KC Yike at Worlds 2026: "I would really like to get revenge against MKOI"

The Swiss Stage action continues at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas, with the world's best League of Legends teams competing at Worlds 2026.

After two consecutive losses, Karmine Corp bounced back with a victory over CTBC Flying Oyster. The win also eliminated the Pacific region's last representative from the tournament, leaving KC just one victory away from qualifying for the Knockout Stage.

Following the match, Strafe Esports spoke with Martin "Yike" Sundelin about the lengthy tech pauses in Game 2, the team's confidence heading into the 2-2 stage, and his comfort with the current meta.

Karmine Corp have advanced to the 2-2 bracket at Worlds 2026, with their next opponent yet to be determined (Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)

How did you feel about the repeated tech pauses in the second game? Did the constant interruptions affect your momentum?

"Personally, I've experienced a lot of pauses, including some very long ones, throughout the years I've been playing. So, for me, it was maybe more of a good thing, because I don't think any team is used to having so many pauses, especially long ones where we can actually talk after a while and make plans.

I told my team to just keep their hands warm, keep clicking the mouse and the keyboard, just to make sure they're still in the game when it comes back. Taking a 10-20 minute pause and then suddenly going back to clicking everything can feel a bit weird.

I think I helped the team a bit with that, and it didn't really affect me that much. I think it probably helped us a bit more, but either way, we managed to make a good comeback from it."

At least you didn't have a red light shining above you the entire time, like Caliste, right?

"Yeah, I remember now, he had a red light above him the whole time. I didn't even think about that. I would've been stressed."

You’re now one win away from qualifying after an intense elimination series. How do you feel about the team’s overall performance, and what do you think made the difference today?

"I think the first game went very well. I'm very happy with everything that happened. I think we played really well, very cleanly, and got a great win. The second game was a bit different, right? They had a very strong early-game composition and managed to snowball through mid, bot, and jungle, so they got ahead.

But we knew that, no matter what, we'd still be stronger later on and could find ways to win. We've been in these situations so many times in scrims and official games, so we know the game is never over. And we found ways to come back.

I think Canna played really well today."

How do you feel about the current jungle meta? We’re seeing a lot of aggressive picks like Qiyana, Nocturne, and Lee Sin. How comfortable are you playing in this meta?

"I would say I'm very comfortable with this meta. I think I can play all the champions. Most of them get banned, especially when you're playing on red side and picking second, because some champions are just too strong and you have to ban them, otherwise the other team will.

I would love to play more Qiyana, for example, but she's banned quite often, which is a bit sad, right? She's my favourite champion.

But either way, I'm confident playing all the champions that are currently being picked, and I think that's very important going into best-of-three series and even best-of-five series if we make it to the quarterfinals.

At some point, you have to bring out the pocket picks, right? I don't think I've shown any of them yet, but I'll have them ready!"

This Worlds feels more focused on teamfighting than laning, with a good fight potentially being enough to end the game. Do you agree with that assessment? How has KC approached teamfights throughout the tournament?

"I would say I kind of agree, but I think teamfights are important at most Worlds tournaments, right? This time, though, they seem to be even more important. Even if you get lane leads, once both teams have two items, you just fight, and the better team will usually win.

No matter what, I think teamfights are always going to be the most important factor. And I would say that, throughout the whole year, we've been a very strong teamfighting team.

In Europe, people probably consider us the strongest teamfighting team in the region, maybe even in the West. I think we're very talented in that area, but obviously, we had our fumbles against both LYON and BLG, and those losses make it harder to back that up, especially because we struggled in teamfights.

That's something we've talked about a lot and know we need to improve on. Going into the next series, whoever we play against, I think we'll be much sharper in that regard."

CFO stands out from the typical LPL and LCK teams, not only in their playstyle but also in their champion pool. How do you prepare for a team that brings so much unpredictability to the table?

"I think we actually got some good practice playing against MVK in the Play-Ins because we got to see how they approach the game. They're very aggressive, and they also had some crazy mid lane picks in the draft. We could assume that CFO might do something similar.

I don't think they came up with anything particularly crazy in terms of picks, but we knew they would be very aggressive in the early game and look to snowball their leads. I think we handled that well in the first game, as I mentioned.

In the second game, we didn't do as well, and I think that's where their strengths came into play. They played to their strengths and punished us really well, so credit to them."

You mentioned that the team hadn’t yet reached its full potential. Do you feel like KC has finally reached that level at Worlds, or do you think there’s still something missing there?

"I think there are always small things missing, but I would say that right now, I'm very confident going into any matchup in the 2-2 stage. Even if we were to play against Hanwha Life, if they beat G2, I would still feel confident facing them.

No matter who we play, I think everyone on the team will be confident and have full trust in each other. That's a great feeling to have going into the final match of the Swiss Stage."

You mentioned on stage that you'd really like to face MKOI. Why exactly do you want to play against them and eliminate another European team?

"No, I'm not against Europe. I just think it would be fun to get some revenge against MKOI because we had a really bad series against them during the Finals weekend in Nice. Having that be our last game against them is something I just can't accept, right? I would really like to get revenge, and that's probably why I said it.

Obviously, I'm still rooting for Europe, but if MKOI and KC face each other, one team is guaranteed to make it to the quarterfinals, so that's another good thing for the region."

Worlds is often where players are judged against the best in the world. Has this tournament changed how you view your own level as a jungler? 

"I think it's similar to the other years I've been at Worlds. The overall level of junglers isn't that high, and I don't think anyone is really standing out as particularly strong. Before the tournament started, I think people considered Tarzan the best jungler, but then he had a difficult Swiss Stage, as did his entire team. You never really know what's going to happen.

But I'm feeling confident. In scrims and everywhere else I've been playing, I've felt very comfortable in my role. I don't think there's a big gap between any of the junglers right now, which also makes things very interesting going into every matchup."

Do you think we're seeing something similar on a regional level, with the usual gap between the LCK and LPL and the Western teams becoming smaller, or are Europe and the West starting to close that gap?

"I think Europe is starting to show more. Since the beginning of the year, we've had some pretty good results, with G2 reaching the First Stand finals and also performing well at MSI. Overall, Europe has been doing better internationally than last year, so I think that's a good sign.

Going into this tournament, there have still been some ups and downs, but I believe in us. I think we're a strong region, and we've shown that in some of our games."

Do you have a message for the KC fans watching and supporting you back home?

"I really appreciate all the KC fans supporting us, both me and the team. It's great to receive all the kind messages all the time, and I appreciate it so much. We're going to make sure we come into the 2-2 stage ready to win, whoever we end up playing against."

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Featured image credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games

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