MAD Lions KOI hates Karmine Corp? Here’s why there’s drama

The 2024 LEC season might be defined by a blood feud between fan-favorite organizations MAD Lions KOI and Karmine Corp publicly butting heads.

Spain and France have sent their best representatives to Summoner’s Rift and there is a winner. The match between Mad Lions KOI and Karmine Corp was one of the most anticipated in the Winter calendar in the LEC. The tension started to rise ahead of the match when KCorp’s head coach Jakob “YamatoCannon” Mebdi and MadKOI’s owner Ibai “Ibai” Llanos exchanged some harsh words on social media.

Those harsh words led into a blockbuster match in the first week of LEC action. With one team backed by one of the biggest Twitch streamers in the world and the other having a loud fanbase, there could be a contentious year ahead for the top league in Europe.

What is the drama between MAD Lions KOI and KCorp?

The Karmine Corp and MAD Lions KOI drama began after a social media spat between the teams’ ownership and staff.

The beef started with a post by Marc “Caedrel” Lamont. In the post, Caedrel talked about the new excitement in the LEC and how the Kcorp and MadKOI’s fans are contributing to it. YamatoCannon replied saying he thought KOI was in the league in 2023. The comment didn’t sit well with Ibai who immediately replied.

“Yes, we were in the LEC. Our co-stream usually averaged 100,000 viewers. I can imagine you noticed this at some point, we were always number one on Twitch. Or maybe you were too busy trying to trick another team into signing you?” Ibai wrote back at YamatoCannon, after the latter questioned whether these viewers were Ibai fans or fans of the team.

From there, the drama between MAD Lions KOI escalated with YamatoCannon calling out KOI’s lack of impact in the European scene. Founded in 2021, KOI joined Spain’s SuperLiga, where its best performance was fourth place. KOI joined the LEC after signing a short-lived partnership agreement with Rogue’s parent company. Kcorp on the other hand, achieved multiple EMEA Masters and LFL titles since its creation in 2020.

The stage was set for one of the most exciting matches of 2024 in the LEC. Fans filled the new Riot Games Arena in Berlin and cheered at the top of their lungs for their favorite teams. In the end, MadKOI came out victorious.

Even in defeat, the Kcorp fans raised their voices, booing jungler Javier “Elyoya” Prades during an interview. The jungler had a positive reaction to it, asking the fans to keep it coming since the reaction brought more excitement to the LEC as a whole.

Karmine Corp disappoints in LEC debut

In the recent years, Kcorp has established itself as a popular brand in the amateur European scene. In its LEC debut, the team failed to meet the fans’ expectations.

Kcorp started its LEC journey with three consecutive defeats, ending the week with a loss to MAD Lions KOI after taking losses from Fnatic and G2 Esports. Despite reinforcing its LFL roster with veteran ADC Elia “Upset” Lipp, Kcorp may not represent a real threat on Summoner’s Rift.

The three defeats played out the same way with the individual players making critical mistakes. There are two weeks left in the 2024 LEC Winter Season group stage. Kcorp must win every match in the upcoming weeks to keep its playoffs hopes alive. MadKOI currently sits in a five-way tie for second place with two victories.