Movistar KOI knocked Karmine Corp out of the LEC 2026 Summer playoffs with a 3-0 sweep in the lower-bracket final, booking their spot in the grand final and leaving KC on the longer road to Worlds.
The series was played in Nice, in front of a crowd that was always going to be tilted toward the French org. It didn’t help.
Game one was the only one that looked like a contest. KC had chances, fumbled them, and MKOI took the opener. From there it got ugly. Game two was a draft and team-fight beatdown, with MKOI answering KC’s picks in lane and winning every fight that mattered. Game three was the blowout, with MKOI reportedly sitting on a lead of around 14,000 gold by the 25-minute mark.
Elyoya sets the tone
Elyoya was the loudest name of the night. He built early jungle leads in the first two games, including a mechanical showcase on Lee Sin, then closed the series out on Qiyana. Alvaro’s Rakan gave MKOI the engage tool KC simply didn’t have.
Myrwn was the other story. Doubted for much of the regular season, he won the top-lane matchup against Canna across the series and has been MKOI’s most improved player in the playoffs. Jojopyun handled Kyeahoo in mid, and Supa came out ahead of Caliste despite getting caught a couple of times.
KC’s Game three draft drew the heaviest criticism. Ambessa for Canna, LeBlanc, Dr. Mundo, and a poke-heavy setup left them with almost no reliable crowd control, meaning nearly every fight depended on Canna landing an ultimate. Once they fell behind, there was no way back in. Putting regular-season MVP Caliste on Jhin in Game two also got picked apart. Head coach Reapered took plenty of heat for the lack of adaptation between games.
From nearly missing playoffs to the grand final
The context makes it worse for KC. They went 9-0 in the Summer regular season, put all five starters on the first All-Pro team, and had Caliste named MVP. Then they lost to G2 and got swept here, ending their run at roughly 1-6 in games across two playoff series.
MKOI, meanwhile, almost didn’t make the bracket at all. GIANTX beating Fnatic in the final best-of-three of the regular season opened the door, and MKOI have looked like a different team since the best-of-fives started.
The win sends MKOI straight to the Worlds main stage, while KC stay qualified but drop into the play-in route. KC still leave with their best Summer finish and their first Worlds appearance as an org. MKOI move on to the grand final, where G2 are waiting.
