After a nail-biter of a match against Fnatic, the Blue Wall emerged victorious as
Karmine Corp punched their ticket to the
League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) Grand Finals—a rematch against the same G2 Esports that defeated them last week. With an improved game plan and many lessons learned from their last match, the French organization now prepares to deliver an explosive showdown for the European crowd in hopes of clinching their first LEC trophy. In an exclusive interview, the team's head coach,
Rehareha "Reha" Ramanana, reflects on the match against Fnatic, addresses his shortcomings last week, and shares a message of hope ahead of the rematch with G2.
After Game 3 and Fnatic’s two consecutive wins, were you worried?
Rehareha "Reha" Ramanana: "It’s a best-of-five, so there’s always pressure in game 5, but worries, no. The main focus was on anticipating the draft for the last game. The longer a BO5 goes on, the more creative you have to be to find the right solutions. I’m quite happy because we had some great discussions and came up with the right answers.
So, no fear, but stress, yes. There’s always some before a series, whether it’s for me or the players. We’re used to these kinds of situations... Well, maybe not "used to", but we know how to handle the high pressure and game 5s. It’s neither the first nor the last time. What I’m satisfied with is that we managed to reset ourselves for game 5, and that’s a very good thing.
Karmine Corp bows to the crowd after defeating Fnatic. Credit: Michal Konkol/Riot Games
Do you think Karmine Corp can beat G2 tomorrow if they play like they did today against Fnatic?
Reha: That’s a good question. If we play the same way, it’s likely to go very badly. We really need to improve on several points. A BO5 elimination match isn’t just about playing well; it’s also about adapting to the opponent and maintaining a high level of performance. It will depend on the games, the drafts, and our state at the time.
The goal is obviously to win, so we need to build a game plan that allows us to contest them better than last week. Adapting
to what happened is a priority. Can we win playing like today? It’s kind of a trick question, but as a coach, there are many things I’d like us to improve on. The most important thing today was that, in game 5, we showed our best level, and that’s what we did.
During your first match against G2, some believed the difference came from the team’s preparation. Is that something you felt, and do you think you are better prepared for the rematch tomorrow?
Reha: It’s obvious. I think my preparation of last week's match wasn’t good enough. It was too limited, and we didn’t have enough in-depth preparation. As a result, game 4 was a disaster. Today, that wasn’t the case: we had more strategies, more champions, and more ideas.
It remains a collective effort; we have to keep having these discussions. Regarding game 4 against G2, clearly, they were better prepared, with plans already established and discussed beforehand. Our drafts in games 1, 2, and 3 weren’t unbalanced though. They can think what they want, but we were very confident with those drafts. We lost with champions we’re not used to losing with, whether in scrims or official matches. It happens.
Game 4 was a big reality check, forcing us to rethink our approach. It’s a BO5, and today, we played five games. Last week, before the match, we thought that if it went to five games, we were done. That wasn’t the case at all today. We had good discussions, constructive reflections, and better anticipation of certain situations in game 5.
Today, we had to be creative, especially with champion picks, and it worked out well. We worked hard this week, reevaluated our approach, and had important discussions. It paid off against Fnatic. We played five games, but I think game 4 was debatable because we gave them too much comfort. On the other hand, game 5 was clearly very much in our favor.
Reha steps onto the stage. Credit: Wojciech Wandzel/Riot Games
Since the match against G2, Caliste has been critical of himself. How do you feel about the team’s atmosphere today compared to last week? Do you think this experience will help him improve even further?
Reha: Yes, for sure. I think we weren’t very good individually last week. Caliste, of course, knows it, and he talked about it. But this is part of League of Legends. There will be matches where we play very well, and others where we won’t be as good. We can work on consistency and try to always be at our best level. But we know very well that Caliste is a player with a very high ceiling. Sometimes, things won’t go well, like last week, and we shouldn’t worry too much about that.
I think the atmosphere before G2 was a bit too overconfident. We were really confident, thinking things would go well. But it’s normal — we’ll always have a few reality check moments throughout the season, like in week 3 against Vitality and BDS. It happens. We were very confident, and in the end, we got caught with our pants down. If you don’t work enough or neglect certain aspects, you’re definitely going to get caught out. The LEC is high-level.
But we need these moments because we’re still a young team. Personally, I’m still a young coach; this is my second year as head coach. Well, it’s not that I need these moments, but there’s still this learning curve to be at the top. I saw that against G2, I had some reflections. It’s not necessarily the preparation, but rather that some of our thoughts weren’t deep enough. We got caught because our opponents had better anticipated what could happen.
The atmosphere we have now is good. We know we can do it, we can win, but it requires a level of concentration, focus, and work that needs to progressively increase depending on the quality of the teams we face. We need to reach that level, period.
What are your expectations for tomorrow? Do you think it will be a close match or a smoother one? Are the players excited for the match?
Reha: I think the players are very excited for the match. We’re playing in a final, and a final is all about winning, period. There’s no other way to prepare or play. It’s hard to predict tomorrow’s score.
For me, the most important thing is to come in with the best possible mindset, give our best performance, get a good night’s sleep, and shake off the adrenaline from playing five games. Then, we need to immediately prepare for game 1 and be ready for all scenarios. The match could easily go to five games, or it could be over in three. A lot can happen, so it’s up to us to work well. I think it could be close, but it might not be. In any case, yes, I’m anticipating a victory on our side, that’s clear.
Reha will once again face off against Dylan Falco, G2’s head coach. Credit: Wojciech Wandzel/Riot Games
Reha: Thank you for your support, thank you for the strength you give us, and thank you for the energy you bring to all the players. I think it was definitely a bit of a disappointment last week to get shut down by G2, but today, we managed to bounce back, we showed some good things, and now we’re focused on the next step.
Personally, I love playing in finals. That was the goal of the season: to be a team capable of winning the title, and I really believe we are. Now it’s up to us to make it happen. G2 is a tough opponent, and we need your strength and support tomorrow."
Header Photo Credit: Michal Konkol/Riot Games
