Karmine Corp’s LEC team is undergoing a major coaching shake-up for the 2024 Spring Split.
Following a 2-7 Winter Split for the French organization, Jakob “YamatoCannon” Mebdi won’t be reprising his role as the squad’s head coach, with the reins likely to be handed over to the team’s current assistant coach, as first reported by Sheep Esports and later confirmed by the org. Rehareha “Reha” Ramanana, who has been a part of the organization since 2020 and served as the League of Legends team’s head coach throughout 2023, will be taking on the head coach position in the spring.
The decision to alter the team’s coaching leadership comes on the heels of a disappointing split for KC. The team concluded the split with two back-to-back wins in the last week of the regular season after starting the year with a seven-game losing streak. While the underwhelming performance was likely to prompt changes ahead of the Spring Split, at the announcement of YamatoCannon’s reported removal from KC, fans underlined how little time the coach had to work on the team, with results shown at the end of the third week of the competition.
In a recent interview with Dot Esports, YamatoCannon reflected on the challenges he faced during the “ruthless” regular season characterized by best-of-ones and adapting to a new patch. After KC’s first week, he emphasized the need to “bounce back” quickly to reach the playoffs. But the team only showed results after their goal of qualifying for the next stage of the competition was already out of reach.
Karmine Corp boasts a massive following and its entry into the LEC was hyped by the org’s dedicated fan base and backed up by its impressive history in the LFL and EMEA Masters. Record-breaking viewership marked the team’s LEC debut, fueled by passionate fan support both online and in the new Berlin Riot Games Arena—and it’s unlikely to be dialed down in the future.
While the Winter Split Playoffs await to crown the first 2024 LEC champion, KC fans will have to wait for any official announcement regarding the team ahead of the Spring Split, which is scheduled to kick off in March.
Update Feb. 5 3pm CT: Karmine Corp has confirmed that YamatoCannon will no longer be the LEC team’s head coach and Reha will replace him. This article has been updated to reflect this.
