Across multiple years and games, a pinnacle tournament win has constantly eluded Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom, but even after a 2023 VALORANT season from hell with Karmine Corp, the veteran superstar is still committed to winning the big one his way.
Karmine Corp was mathematically eliminated from reaching the VALORANT Champions Tour EMEA playoffs on May 18, bringing an end to a tumultuous season in which the team had to sub in an assistant coach in place of a departing player, all while being the subject of ridicule from the community. For the brother duo of Scream and Nivera, it was a season to forget, but the goal for both is still to lift a trophy together.
A few hours after KC’s week nine loss to Giants, ScreaM took to Twitter and reaffirmed his desire to win with Nivera. “I won’t give up until I win with my brother,” he wrote. “This split has been the worst in many aspects but we’ll be back stronger. Time to reset and try again.”
The dream of winning together is one ScreaM has had for a long while—certainly at least for the majority of his VALORANT career. ScreaM told Dot Esports back at the very first Champions event in 2021, “When you’re in the late stage of your career like I am…it would mean everything” to be able to lift a trophy with his brother.
Ultimately, the Benrlitom brothers fell short with Team Liquid, losing in the semifinals to the eventual inaugural champions Acend. Two years on, and they now find themselves even further away from the elusive piece of hardware they seek.
In addition to VALORANT, ScreaM is also remembered for an outstanding CS:GO career where he ruled as the king of one-taps for many years, although he sadly just missed out on claiming a Major trophy. As the era of CS:GO is coming to an end, coincidentally in France via the BLAST Major, one has to think how much longer ScreaM’s era could last, given that he himself acknowledged he’s in the later stage of his career over a year ago.
Still, the year isn’t over for the 28-year-old ScreaM, nor is it over for Nivera or Karmine Corp. The team still has the EMEA Last Chance Qualifier later this year, with one (or potentially two) spot at Champions 2023 on the line.
