Karmine Corp Karmine Corp Europe Rank #2 dos9 Zhumagali Dastan LewN Burak Alkan Avez Hazem Khaled SUYGETSU Dmitry Ilyushin N4RRATE Marshall Massey has done it, defeating Team Liquid Team Liquid Europe Rank #5 purp0 Semyon Borchev nAts Ayaz Akhmetshin kamo Kamil Frąckowiak trexx Nikita Cherednichenko Kicks Kimmie Laasner 3-1 in the VCT EMEA Stage 2 Grand Final to lift its first-ever VCT trophy. It's the first time that Les Bleus can call themselves the kings of EMEA since Kickoff in 2024, which was the last time the org won a VCT event, albeit without a trophy.

It's one of the most remarkable mid-season turnarounds that VCT has ever seen, as KC went from 0-5 and 11th-12th in Stage 1 to now being crowned the Stage 2 champions. It was pure dominance for KC, who finished the group stage at the top of Group Omega with a 4-1 record before going a perfect 3-0 in the playoffs. Now, Karmine Corp will head to Champions Shanghai as EMEA's top seed.

KC made the most of its double-map ban advantage, taking Split and Abyss out of the equation. The maps could be seen as two of Liquid's stronger maps in the current pool, but also two maps KC has been hesitant to play in Stage 2. The series itself was played out on KC's pick of Sunset, TL's Ascent, and KC's Lotus. KC won Sunset 13-7, Ascent 13-6, Liquid won Lotus 13-7, and Summit 13-10.

On Sunset, KC went with its usual Omen-Viper comp with N4RRATE and LewN on their usual picks of Chamber and Neon, respectively. Meanwhile, Liquid was set to play the map for the first time since 2025. Immediately, KC looked much more comfortable on Sunset. KC worked the map wonderfully, piling up an early 6-1 lead which threatened a blowout. From there, though, Liquid seemingly seized the narrative, winning out the half to tie the score 6-6.

Despite the Liquid momentum, KC was even better on defense. dos9 showed glimpses of the dos9 that made outrageous plays while on BOOM Esports BOOM Esports Asia-Pacific Rank #4 Nakya Alehandro Fabian Simanjorang d3ffo Nikita Sudakov Shiro Hildegard Arnaldo NcSlasher Sheldon Andersen Chandra , leading the team to a near-perfect attack side to close out the map 13-7.

While Sunset may have been an expected cruise for KC, Ascent tested a strong map for both sides. Both teams, with KC 2-0 and TL 3-0, were undefeated on the map through Stage 2, and had a set identity with their own go-to double-Duelist comps. KC went with a Phoenix-Neon comp, while Liquid went with the same Phoenix-Jett comp that dominated FUT Esports FUT Esports Europe Rank #8 s0pp Efe Tur xeus Doğan Gözgen yetujey Eray Budak KROSTALY Okan Alaçam sociablEE Volkan Yonal the day before.

Starting on defense first, KC were the ones to dominate. Despite dropping both pistols on the map, KC made the most of an 8-4 defense side. Following Liquid's defense-side pistol win, KC converted a five-Classic eco round to change the course of its attack side, which eventually snowballed into the map being closed out.

Lotus, which may have been considered a half-decent map for Liquid and a stellar one for KC, seemed to be the beginning of the end. While Liquid was 4-3 on the map in Stage 2, KC was a sharp 5-0 and looking to make that a 6-0 early on. The attack side has tended to be KC's stronger side across those five maps, and that seemed like it would be dominance again in this match. Liquid's pistol round was followed up by yet another eco, but this time, Liquid stopped the bleeding. Liquid held KC to just five attack rounds, and made strides on its own attack side to look like the more dominant side and win 13-7. After a slow first two maps, Liquid was properly heated up, with Kicks and kamo each dropping 23 kills to move on to Summit.

As the series moved to Summit, a reverse-sweep began to become a real possibility. KC was winless on the map in two, with one of those losses coming to Liquid in the group stage. Both teams had Omen-Viper comps on the map, with the difference being Liquid opting for Phoenix-Jett with Sova, while KC went with Fade, Neon, and Chamber.

Liquid's attack approach seemed similar to its approach on Abyss against Enterprise Esports Enterprise Esports Europe Rank #1 MAGNUM Martin Penkov iluri Ilari Puranen Lime Jacob Foster paTiTek Patryk Fabrowski kozzy Denis Stefan Aionitoaei earlier in the playoffs: hit A. Liquid claimed the first seven rounds of the map by only hitting A and getting out to a 7-0 run to start. KC did claw back a few rounds, including four on the A site, before Liquid went B on the final round of the half and was shut down to end the half 7-5.

After stabilizing itself, KC carried momentum forward, winning the pistol and anti-eco to tie up what seemed like an insurmountable Liquid lead at one point. KC worked the map wonderfully on attack, with LeWN the tip of the spear in that respect while N4RRATE and SUYGETSU did well to exploit the seams of the Liquid defense.

KC rolled forward, managing the economy and the ult economy perfectly to reach not just map or series point, but VCT EMEA point at 12-10, converting it with relative ease soon after.

dos9 was named the OMODA Grand Finals MVP. He had team-high marks in kills and rating across the first two maps, and also ended with the series-high marks in both with 70 kills and a 1.28 rating. N4RRATE trailed closely behind his teammate, with 67 kills and a 1.16 rating, while Kicks and kamo's 57 and 58 kills were not enough in the losing effort.

It's been a long road to becoming EMEA champions for KC. From the bottom to the top, all members of the team have gone through a treacherous path to reaching the summit of the region. dos9, after leaving BOOM Esports following an 0-5 showing in Pacific last year, rebounds from two straight 0-5 group stages to cap off a dominant trophy-lifting campaign, his first at the VCT level. LeWN, after coming up just short of the global stage on numerous occasions last year with BBL Esports BBL Esports Europe Rank #7 Crewen Ali Eren Sargin Lar0k Yusuf Kaan Kanber Loita Utku Kart Rosé Eren Erzan lovers rock Umut Pekdoğan , will be playing on the biggest stage of all as a regional champion. SUYGETSU, one of the most experienced players in all of professional Valorant, lifts his first title since Masters Copenhagen in the game's pre-partnership era.

N4RRATE, after competing with Sentinels Sentinels North America Rank #10 Reduxx Yassin Aboulalazm Jerrwin Gurjiwan Gill Marved Jimmy Nguyen stand-in johnqt Mohamed Amine Ouarid cortezia Gabriel Cortez JonahP Jonah Pulice in 2025 and starting this year with the squad, has returned to the team he made a name for himself on and lifted the biggest trophy in the organization's history. Player-turned-coach-turned-head coach ZE1SH , who has been with KC since 2022 and is in his first split as a head coach, as well as Avez , who began his VCT career with KC in 2024, have done the same, bringing a trophy to KC.

Up next

Karmine Corp is headed to its first-ever Champions event, while Team Liquid will be heading to its second-straight Champs in Shanghai next month. VCT EMEA, as we have known it since 2023, has now come to an end.