Karmine Corp vs Deep Cross Gaming Prediction MSI 2026

Karmine Corp and Deep Cross Gaming meet on June 28 in MSI 2026 Play-In Stage at the Daejeon Convention Center II in Daejeon, South Korea, immediately following the opening T1 vs Team Liquid series. This is a Bo5 in the double-elimination Play-In bracket. This is the first ever meeting between these 2 teams in 2026, with Karmine Corp representing the LEC's runner-up seed and Deep Cross Gaming representing the LCP's Championship Points qualification path.

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Recent form

Karmine Corp: L W W W L, 3 wins from their last 5 matches including a 3-0 sweep of Movistar KOI and a 3-0 sweep of GIANTX.

Karmine Corp arrive having maintained a perfect 100% individual game win rate, 6-0 across individual games, during their lower bracket run through KOI and GIANTX in the LEC playoffs. Their only 2 losses in this stretch both came against G2 Esports, the eventual LEC Spring Champion who qualified directly to MSI's Bracket Stage, suggesting KC's ceiling against the rest of the LEC field is comprehensive even if G2 remains a level above them domestically.

Deep Cross Gaming: L W L W W, 3 wins from their last 5 matches including a 3-1 win over GAM Esports and a 3-0 sweep of SoftBank HAWKS gaming.

Deep Cross Gaming arrive with a 60% series win rate over their last 5 matches, a competitive but more inconsistent recent record than Karmine Corp's. Their 2 losses both came against Secret Whales, the same team that qualified directly to MSI's Bracket Stage as the LCP's Split 2 Qualifier, mirroring Karmine Corp's pattern of losing only to the region's top direct seed while beating everyone else in their recent form.

Head-to-head

First meeting of 2026. No head-to-head data exists between these 2 teams.

AI prediction

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What to watch

KC's 100% individual game win rate against sub-top opposition vs DCG's competitive resistance against the same tier. Karmine Corp's perfect individual game record against everyone except G2 in their recent LEC run is the most dominant recent form stat of either team in this match. Deep Cross Gaming's losses, also confined to the region's top direct seed in Secret Whales, suggest a similar profile, a team that loses only to the very best but is otherwise highly competitive. Whether KC's slightly more comprehensive recent dominance translates into a clear series advantage, or whether DCG's similar profile against their own region's best team means this Play-In opener is closer than the head-to-head gap in seeding suggests, is the central form comparison this match answers.

Both teams' identical loss pattern against their region's top seed. Karmine Corp lost only to G2 Esports in their recent stretch. Deep Cross Gaming lost only to Secret Whales. Both teams therefore enter MSI having proven they can beat everyone in their recent form except the team that earned a direct Bracket Stage bye ahead of them. Whether that shared profile produces a tightly contested series between 2 teams operating at a similar level just below their region's ceiling, or whether Karmine Corp's LEC pedigree carries a structural advantage that DCG's LCP qualification path does not match, is the regional strength question this opening Play-In match begins to answer.

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