Karmine Corp put out an official statement saying that Alexis ‘Newzera’ Humbert has stepped down from the Valorant roster and the team’s assistant coach Ahmed ‘ZE1SH’ El Sheikh will take his place.
Karmine Corp has been hit with a big change as its dreadful VCT EMEA campaign continues. The team has not been able to get a win on its own map pick in its last three matches and now has had one of its players, Newzera, step down from the team, they announced on April 19.
Because of the roster lock after the mid-season transfer window, Karmine Corp cannot sign another player to replace Newzera and must use their assistant coach ZE1SH in his stead as the coach is listed as their sixth man.
All teams must have at least six players on their roster according to Riot Games rules and Karmine Corp, like many other VCT teams, signed one of their coaches as a player to fulfill that requirement.
“As an organization, it is important for us to listen to our players and allow them to evolve in the best conditions. We respect his decision and we are doing our best to support the players and staff to face this situation,” Karmine Corp said in its statement.
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Karmine Corp Valorant season in jeopardy
The team’s captain and IGL Adil ‘ScreaM’ Benrlitom made his own statement about the situation, saying that Newzera abandoned the team and that ZE1SH will be taking up calling duties for the squad.
“My brother and I still live this moment when one of our teammates abandons the team within a competition (Liquid). Today we are encountering a lot of difficulties internally and honestly, I think this is the first time in my career where I need all your support and strength to overcome this ordeal,” ScreaM said on Twitter through a machine translation.
Karmine Corp are set to take on NAVI in Week 4 of VCT EMEA on April 21.