This is the third departure for Karmine Corp during this offseason. Just like Tomás “tomaszy” Machado and Ryad “Shin” Ensaad, Martin “Magnum” Peňkov will no longer be part of the Blue Wall's VALORANT roster for next season's VCT EMEA, according to Sheep Esports sources. Magnum was a priority for Karmine Corp, but events suddenly changed this past week. He has interests from a few teams.

In a team of rookies, the former Fnatic Initiator was the embodiment of experience, and had taken on the role of in-game leader this season. Magnum arrived at Karmine in 2024 full of confidence after a very successful 2023 season with Apeks. There, he had won both Stages of the VCT Northern Europe: Polaris, and reached the Ascension EMEA final. The Blue Wall's debut had also been very promising, with Karmine Corp surprised everyone by winning the EMEA Kick-Off tournament, beating Fnatic, the best team of 2023, in semifinal then Heretics in Grand Final.

A new project

The French club seemed poised for a radically different season from the previous one, when KC finished last in the championship. But then Karmine lost its edge over the other teams and had a harder time at the two VCT EMEA Stages. Qualified for the playoffs in both Stages, the structure failed to win a single match. As a result, they did not take part in the year's international events, the Masters: Shanghai and the Champions. The team is therefore rebuilding a project and has already found a new player, Hazem “avez” Khaled, as previously reported by Sheep Esports.