KC Busio: "We're at our peak... it's the perfect time and I hope we can show it"

Worlds 2026 is about to be in full effect with the start of the Swiss Stage. After surviving a Play-In Stage full of ups and downs, Karmine Corp are set to face Anyone's Legend to kick off their journey through the Swiss Stage.

In an exclusive interview with Alan "Busio" Cwalina, Karmine Corp's support player shared his insights on the team's journey through Play-Ins, what to expect against Anyone's Legend, and whether KC is really dealing with consistency issues.

KC Busio after taking down Anyone's Legend 2-0 at the Quarterfinals of the 2026 Esports World Cup. (Credit: Esports World Cup)

[Strafe] You've been to Worlds twice before, both times with FlyQuest. What do you feel is the biggest strength and the biggest weakness on this KC roster compared to your old squad?

"For strength, I would say we're pretty competent right now, like I actually believe we're a good team and we don't have to like cope or hope.

We actually believe in ourselves, and for a reason, I don't think it's a blind belief. I truly believe we're strong and I hope we show it on stage. And then in terms of weakness, I mean of course I'm part of the team so I don't see any weakness or anything because that would just be bad for my chances of competing.

But I mean, maybe the fans have some doubts about, you know, we were in two domestic finals this year, Game 5, lost both. We do good in regular season, but we never quite get the trophy so maybe you could say we're not clutch when it matters, but to clear up those doubts in your guys' head, I really think we're at our peak so far, our all-year peak and yeah, it's the perfect time to peak and I hope we can show it."

[Strafe] You drew Anyone's Legend for your opening match, a team that you guys already swept just a couple of months ago. How do you feel about the matchup and the team as a whole?

"Yeah, AL is, of course, a great team, you know, they're LPL top seed. That doesn't necessarily mean they're better than BLG, for example, but they're still a top team in the world and we'll have to play well, we'll have to play very comfortably and loose to win, but that's what we're training for and I'm very glad we had the Play-Ins experience because I'd be worried right now if it was our first game, you know, against AL, because usually in our first game of a tournament, we don't play very well. So I'm really glad we have the Play-In experience and that gives me confidence.

As you said, we beat them at EWC 2-0. That doesn't mean we're gonna, you know, dominate them again, but it does mean we can compete with them and I believe we're better now than we were at EWC. So that's why I'm confident."

[Strafe] For the Swiss Stage, you're starting with a best-of-one (Bo1). Do you feel like a Bo1 improves your chances against very strong teams, or would you rather have Bo3s?

"I prefer best-of-threes and best-of-fives, because I don't like the whole result being from one game.

But in terms of format building and fan expectations, from the outside, I think a best of one should help the traditionally worst teams, the Western teams, as there's just more chance of an upset, of course. So it depends who's looking at it. I prefer a best-of series, just as a player.

But I think a best-of-one means if we just have a really good game one, we're just done with it, and it's over. There's not going to be a fight after that."

[Strafe] What did you learn the most from the whole Play-Ins journey and from that comeback that you guys managed to pull off?

"Yeah, I mean, I would say our comeback was honestly lucky, but it's lucky in terms of that's not something we practice. I think we just have pretty good individual players. So even when a game's chaotic or we're making many team-play mistakes, we still can clutch up in the team fights and whatnot.

And from that series, I think our biggest takeaway was just to like chill and calm down. You know, we really care about the results. We practice super hard in Korea. We really have high expectations of ourselves, but when you go on stage, you still need to chill out. 

Of course, it's easier said than done. But actually, I think we did do that when we played against MVK the two times, like even Game 1, the next day after our stressful C9 best-of-five, Game 1, we were already like much more chill, much more smart. And that's something I wish to continue in the Swiss stage."

[Strafe] We've seen what this KC team is capable of. Fans' perspective aside, do you think the team has consistency issues? And if yes, why do you think that is, and how do you go about fixing those? 

"I mean, it's hard to say. It depends what you define as consistency issues. As you know, we're consistently good. We're always very high in the regular season.

We make it deep in the playoffs, but we can't quite get the trophy. And you know, it's hard to evaluate that because a lot of it is luck. You know, if we just won one more game or had one more good play in a Game 5 in our finals against G2, then we'd have a trophy and fans would be viewing it entirely differently off like such a small thing that easily could have happened.

So it's hard to say based on the results, but internally, I believe we of course have room for improvement in terms of consistency. As you saw in the Play-In Stage, you know, like what was our first series against C9? I wasn't playing well individually. And then against MVK, we look like an entirely different team.

And in that specific example, the consistency problem comes from just us not being warmed up and comfortable with playing again after not playing for quite some time. And you know, maybe some game in this tournament coming, we play very bad because of some horrible early game situation. And then from the outside, it might look like some consistency problem.

But it's just like, oh, we were actually missing this part of gameplay. Now we learned it. Now we have it. So it's really hard to pinpoint where the consistency comes from. But I think it's just part of competing and part of, you know, being a team; if you're not the best team by far, you're going to look inconsistent at times. And that's pretty normal."

[Strafe] Is there something you can work on, either mentally or otherwise, to look and feel better when you're coming in cold? 

"Oh, yeah. I mean, for sure, if the consistency problem comes from your first series of a tournament because you're cold, then I think the learning there is just, you know, you have to chill out and slightly lower your expectation. 

And maybe for us, it was actually an energy problem. We were too active in the Cloud9 series. We were thinking too much. We were talking too much. And then as we got more experienced about the plans, we just started, you know, chilling out, going with the flow, and everybody was much more clear-headed, making better decisions.

So that's probably something I'm going to tell myself before we play our next match against AL. Hey, remember your learnings from plans. Just go with the flow, chill out, and I'll have a much more smooth game. And then I think my teammates will do that, too, because they have the same learning and plans."

[Strafe] Lastly, as a support, what's it like drafting and playing around Caliste and Yike's aggression? How do you decide when to enable them and when to kind of rein them in? 

"I actually believe they don't need to be reined in too often. I think they're very smart, and that's something we've been developing throughout the year. We're just overall as a team quite calculated now. And we're just trying to play a game that makes sense.

You know, we don't want to take flips that don't make sense. When we have to take those flips, we'll take them. But we're just striving to be smarter and just a higher-level team.

Right now, I don't feel like anyone needs to be really reined in. We're just playing good League of Legends."

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Featured image credit: Riot Games

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