Karmine Corp replace Elite with pyrolll to fuel hopes for qualifying to Champions Paris

As VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - EMEA Stage 2 enters its final week of group stage, Karmine Corp have made the bold move to replace Efe "Elite" Teber with Artur "pyrolll" Minin. This move follows a 2-0 loss to Natus Vincere: a wake up call for the French organization to make sure the team qualifies to VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Valorant Champions in Paris.

A mediocre year for KC

KC fans were filled with hope at the start of 2025, with the addition of a world-champion IGL in Matias "Saadhak" Delipetro and legendary sentinel player Dmitry "SUYGETSU" Ilyushin. Yet the season has not gone as expected for the organization: despite their brief appearance in EWC VALORANT - Esports World Cup 2025, KC failed to qualify to the first two VCT events of the year, VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Masters Bangkok 2025 and VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Masters Toronto 2025.

KC continue to be mediocre in Stage 2, currently standing with a 2-2 record. Although the team played a close opening game against one of the best teams in the world in Fnatic, KC were only able to take 2-1 wins against the two worst performing teams in their group, KOI and Apeks. While KC are very likely to squeeze into the playoffs stage, their lack of sufficient Championship Points means that they must come Top 2 in the playoffs bracket to book their ticket to Paris. In a region with the powerhouse Fnatic and a Team Heretics that have seemed to find their footing, this is no easy feat.

Elite for pyrolll

Despite KC's mediocre performance this season, Elite was never a glaring issue for the team. The Turkish sentinel player has always been known for his firepower, and that consistent firepower has remained prominent all throughout this year. A lack of cohesion has been the main issue plaguing the team, something that has been holding them back from a podium finish. KC is an amazing team on paper with the best shooters in the region and a world-class IGL, yet the team never seemed to properly gel together.

pyrolll, an Estonian smokes player, has been playing in VCL Challengers 2025 NORTH//EAST this year, putting up consistent performances across different teams, most notably playing in Zero Tenacity with NAVI's current duelist player Alex "alexiiik" Hawlasek. It is currently unclear whether Suygetsu, who currently plays smokes for the team, will be picking up the sentinel role that he was known for, while pyrolll fills in for smokes, or whether the fresh recruit will be taking up Elite's sentinel duties.

Hometown appearance needed

KC have a lot more incentive to make it to Champions than any other team in the VCT. Champions being held in Paris presents an invaluable opportunity for one of the biggest French gaming organization to make a hometown appearance for millions of French fans. Not only that, but the majority of the tournament until the Finals Weekend will be held in Les Arènes in Évry-Courcouronnes, also known as the Karmine Corp Arena. KC’s biggest wish would be to see their popular VALORANT team compete in their own arena in front of a home crowd.

As such, even though the decision to replace Elite with pyrolll may seem to come out of left field, the organization is throwing a Hail Mary, hoping this move will turn around the team’s lackluster performance and secure a Top 2 finish for a spot at Champions.

KC will debut their new player against Team Liquid, a formidable team in red hot form, on August 15. Taking down such a behemoth could signify that the organization's gamble paid off.

Keep up with THESPIKE.GG to follow Karmine Corp's journey to securing a hometown appearance at Champions, as well as to follow the wrapping up of Stage 2.