

sexocum

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That's just scum. They didn't even keep the first world champion organization and now they're keeping gentle mates?