SK Jopa: "Being one of the worst teams completely sucks for sure"

With a high chance of being eliminated following their defeat against Karmine Corp, SK Gaming's AD Carry, Jopa, spoke with Sheep Esports after the match.

"We need to change our perspective and now go step by step and work our way up"

Defeated by

Karmine Corp

on Monday at the end of the fourth week of the regular season in the LEC Spring Split 2026,

SK Gaming

now sees their playoff hopes almost completely disappear. The team will have just one match left in Week 6 against Team Vitality and will need a miracle and a perfect alignment of results to keep their season alive.

Among the few positives of the split, AD Carry

Josip “Jopa” Čančar

has delivered several strong performances. Despite the disappointment surrounding results that fell short of the team’s expectations, the Croatian player spoke with Sheep Esports about how the season has unfolded so far.

What is your first feeling after this game?

Josip "Jopa" Čančar: “I don't know, it kind of sucks to lose, but we just didn’t show up this split, so it was kind of expected.

With this loss, you're almost sure to be eliminated from the spring split. I guess you expected much more from your team. What would you say is your biggest disappointment during this split?

Jopa: We just did not show up for two splits in a row, and didn’t make playoffs. Being one of the worst teams completely sucks for sure. I think we just did not improve as a team fast enough. We did not align, I guess. And, the other teams are just better than us.

Over three series that you lost there was three of them where you won the first map and didn't win behind. Can you think of a match, a game you think you should have won but you didn't and might have cost you a qualification for playoff?

Jopa: For sure those early games against like NAVI, Heretics, even maybe GIANTX and things like those were series that we had to win if we wanted to make playoff. We won one game, and then we would either troll the gameplay or maybe the draft isn’t optimal, but yeah, we just did not show up when we had to, especially in those early games. Also, with the schedule, we played the weakest teams early on, so weeks one, two, and three we needed to play really well, and then you play the top teams later on. We just lost at the beginning of the split and then it's a bit hard to recover because you need to beat GX, MKOI, Fnatic, you need to beat G2, KC, Vitality, all the top teams lined up. So, yeah, it sucks that we threw away the opportunity at the beginning of the split, and now it's like that.

Do you still feel like you improved during the split?

Jopa: As a team, for sure, we improved some things that in winter we were bad at. We could see it, but the improvement rate was just not fast enough compared to other teams. And personally, yeah, I could feel the difference. I think I was more comfortable in the game and understanding what's happening and what's my role. So, yeah, I’ve got to take the best out of it.

From the outside, it doesn't seem that your team has such a bad atmosphere, at least for a struggling team. How would you describe the atmosphere of your team? Do you think you're still as confident in your gameplay and game style as in the beginning?

Jopa: The atmosphere in the team is pretty decent. We can always laugh or be in a good mood. I think a lot of teams with these kinds of results would go through a lot of suffering. For sure we suffer sometimes in scrims and in officials if we are playing really badly, but outside of the game, I think the mood is really good, and we like each other. And for the future, we just need to reset and prepare for summer and see what the issues are, how we want to move forward, how to improve, and how to be good for summer.

You've been trying different compositions during this split with
Adam "LIDER" Ilyasov
playing mainly different types of champions, as it can be mages or, today, like Diana and assassins. Do you feel like right now your team found out their real gameplay identity?

Jopa: I think we are still not sure. We are still trying, but we're losing a lot of games, so you're not really sure what is working and what is not working, but I think we improved on what we want or what we need for LIDER picks or when LIDER needs to play mages for the team and things like those. We are getting better in that sense, but if you're losing a lot of games, it's hard to say what's working and what is not.

On a personal side, it's still your first year in LEC and you played pretty well sometimes. A lot of people didn't expect you at the level you've been showing. Are you satisfied with your own performances during this split?

Jopa: Not really, to be honest. I think I'm not playing the best. I know I can do much better. During some games, I should have been carrying or do better. For sure I'm not satisfied with the level that I've shown, but I'm still getting used to it, getting comfortable with the stage, and I'm looking to get better.

Are you interested in or do you think you can claim the Rookie of the Year title by the end of the season?

Jopa: I don't think so. I don't think I deserve it, and yeah, overall I don't think I should get it.

Your team had great ambitions in the beginning of the year, your coach and teammates were talking about qualifying for Worlds and maybe more. Now that this is the second split, you haven’t been able to qualify for playoffs, do you feel like you will need to lower your expectations?

Jopa: I think now it's more about taking things step by step and seeing. Of course, the level that we thought we would be and the level we showed did not match, so, for sure. We need to change our perspective and now go step by step and work our way up.

You have been working from Cologne since the beginning of the split and you travel to Berlin during the weekends for the games. How has it been to work for you when you travel from Cologne to Berlin and how do you use this to work?

Jopa: I thought it would be worse, to be honest, but we have Wi-Fi in the bus, SK gave us laptops, we have tables to put the laptops on, so if you want to work during the travel with VOD review or things like those, you can easily do it, there's no issues with that. It just depends from person to person how they want to use their time; there's some people who are carsick, so they're more focused on well-being, but I think overall, honestly, it's better than I expected.

Do you think it's an efficient method to work given the circumstances?

Jopa: I don't think it's a deal breaker to be honest. I think if you're a good team, it won't make you bad; if you're a bad team, it's not like it’s going to destroy you or anything, it's just completely fine.”