A sense of inevitability. At La Défense Arena in Paris — the venue that has hosted its largest gatherings in recent years through the KCX events — Karmine Corp secured, this Sunday in front of its home crowd, the third
Rocket League Major in its history. Undefeated across the entire competition, despite a sluggish start in their opening match against FUT Esports, the Blue Wall prevailed in the grand final against the Saudi side Twisted Minds by a scoreline of 4–1.
Before facing the MENA region’s first seed, KC had already contested what could be described as a final before the final. In the semi-finals, Karmine Corp and Team Vitality maintained suspense until the very end, to the considerable strain of supporters from both sides, present in large numbers inside the arena.
A wake-up call at the perfect moment
Leading 3–1 in the best-of-seven, Axel “Vatira” Touret — part of all three of KC’s Major-winning campaigns and MVP of this edition — and his teammates let two match points slip away, conceding an equaliser in the final seconds before eventually falling in overtime. Repeated errors from the Bees in the decisive game ultimately settled the series, which, as in their first meeting during the group stage, swung in favour of Alexandre “Extra” Paoli’s side.
This outcome, however, was far from obvious at the start of the competition. KC did not enjoy their strongest split, failing to win a single EU Open and finishing in 5th–6th place in their last regional, well below the organisation’s usual standards. Vatira himself had placed the team in the top 4–5 bracket in comments
made to aAa prior to the start of the event. Yet KC’s near-perfect run gradually elevated them into outright favourites.
“Top 1,” declared Charles “juicy” Sabiani after Saturday’s matches in comments given to
Sheep Esports.
Worlds in sight
If KC met expectations, reigning champions Gentle Mates were arguably the disappointment of Sunday. Sent to the lower bracket the day before by the eventual winners, the Boston Major champions fell short in their semi-final against TWIS (2-4).
However, M8 were not the only high-profile underperformers in Paris, as reigning world champions NRG — who had previously silenced the atmosphere at the LDLC Arena in Lyon last September — were eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs. North America’s hopes were then carried by Shopify Rebellion, before being halted in the semi-finals.
With Gentle Mates and Karmine Corp, Europe has clearly regained control of the international landscape. The question now will be whether this trend can be confirmed in September at the Worlds in Fort Worth, Texas. While KC have already secured qualification, the organization has so far never managed to lift the trophy. Before that, however, the club will have the opportunity to further fine-tune its game at the Esports World Cup next August, once again in front of its home crowd.
