Karmine Corp owner Xavier “Kamet0” Dominguez dropped some big news during a recent livestream. He’s considering sending KC’s primary League of Legends roster to South Korea for training during the upcoming LEC Winter Split while fielding a secondary lineup back in Europe.
The move would be a direct protest against Riot’s new Winter Split format. According to multiple reports and Kameto’s own claims, the league will expand to 12 teams for winter only by adding two representatives from the European Regional Leagues.
Kameto didn’t hold back on stream. “What’s stopping me from sending my main roster in Korea for the Winter split?” he asked. The plan would see KC’s best players grinding solo queue and scrims in Korea while academy players fulfill the team’s LEC obligations.
But the real drama came from what Kameto said next. He claimed he broke his NDA to reveal that not a single LEC team agreed to the new format. Riot allegedly pushed it through anyway. He even mentioned that an even more radical alternative format had been discussed internally.
“I’m prepared to be sued for this,” Kameto said. He stressed he has no personal issue with Caedrel, the former pro and creator strongly linked to Los Ratones, the streamer-led team widely seen as the target beneficiary of the winter expansion. Instead, Kameto blamed Riot’s “short-term vision.”
The frustration makes sense from an owner’s perspective. LEC teams paid anywhere from €10m to over €35m for their franchise slots. Now two ERL teams get temporary access to the same stage for free. The format change hits at the core value proposition of the closed league system.
Kameto isn’t alone in his discontent. He claimed KOI is considering the same Korea move, though no formal confirmation from that organization has emerged. He also addressed why a full boycott won’t happen—it would financially destroy orgs that depend on League revenue, KC included.
The practical challenges are significant. Riot controls access to Korean solo queue accounts, which are essential for effective bootcamps. The company could simply refuse to provide them, similar to what reportedly happened when CLG attempted a controversial Korea trip years ago. Quality scrims also depend on whether top Korean teams see value in practicing against a Western squad.
There’s also the CLG precedent to consider. That North American team prioritized a Korea bootcamp late in a split and, according to widespread accounts, came back weaker and underperformed in domestic playoffs. Missing crucial Winter stage time could hurt KC’s synergy heading into Spring and Summer.
Breaking the rules to make a point
Whether Kameto follows through remains to be seen. What’s clear is that the tension between franchise partners and Riot’s new seasonal structure has boiled over. The Winter Split hasn’t even started, and it’s already causing chaos behind the scenes.
Neither Riot Games nor the LEC has publicly confirmed the full details of the Winter format that Kameto referenced. Karmine Corp has not issued an official statement on whether the Korea plan is a firm decision or still under consideration.
