Regardless of two losses at VCT EMEA Kickoff 2026, VALORANT veteran Dmitrii ‘SUYGETSU’ Iliushin stays optimistic concerning the energy of the recent Karmine Corp roster.
“After all, there may be plenty of potential in entrance,” SUYGETSU advised Esports Insider in an interview after the French organisation’s most up-to-date loss in opposition to Workforce Liquid.
“From the start, it was not onerous as a result of everybody had good vibes. There isn’t a individual that isn’t respecting one other one on our group. We respect everybody of us.”
SUYGETSU’s VALORANT esports profession started in late 2020 underneath Russian esports organisation ForZe.
Lower than a yr later, the veteran joined FunPlus Phoenix (FPX) to raise his first and solely international VCT trophy at Masters Copenhagen 2022 and completed fourth at Champions Istanbul.
Whereas SUYGETSU competed in three extra worldwide tournaments in his first yr representing NAVI, the 2024 season noticed the group unable to qualify for any of the three annual international occasions.
This pattern continued all through the 2025 season, when the Russian participant first competed for French esports organisation Karmine Corp.
Main Roster Rebuild for 2026
Following an underwhelming yr, SUYGETSU and his teammate Hazem ‘avez’ Khaled are the one two remaining gamers from Karmine Corp’s 2025 roster.
VALORANT Champions 2022 winner Matias ‘Saadhak’ Delipetro, in addition to Martin ‘marteen’ Pátek and Artur ‘pyrolll’ Minin, have been changed by three new faces: VCT veteran Bogdan ‘Sheydos’ Naumov, former BBL Esports duelist Burak ‘LêwN’ Alkan, and Pacific import Dastan ‘dos9’ Zhumagali.
“Me, Bogdan [Sheydos] and Dastan [dos9], we communicate the identical language, so it’s simple to go. Plus, I’ve recognized Bogdan for a very long time in the past,” commented SUYGETSU on his new teammates.
“And with Hazem [avez], I’ve already been one yr on the group. So, we type of obtained used to one another. And he’s a straightforward man, who is simple to speak and be on the identical web page with. And Burak [LêwN], he’s slightly bit, I might not say that he’s quiet however it was like he feels us immediately. We understood that he’s a superb man for us, however he’s not the identical vibe as us. However he’s additionally a superb man. We like him.”
Karmine Corp’s New IGL
With Saadhak departing for KRÜ Esports, it’s now Sheydos’ flip to show himself as Karmine Corp’s new in-game chief (IGL).
Much like SUYGETSU, Sheydos has been competing in EMEA’s VALORANT scene since 2020, albeit on totally different groups. He was a part of the enduring Gambit Esports line-up that received Masters Berlin 2021 and have become the inaugural VALORANT Champions runner-up.
When requested how he would describe Sheydos’ IGLing type, SUYGETSU replied: “He’s a reasonably good man. As a pacesetter, he’s additionally good. He can have the mentality to be a superb IGL, you already know.
“And he’s additionally keen to work onerous, so it’s a plus for us additionally. I feel proper now, he’s nonetheless looking for his strategy to calling, so it’s onerous to say what precisely he has. […] However I feel sooner or later, match by match, we are going to perceive how he performs,” he added.
All through current VCT seasons, Karmine Corp has made waves with its distinctive takes on VALORANT’s ever-changing meta. Most notably, the group leaned closely into Harbor and Phoenix final yr, two brokers not often picked in professional play.
While Karmine Corp dropped Harbor for the early levels of the 2026 season, it debuted with a Phoenix/Yoru double-duelist composition on Haven and Breeze.
Based on SUYGETSU, the roster has seen promising leads to follow with the compositions chosen for VCT Kickoff, permitting the roster to “play with confidence”.
He additionally clarified: “We put probably the most snug type of agent for our 4 guys. It’s not me deciding comps. It’s simply what coaches give us, we play. However I really feel like additionally they ask what persons are most snug enjoying.”
SUYGETSU himself has performed plenty of Astra throughout Karmine Corp’s first two matches of the season. Though each video games resulted in defeat, the controller participant has proven unbelievable prowess and impression together with his Astra utility up to now.
“Simply typically, I used to be working final yr onerous on Astra and it was a really impactful smoker for that meta, and, I don’t know proper now, it’s possibly the identical,” shared SUYGETSU with Esports Insider. “And I simply typically really feel myself good on Astra. And I’m exhibiting what I’m able to.”
A Powerful Begin, However Extra Challenges Forward
To this point, Karmine Corp has misplaced each its match in opposition to NAVI (0-2) and Workforce Liquid (1-2) at VCT EMEA Kickoff 2026.
Nevertheless, due to the match’s new triple-elimination format, the French organisation can nonetheless qualify for Masters Santiago by way of the Decrease Bracket. Doing so would require Karmine Corp to win six matches in a row, together with the best-of-five Decrease Bracket Last.
“The extra matches, the higher, I might say,” commented SUYGETSU on the potential lower-bracket run.
“As a result of it’s at all times expertise for our gamers,” he added. “It’s large expertise for Sheydos, for instance, as an IGL and for Burak [LêwN] as a result of it’s his second yr [in tier-one]. And I discovered myself the second yr as the toughest yr since you’re not going into it like a rookie anymore. So, extra matches could be very, excellent. I prefer it.”
Karmine Corp will subsequent return to the VCT EMEA stage on February third at 4 PM BST. To seek out out whether or not SUYGETSU and his group can survive in opposition to FUT Esports, followers can tune into its livestream through the league’s official Twitch and YouTube channels.
