Photo: Michal Konkol
The master of the transfer window, Wooloo, launched a veritable nuclear bomb on the networks. While his smallest tweets are scrutinized, dissected and interpreted, the one who sent Hans Sama to Karmine Corp provoked a lot of reactions within the community. The majority of supporters were thrilled to celebrate the return of the French child prodigy to France, after his eventful experience in North America. But, there is also a minority part, which mourns the (probable) departure of Rekkles, less than a year after his arrival. In this story, between Karmine, Hans-Sama and Rekkleswho would really win?
La Karmine Corp: a sporting question and a question of image
This is surely the part for which it is the most complicated to decide, especially because in esports, we are often “result-oriented” and that we have to wait to have a little perspective to judge. However, we can’t really complain about the structure, which would have a choice of king to make between Rekkles and Hans-Sama, two of the best ADCs in European history. To know who would bring the most to the team, two dimensions must be studied: the sporting dimension (level of play, results, etc.) and the non-sporting dimension (marketing, image, communication, etc.).
- At the sporting level : at the risk of being hit on it, we would tend to give a hand to Hans-Sama. Rekkles is a very great player who has nothing more to prove and he has experience and titles on his side. But mechanically in 2022, the Frenchman does not have much to envy him. Above all, you have to look at the style of play. The Swede tends more and more to want to play weakside, which is also why Jankos gave his team an ultimatum at the time of G2 . Hans Sama, whether at Rogue or at Team Liquid, knows how to be more dominating in the lane phase and his pool champion is also very supplied (Séraphine). The level of play is equivalent, but we would favor the freshness and flexibility of the Frenchman with a short head.
- Image level : theoretically, no one can compete with Rekkles which remains an international benchmark in esports. Hans Sama on his side is of a more discreet nature and he exposes himself much less in the media. Moreover, getting rid of the Swede when he was supposed to “stay for the long term” gives critics food for thought. But Hans Sama still has a narrative arc that balances the scales. Rekkles tried to learn French, but Hans Sama IS French ! It’s always a plus to talk to the blue wall community and when you add the darling’s return to Europe from his failed exile in NA into the equation, Hans totally balances the argument.
Draw for the image but advantage Hans for the sportsman. On our side, we would therefore rather tend to say that the Karmine Corp y would gain in exchange !
Hans Sama: the perfect place to relaunch your career
For Hans-Sama, the equation is quite easy to solve. Currently, he finds himself in a delicate situation. His season in North America was disappointing and while he was supposed to join the Liquid superteam to win trophies and go far at the Worlds, his record is very poor… top 4 in the Summer, he won’t even be at the Worlds this year ! The CEO of Team Liquid has also announced that there will be a change in the team’s roster and we can reasonably think that the Frenchman is in the hot seat… some rumors are also suggesting that the Team botlane Liquid Academy would be promoted to LCS.
In this context, Hans Sama must find a exit door and the Karmine Corp seems to be the ideal destination, provided of course that it obtains this famous place in the LEC. While Europeans who go to NA and fail to succeed are often riddled with criticism, joining the KC and its incredible fanbase would be the most effective shield! In addition, in LFL, the Karmine Corp has managed to glean a lot of titles: 3 EUM and 1 LFL. The LEC is another story, but Hans Sama needs to win titles to ensure his legacy and you can’t find a more ambitious team than K.C. currently. And beyond the athlete, joining the Karmine Corp is also the assurance of making furious statistics in stream and on the networks. For Hans, it is therefore only profit, if LEC there is.
Rekkles: it all depends on its future destination
In this story, it is surely Rekkles who has the most to lose. The probable end of his adventure with Karmine Corp is a bit disappointing and we feel that there is a disenchantment at worst, a disinterest at best, growing on the part of the structure’s fans. Sportingly speaking, he failed to pull the team up, despite the European title in the spring. The Swede is obviously not the only one to blame and some of the criticism directed at him is unfair. But the world of esports is cruel, just like that of social networks. Rekkles’ departure would therefore be through the back door… And even if he gave of his person and his aura to boost the Karmine Corp phenomenon, we have the impression that the structure will not have succeeded in him. equivalently restart the elevator. It’s hard to know what’s going on internally, but at the moment and from an outside perspective, it looks a bit like ADC is being pushed out, because the organization has found better elsewhere. It’s definitely a bit hard for the ego and it’s not clear how Rekkles could come out on top in this story.
Obviously, the future destination of the player could more or less console his fans. But while the top LEC teams seem bites (Rogue, G2, Fnatic…), tickets are very expensive. We know what we lose, but we never know what we gain.