Karmine Corp clean sweeps LEC Road Trip opening week in Paris

Karmine Corp has kicked off the LEC Summer Split with a 3-0 record, defeating Team Vitality, Movistar KOI and G2 Esports in successive days during a Road Trip start to the season in Paris, France.

From Friday, July 24, until Sunday, July 26, KC took on all comers Adidas Arena, Paris. With a fanatical crowd that put so many other venues to shame, Karmine Corp’s signature “Blue Wall” of supporters helped usher in a trio of victories for their team. Here’s how it went down:

Home turf provides all the motivation Karmine Corp needs for 3-0 victory

With fans filtering in from the early afternoon on Friday, and the Blue Wall fanatics meeting up outside hours before to chant, cheer, and hype themselves up for the days event, anyone could tell this was set to be a special weekend of LEC action.

Things kicked off with a French derby: Team Vitality versus Karmine Corp with the support of the home-town fans on the line. When push came to shove, though, it was Karmine who were able to come out on top, a statement 2-0 game to cap off the evening.

For Saturday, it was time for a rivalry game. The bitter competition between KC and MKOI has led to Twitter beef, harsh words, and in-league fines. And as KC entered to one of the most deafening entrances we’ve ever heard in the LEC, Movistar KOI found themselves greeted by boos.

With fans cheering and shouting every kill, smite, and gank, the local support threatened to turn into a weakness, as it surely affected the players on stage. On the Rift, however, things were almost as biased as the arena, and MKOI also fell 2-0 to their opponents.

With the Tour de France set to conclude its race in Paris at almost the exact same time as the LEC action on Sunday, Karmine Corp refused to give up the Maillot Jaune, and instead remained leading the pack. Against G2 esports, the reigning LEC Split champions, and the only team who had consistently managed to best KC last split, Karmine had their hardest challenge.

But energized by their fans, KC were able to lock down the champs, and score their first major victory over G2 this season. The KC sweep meant G2 ended the opening weekend of the Summer Split with a 2-1 record, Vitality with a 1-2 record, and MKOI in last with a 0-3 record. The remaining six LEC teams are yet to play their games.

For KC, it’s been a rollercoaster few weeks. They kicked off the month being eliminated in second to last place from MSI 2026, a humiliating run for supposed second-best team in Europe.

Then, elation as KC found their way into the Finals at the Paris-hosted Esports World Cup 2026. Regardless of the supposed quality of the matches, KC defeated reigning World Champions T1 in front of a sold-out crowd, before a drubbing in the finals to DK KIA. The loss was KC’s first major international final appearance.

Now in a season where the team looks to win its first ever Split and head to Worlds in the kind of form it showed at EWC, it’s started in the best possible form.

There’s also something to be said for the fanaticism of the KC supporters. Just a week ago, it turns out we’d seen a more tepid Blue Wall performance at the EWC, with just a few hundred supporters joining the 45-Euro ticket event. And while observers at the time thought that was how great an LEC crowd could be, we were proved wrong just a week later.

At the Adidas Arena, for an average of 60 Euros a ticket, KC fans illuminated the arena in a chorus of shouts. The fans voted with their wallet for which event was more important to them, and showed they care more about LEC Road Trips than international contrivances.