For five days in late May, La Défense Arena in Paris was the loudest building in Rocket League. By the time Tristan "Atow." Soyez slammed home an overtime winner on Sunday night to seal a 4-1 Grand Final over Twisted Minds, the roof might as well have come off. Karmine Corp are the RLCS 2026 Paris Major champions, and they did it the only way the Blue Wall would have accepted: at home, undefeated, with the trophy lifted in front of 20,000 of their own.
The road through the bracket
Karmine Corp came in as the third EU seed after a sluggish second split — their first split in years without a regional win — but the bracket got dangerous in a hurry. KC swept Group A 3-0, including a statement scoreline against Team Vitality. In the upper bracket, they dismantled Boston Major champions Gentle Mates 4-1 in a series that felt more lopsided than the score, then survived a punishing 4-3 semifinal against Vitality that won't be forgotten any time soon.
On the other side, Twisted Minds were running a lower-bracket gauntlet of their own, ripping through FUT Esports, FURIA, Gentle Mates, and Shopify Rebellion to book a Grand Final spot the hard way. Evan "M0nkey M00n" Rogez — a two-time World Champion in this exact venue's spiritual cousin, Fort Worth — was leading the Saudi side and looked every bit the season's MENA #1 seed.
The Grand Final
Karmine Corp jumped to a 2-0 lead before Twisted Minds clawed a game back. There was a brief moment, somewhere between maps three and four, where the air shifted and the building got tense. Then KC put the foot down. The decisive overtime in game five came courtesy of Atow, and the celebrations that followed went well beyond esports — French President Emmanuel Macron congratulated the team publicly after the win.
"It feels amazing. We have been waiting for the Paris Major for a long time. All my family and friends and all the fans from the Blue Wall — I am so happy and proud of my team." — Axel "Vatira" Touret, Paris Major MVP
What it means
This is Karmine Corp's third RLCS Major. The current roster of Atow, Vatira, and Charles "juicy" Sabiani has now competed in only two Majors together — and won one of them. Coach Alexandre "Extra" Paoli became the first person to win an RLCS Major both as a player (Fall Split 2021-22 with Team BDS) and as a coach.
For Vatira, the title was career win number four in the open era — a number previously hit only by League Play legend Pierre "Turbopolsa" Silfver. The so-called GOAT conversation isn't quite settled, though, because Karmine Corp have one trophy still missing from the cabinet: a World Championship.
Final standings (top 8)
- Karmine Corp — $112,500
- Twisted Minds — $60,000
- Shopify Rebellion — $36,000
- Team Vitality — $25,500
- Gentle Mates & Manchester City Esports — $22,500 each
- FURIA Esports & Spacestation Gaming — $15,000 each
Total prize pool: $354,000. Next stop for everyone left standing is the RLCS 2026 World Championship at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas — September 15-20.