Former LEC champion leaves Excel—and clears path for homecoming with Karmine Corp

After a terribly disappointing start to the year, one of Europe’s rising sophomore talents might be making a return to the League of Legends organization that helped put him on the map.

Raphaël “Targamas” Crabbé has parted ways with Excel Esports today after only spending a single season with the team. He hopped on board during the 2022 offseason, adding even higher expectations to the once-promising roster alongside Andrei “Odoamne” Pascu, up-and-coming mid laner Vincent “Vetheo” Berrié, and veterans like AD carry Patrik Jírů and jungler Andrei “Xerxe” Dragomir.

Even though the team featured so much talent, the individual starpower couldn’t click at all during the 2023 Winter Split, causing the team to fall into last place during the regular season with only a single win over nine games. The 22-year-old support was soon replaced on the starting roster after such a disastrous start, leaving him benched for the entirety of the 2023 Spring Split.

Related: Excel is reportedly only making one roster move after finishing last in back-to-back LEC splits

Targamas responded to Excel’s goodbye post on social media, surprising fans with a relatively cold message on his way out of the organization. Shortly after, Karmine Corp revealed its starting roster for the upcoming summer, including Targamas in the bottom lane alongside AD carry Caliste Henry-Hennebert

Targamas is well-known for his time with Karmine Corp as the starting support for the organization when they swept through their debut year by winning the 2021 LFL Spring Playoffs, and back-to-back European Masters trophies. The young support will also be reuniting with jungler Jakub “Cinkrof” Rokicki, who was also on that 2021 Karmine Corp roster when the team dominated the ERL scene.

The Blue Wall will be hoping for better fortunes now that they’ve brought back a couple of familiar faces to the lineup. These past few seasons have been a far cry from their debut year, with the last Spring Split ending in a disappointing ninth place finish. As these players return home, the KC faithful are now hoping for a return to the top of the mountain in France.