“This loss is important” — avez on KC’s first defeat at Champions

Karmine Corp, EMEA’s first seed, suffered their first loss at VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 - Champions Shanghai. Although they took an early lead, their opponents, NRG, fought back and secured their spot in the playoffs.

After the game, KC’s IGL, Hazem "avez" Khaled, spoke to THESPIKE about their troubles on the server, their switch-up from VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 - EMEA Stage 1, and much more.

Important loss

For their second match, KC faced the reigning champions, NRG. It turned out to be a much tougher opponent than their last matchup against Xi Lai Gaming. Even though the match ended in a loss for KC, avez viewed it as an important and necessary match.

“We didn't play that good today, but NRG played pretty well to be honest. There were so many rounds that we should have kind of converted, and if we were our usual selves, we would for sure win it. But yeah, for me, like this loss is important to be honest. Because if you actually want to win champs, we need to get these mistakes cleared early. So yeah, I'd like to be honest, I'm not that sad. I'm pretty sure we're gonna bounce back and learn from this game.”

THESPIKE: Is that something you as a team are very strong in, like the mentality to come back?

avez: “Yeah, I think we have insane mental resilience. We showed it multiple times and today actually it almost worked. I mean, we lost not because we were feeling bad or something. We actually bounced back pretty well mentally. But we still need to improve some stuff inside the game.“

VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 - Champions Shanghai

Karmine Corp

1

X

2

NRG

Group D - Winners Match, Best of 3 - September 29, 2026 - 12:30PM

13

Ascent

7

11

Summit

13

9

Haven

13

Karmine Corp

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

avez

1.00

189

43/44/19

-1

0.98

75.1%

132.2

28%

30%

3

7

SUYGETSU

0.94

188

46/41/13

+5

1.12

72.8%

124.1

35%

46%

6

7

LêwN

0.89

189

46/46/6

0

1.00

74.0%

117.3

28%

63%

15

9

dos9

0.83

146

35/37/26

-2

0.95

84.6%

99.4

30%

20%

1

4

N4RRATE

0.79

179

39/50/15

-11

0.78

73.1%

119.7

28%

47%

8

9

NRG

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

Ethan

1.08

192

44/42/33

+2

1.05

80.2%

122.4

25%

38%

3

5

mada

1.00

200

47/46/19

+1

1.02

76.8%

124.3

23%

48%

14

15

brawk

0.98

199

44/40/20

+4

1.10

77.0%

123.2

14%

78%

7

2

Keiko

0.91

184

42/39/16

+3

1.08

75.1%

114.5

25%

50%

8

8

skuba

0.86

153

36/42/22

-6

0.86

75.9%

103.6

34%

33%

1

2

Big switch between stages

In EMEA Stage 1, KC finished in 11th place with a 0-5 record. In VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 - EMEA Stage 2, however, they were crowned regional champions in Barcelona. Between the stages, all five players on the roster stayed on the squad. The only change was a head coach switch, with Andre "ENGH" Sholokhov leaving and Ahmed "ZE1SH" El Sheikh being promoted from assistant coach to head coach.

For avez, the success in Stage 2 was a result of role swaps and how the team approaches the game.

THESPIKE: Stage one was very bad for you and stage two, you won it all. What's the biggest change between the stages?

avez: "I think we got an infinite amount of more confidence. We are so much more confident right now. Me and Marshall "N4RRATE" Massey also swapped roles. And I think this helped a lot because his Chamber is very, very good, also his Phoenix. It helped me kind of to also focus on myself as an initiator if I'm going to IGL. And yeah, overall, like the way we're thinking about the game, especially me, It changed a lot from split one. That's why I think we improved a bit."

THESPIKE: What did you change like when you looked at the game from the stages?

avez: "I just changed the way we approach officials, the way we approach scrims, the way we approach specific maps and agents and how to use them properly. Also there's a lot of things that ENGH taught us or me even and it's working for us right now. And ZE1SH is for sure doing an insane job. I think if we didn't have ZE1SH, we wouldn't even get to this level. So he's a very, very important piece for us."

THESPIKE: I was gonna ask that too about the coach swap. If that was a part of it that made it the team better?

avez: "I don't think it's the main reason at all. Like, I still think ENGH is an insane coach, to be honest. I just think we as players stepped up. And ZE1SH also helped us to be honest because he understood how to use me specifically and N4RRATE, for example, how to use us correctly. And this is why maybe it is working, but I don't think the coaching staff change was the main thing that made us win like this."

Do or die

After their loss against NRG, KC still have to win one game to qualify for the playoffs. If they don’t close out their next match, they’ll have to leave Shanghai early.

The match will be either against Nongshim RedForce or XLG. For avez, the pressure of having to play an elimination game is nothing to worry about.

THESPIKE: Next up is do or die basically. Do you prepare for that in any kind of way? Or do you just look at it as another game?

avez: "I think it's just like another game for sure. It's going to be more on the line, more pressure. But we have already been in this position before and we know how to play in this type of pressure. I'm not scared at all of the next game. I think we're going to do so much better than today. We saw this against Fnatic in split two when we lost. We also lost very, very close game and we managed to come back and we literally stomped every other single team. So I'm pretty sure it will be so much better now."

Nongshim in the crosshairs

Since KC already bested XLG 2-0 in their opening game of Group D, avez wants to face NS in their next match. Both teams have similar playstyles, and the IGL thinks it could be a fun game.

While avez would like the game to be as soon as possible because of the schedule, there are still a couple of days left until their match on October 3.

THESPIKE: Do you think NS’s playstyle is more fun to play against or how does it match with your playstyle?

avez: "They're also playing very loose. They're playing a very fast game kind of style. We know how to play against the style. But for example, today NRG played a little bit fast on Haven. We couldn't really adjust. So that's why I think it's actually a pretty good game for us, because we're going to make sure to fix how to play like a fast paced team like Nongshim."

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

Featured image source: Riot Games.