‘I want to be a leader’: Yike is forging his own path with Karmine Corp after split with G2

The 2024 offseason was one of significance for Martin “Yike” Sundelin, with the multi-time LEC champion finding a new home after departing G2. The kings of Europe once again bombed out of the 2024 World Championship in October, leaving them no choice but to make changes. 

For Yike, this meant a new but potentially scary chapter, forging a career outside the G2 norm of consistent success. It wasn’t long before Yike joined a team, however, with Karmine Corp picking up the former G2 jungler as part of their own revamped roster. Yike is taking on a different role, though, and in an exclusive with Dot Esports, he detailed how he wants to forge his own path as a leader for this new Karmine Corp team. 

To be a leader, the Swedish jungler will have to prove to his teammates that they can do what many have failed to do before them: beat G2 when it matters most. To do so, Karmine Corp need to be at their very best this season. Yike has an opportunity to not only take the sting out of his former team but also establish his own team as a leading force. To get to this stage, Yike will have to establish how he wants to play the game. “G2 wanted me to be the kind of player that can do my own thing,” Yike said. “I can be creative and play my rare champions and take over the games that way. I feel I still have it in me.”

Going to a new team can be intimidating for a player, but when we spoke to Yike, he already felt like he was home. “All the players, the staff, have been amazing.” he told Dot. “It’s a very nice team atmosphere.” The jungler wasn’t able to play in KCX3, an event hosted by Karmine Corp in September featuring KC’s Rocket League, VALORANT, League of Legends, and Super Smash Bros players. Yike did say, however, that he was given the VIP treatment. “It’s been amazing ever since I came to KCX and I met everyone there. I got to experience the crowd and the show match. I couldn’t play, sadly, but I was in the VIP room watching them so that was very nice.”

With the 24-year-old jungler already feeling at home, it was time to get to work for Karmine Corp. In his first game for KC, Yike had the opportunity to enact revenge on his old organization at the 2024 Red Bull League of Its Own event in December. The former G2 star did not let the past distract him in their match, setting up his teammates for success with a 0/0/11 scoreline. He has a very personal goal in mind for the 2025 season: “Keep beating G2 as many times as possible.”

Yike has already shown veteran qualities throughout his time on G2. The jungler played various champions in season 14 from supportive picks like Ivern and Maokai to more aggressive picks like Vi and Lillia. “My goal is always to be best at the strongest champions and whatever champ is strong I’m going to be good at to make sure it’s as hard as possible for the enemy team,” Yike said.

This shows a level of maturity most young players don’t possess for a very long time; Yike wants to be the leader of his team. And with two teenagers on the roster in Vladimiros “Vladi” Kourtidis and Caliste “Caliste” Henry-Hennebert, Yike needs to be able to prove a pillar for them to lean on. “I want to be more of a leader. We have a team where we have two young players in Vladi and Caliste, and we also have Canna from Korea, who doesn’t speak English fluently. So me and Targamas want to take the role of being like more of the leaders in the team,” he said.

“I just want to be a team where every single team fears us, same as G2 last year where every team feared us.” This is the path the jungler is trying to forge as he steps out of the shadow of the most dominant organization in Western League history. Yike gets the opportunity to write the first official page of that story when he takes on G2 on the final day of week one of the LEC Winter split.