"If they are here, they deserve to play" Karmine Corp take down FunPlus Phoenix at VALORANT Masters Madrid Day 1

VALORANT Masters Madrid 2024 started yesterday with the Swiss Stage. The first International game of the year featured Karmine Corp taking on FunPlus Phoenix.

These teams had previously played with each other at the VCT LOCK//IN 2023 with different squads. Karmine Corp won their previous encounter.

Karmine Corp 2-0 FunPlus Phoenix

The game started on Icebox with Karmine Corp winning a seven round win-streak. FPX answered back with a streak of their own, but KC held on to secure the map 13-8.

FunPlus Phoenix answered back with a strong 8-4 first half on Lotus. Karmine on the back of N4RRATE dominated the second half to secure the game.

The next game for FunPlus Phoenix will be an elimination game. While their opponent is yet to be decided, when asked to Coach NathanD about the mistakes they’d want to fix before the next game, he said:

“Mostly it’s our fundamentals, because we lost so many advantageous rounds in this match-up. I think we should work more on our trades, peeks, communication and try to fix all the problems.”

We also asked the Karmine Corp panel the same question, especially since FPX is arguably the weakest team at the event and the series heavily favored Karmine. As a reply, ZEISH said:

“So first of all, I don’t like to hear that a team is not really good because if they are here, they deserve it. We are only a team out of 44 in the partnership. I think they were pretty good individually.

As MAGNUM said, we didn’t really enter into our game on Lotus and Icebox, we made some bad mistakes, but we’re going to fix them.

And going back, I think they are a pretty good team and if they are here, they deserve to play and we are not disrespecting them. We value their gameplay and waiting for them to shoot back and this is what happened and props to them.”

The game was also a debut for the three KC players; N4RRATE, tomaszy and marteen, when asked about the nerves they felt and the experience they had, the trio shared the following.

[N4RRATE] "For me it’s the same nerves as going into any match, they’re to me, they’re good. I wouldn’t say they’re nerves. It’s just like excitement because you always dream of being here, being on a big stage. So I definitely was excited to go on. So I won’t call it nervousness but I feel like the energy, the feeling in your chest that you’re about to experience such a cool moment."

[tomaszy] "For me, I take every game as the same game but I think the difference between this type of stage like Masters or Champions, is that they are way bigger and the crowd. I think the crowd is the most important thing.  I am happy to play on the International stage, it was one of my dreams and I completed it and I am doing it. So I’m just here to give everything and I’m excited as always to play the game. "

[marteen]" For me it’s the same as Kickoff, except for two things. First of all, the crowd is amazing. They’re coming, you can hear them. And second of all, they didn’t allow my bunny, So it is a bit sad, but it’s okay. And buy the KC Bundle. "

Karmine Corp will play a qualification game next. You can follow Valorant Champions Tour X/Twitter for all updates on the upcoming fixture. You can also follow Strafe for upcoming fixtures, press conference coverage and more.

Follow the Strafe App YouTube for all the upcoming VALORANT Masters Madrid Press conferences.

Featured Image Credits: Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games

Read More: VCT Masters Madrid Pre-Tournament Press Conference