Dastan “dos9” Zhumagali framed Karmine Corp’s VCT EMEA Stage 2 championship as the answer to a difficult first part of the season. KC finished Stage 1 last in its group with a 0–5 record, then changed its results in the second part of the season, reached the final and defeated Team Liquid for the EMEA title. The controller was named MVP of the final as KC secured the organization’s second EMEA championship. “We went from 0–5 to the best team in Europe,” dos9 said, tying the result directly to the scale of the reversal. His comments do not present the trophy as an isolated final-day achievement. They describe a roster whose early expectations, poor opening results and eventual success all belonged to the same season.
The contrast matters because dos9 did not dismiss the 0–5 start after the title. He described a team with five strong individual players that still needed time to find the right interaction between all five. In that account, the early record was evidence that individual quality had not yet become a working team structure. The final against Team Liquid supplied a sharply different outcome, but not a reason to rewrite what came before it. KC’s Stage 2 win and dos9’s MVP award instead gave the team a way to measure how far its results had changed. The championship was a collective recovery in his telling, with his individual recognition arriving inside that larger story.
A turnaround shaped by interaction
dos9 said he expected Karmine Corp to perform well when he joined because the roster had “five incredible individual players.” Yet something was not working. The team needed time to find the right interaction between its players, a point that gives a clearer explanation for the gap between its expectations and its Stage 1 finish. Strong players, in his view, were not enough on their own. He also recalled an early prediction from LewN, one of the team’s first players, that KC would either be the best team in the league or the worst. dos9’s response was: “And we were both.” The line captures the two confirmed ends of the campaign: last place in the group at 0–5 in Stage 1, followed by the EMEA title after the Team Liquid final in Stage 2. That perspective is valuable because it resists an easy reading of the title as proof that the roster was always functioning at its intended level. dos9 acknowledged the failure first and identified the search for better interaction as central to what changed. His explanation makes the turnaround a team-development story rather than a claim that one player, one final or one award solved everything.
The final MVP also followed a period in which dos9 had doubts about his own contribution. After the series against FUT, he told the team during a team talk that he did not feel he deserved the ticket to Champions because he believed he had played poorly in recent series. His teammates responded with understanding, confidence and belief in him as a good player. dos9 said that support finally showed in the final. This gives the MVP a personal context without separating it from the group. The award recognized his final performance, but his own account connects it to teammates who supported him when he was dissatisfied with his play. That is a second useful lens on KC’s success: the roster’s interaction was not only about approaches inside matches, but also about how the players responded when one teammate lacked confidence. The match details he highlighted reinforce that point. dos9 called Lotus one of the tournament’s most difficult moments, saying KC had moved away from its own rules for approaching the game. The team was still feeling that loss at the beginning of the next map, but he said it showed resilience and turned the game around.
MVP does not change dos9’s view
Despite receiving the final MVP award, dos9 said he did not consider the series the best match of his career. “I would say no,” he said. He acknowledged having many duels and good moments, but he described those opportunities as dependent on the situation rather than as proof that he alone carried KC. “On this team, anyone can be the one who carries the game,” dos9 said. If it had not been him, he added, someone else could have had the opportunity to shine. “Everyone has their moment to shine, and today it was mine.” That assessment keeps the award in proportion. The final MVP marks dos9’s impact against Team Liquid, while his comments preserve the broader idea that multiple KC players can take responsibility. It also aligns with his explanation of the season: the important change was not simply that a talented player had a strong final, but that the team found a way for its players to function together.
- Lotus was one of the tournament’s hardest moments for dos9. He said KC moved away from its own rules for approaching the game and therefore “lost to ourselves on Lotus.” The team was still feeling the loss at the start of the next map, but he said it showed resilience and turned the game around.
- dos9 said KC’s Chamber use rests on understanding the idea behind the agent. He contrasted that with teams he sees playing Chamber without that understanding, and identified Marshall “N4RRATE” Massey’s play as an important part of KC’s strategy.
| Interview topic | Confirmed detail from dos9 |
|---|---|
| Paper Rex and NRG | dos9 said KC had played both teams at the Esports World Cup and now has more experience and more practice, particularly after playing the final in front of such an audience. |
| Karmine Corp supporters | He thanked the fans and said that, despite receiving different messages during the year, he never felt the hatred he thought might be expected toward a team with a 0–5 record. |
The closing details of dos9’s interview point beyond the trophy without repeating the comeback. KC qualified for Champions 2026 by reaching the VCT 2026: EMEA Stage 2 grand final, and the Team Liquid victory earned $100,000 in prize money. dos9 also said prior matches against Paper Rex and NRG at the Esports World Cup, along with more experience, more practice and the final’s audience, leave KC better prepared for Champions. His thanks to supporters adds the final note: through a year of different messages, he said he never felt the hatred he expected after a 0–5 record.
