“I’m not leaving with any regrets” - N4RRATE on KC’s Shanghai exit

EMEA’s first seed has been eliminated from VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 - Champions Shanghai. Karmine Corp fell to Nongshim RedForce in the final elimination match of Group D. They are the second EMEA team to fall in the Group Stage, following Team Liquid's exit in the match before.

THESPIKE sat down with KC’s Marshall "N4RRATE" Massey after the match to talk about the elimination and KC’s journey to Champs.

“I mean, to be honest, I'm not really feeling anything. I guess I'm not feeling sad. Obviously I'm not feeling happy that we lost. But I feel like, at least for myself, I played and I'm not leaving with any regrets, to be honest.”

Nongshim too sharp for KC

The match against NS started well for KC with a win on Sunset, but as the series continued, NS woke up and stumped KC in their tracks. From N4RRATE’s perspective, KC had more to give but couldn’t regain their composure to close the match out. Their attack sides were a major problem as NS put together an incredible defensive performance.

THESPIKE: Do you have any reflections on what was missing in this match?

N4RRATE: “I mean, Nongshim, I would say they play pretty good. On the first map they were definitely a bit offline. And then, as the series kept going, they kind of got better and better. They made better decisions. They shot way better.

I think overall, kind of just didn't really follow. There are just a lot of times where we're caught out individually or we're not making a decision together as a team. So like, we'll be in a decent spot to win the round, but we won't make a good enough scenario for us to actually win the round.

I think we played against certain teams in practice and stuff, we didn't really know how to play against some of these teams. We normally play pretty slow on attack and against these teams, we actually need to play much faster and be able to abuse their rotations. Or they have like a weak comp for taking mains. And we were kind of unsure of what to do.“

THESPIKE: Can you describe a little bit about your run and what you're happy with?

N4RRATE: We went from a 0-5 team (in Stage 1) to winning VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 - EMEA Stage 2. Obviously that's like just a crazy turnaround from, you know, like being at the very bottom to the very top. For Champs. I mean, I'd say we came in with no expectations, but I feel even still, it feels like we could have gone further.

It feels like a bit short lived, at Champs. I feel like we definitely could have played more and had more games. But yeah, overall, like our journey is insane."

VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 - Champions Shanghai

Karmine Corp

1

X

2

Nongshim RedForce

Group D - Decider Match, Best of 3 - October 3, 2026 - 11:30AM

13

Sunset

9

5

Summit

13

6

Haven

13

Karmine Corp

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

N4RRATE

1.12

227

50/40/6

+10

1.25

71.1%

149.7

36%

62%

13

8

LêwN

0.97

211

44/48/10

-4

0.92

65.8%

135.2

30%

38%

8

13

SUYGETSU

0.94

191

41/40/11

+1

1.03

70.6%

126.9

35%

63%

5

3

avez

0.91

182

37/47/15

-10

0.79

62.1%

119.7

33%

67%

4

2

dos9

0.73

139

27/46/25

-19

0.59

70.8%

91.5

18%

50%

2

2

Nongshim RedForce

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

Dambi

1.30

267

53/44/19

+9

1.20

77.7%

166.4

31%

50%

10

10

Rb

1.18

199

46/34/26

+12

1.35

81.5%

119.1

33%

0%

0

1

Ivy

1.08

198

42/36/20

+6

1.17

73.5%

118.7

26%

75%

6

2

Xross

0.99

215

45/40/11

+5

1.13

83.7%

144.5

29%

33%

3

6

Francis

0.79

173

35/45/11

-10

0.78

69.7%

103.5

18%

38%

8

13

Almost quit the 2026 season

Back in March, N4RRATE was dropped from Sentinels after a rough VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 - Americas Kickoff run. Afterwards, N4RRATE admitted that he was close to calling it quits for the rest of the 2026 season. However, he decided to keep competing, returning to his old EMEA team, KC.

Looking back on the decision, N4RRATE sees both the positive and negative sides of choosing not to take a break.

THESPIKE: You admitted to it almost like deciding not to play anymore, competitively. And now you made it to champs, you won a regional title. How do you look back on your decision to continue playing?

N4RRATE: “It wasn't like I was going to retire. It was either join a team for Stage 1 or not join a team for Stage 1 or Stage 2 and just kind of take the rest of the year off and then try to go again for the year after.

In hindsight, the decision I would just say is just a bad decision for me because I don't think I was in the best state to compete. And I think it showed kind of in Stage 1 a bit.[...]

And I think that my decision is just kind of lucky a bit that we were able to turn it around so hard and be able to become like such a good team. Obviously I don't regret my decision, but I wouldn't call it a smart decision.”

THESPIKE: How do you look at competing further, like next year?

N4RRATE: “I plan to compete further. It's hard to say what is going to happen in the future because the competitive scene is going to change a bit because of things like the VCT changing and stuff. So I'm not sure how it will impact our team or other teams around us. So it'll definitely be an interesting thing to see. But if everything goes well, obviously I should be competing."

Grateful for KC

N4RRATE has competed for KC two times in his VALORANT career, and he is grateful for the organization and the support he has received from both the staff and the fans. When THESPIKE asked if he was happy he made his way back to KC and all the way to Champs, the answer was clear.

N4RRATE: “Yeah, of course. I think any other team would not be as important for me. I mean, out of any org that deserves it, I think KC does, because I think they support their players very well.

And obviously like my teammates and my coaching staff, I feel like I trust them and they do a good job and they trust me. And I think it's just like a good environment to be in, especially like, you know, like some orgs are just a bit disconnected from their players. But I think this org is very connected and they know what's going on and they're trying to make the best for everybody.”

Last message to the fans

As the 2026 season officially ends for KC, N4RRATE has one last message for the fans who believed in them throughout their 2026 VCT journey:

“Thank you all for supporting us. I'm sorry this journey is going to end soon, but hopefully we gave you some hope in the VALORANT section because I know you guys were hating on it. So hopefully we give you guys some hope and hopefully you guys will continue watching us in 2027.”

For more VCT interviews, stay tuned to THESPIKE.GG.

Featured images source: Lee Aiksoon/ Games.