Karmine Corp have secured a spot in the 2022 European Masters Spring finals after defeating Vitality Bee in a tight five-game series yesterday. The team will play their third consecutive EUM final following victories in both iterations of the tournament in 2021.
This time, however, Karmine Corp are the underdogs coming into the finals since the squad lost the majority of their series against their forthcoming opponent this season. LDLC OL are the clear favorites having yet to lose a game in the tournament.
The semifinal series that saw Karmine Corp match up against Vitality Bee—EUM’s fourth seed—was closely fought. The teams had already faced in the LFL Spring Split, so they were well aware of each other’s preferred playstyles and strategies.
Vitality Bee kicked off the series by winning the first two games. They operated strong vision management and successfully countered every engage from Karmine Corp, spearheaded by jungler Skeanz on Lee Sin, who showcased mechanical prowess throughout the series.
The team slowed down during the midgame of the first two games and lost a portion of their advantage but ended up clawing back to make the final push on KC’s Nexus. Top laner Szygenda was the standout player in those two wins. He solo-killed KC top laner Cabochard in the first game and dominated the Rift on Akali in the second.
Karmine Corp, however, made the comeback. With their backs against the wall, they managed to adjust to Vitality Bee’s strategy, and, for the first time in the third game, they held the gold advantage at 15 minutes.
“What lacked in both first games was our way of taking vision,” Cabochard said in the post-game interview. He explained Vitality anticipated their moves due to key wards that were placed on the map, but Karmine adjusted to this in the third game of the series. KC mid laner Saken snowballed on Viktor, claiming the lion’s share of the team’s kills and dealing 47.6 percent of the squad’s total damage, according to stats site Games of Legends.
Top laner Cabochard then took the lead in the last two games of the series with his signature pick, Renekton. Alongside 113’s Volibear, they cut through Vitality and prevented their carries from making an impact. Vitality tried a poke composition in the last game but were overwhelmed by Karmine’s tanks and couldn’t execute their strategy, which ultimately led to Karmine pulling off the reverse sweep.
Karmine Corp will play LDLC OL on Saturday, May 7 at 10am CT in the EUM final, where they will look to claim their third consecutive title.
Published: May 5, 2022 03:00 am