Karmine Corp LEC Winter victory leaves LoL fans convinced Yike is best EU jungler

Following the win of the LEC 2025 Winter Split by French-based team Karmine Corp (KC), Yike has achieved an impressive record of winning every final he took part in, achieving eight consecutive final wins.

Martin ‘Yike’ Sundelin’s streak of competitive results and strong performance have been met with lots of enthusiasm as some fans are regarding him as the best current European jungler, with many praising his strategy and high IQ plays.

Is this truly case and what can we expect from him going into First Stand, the new international tournament of the 2025 season? It’s time to dive deeper into the numbers.

If we’re just taking a look at some of the stats and numbers (provided by stat site Games of Legends), Yike doesn’t seem to be one of the best performing junglers.

He has negative CS (creep score) differential at 15 minutes, meaning he usually falls slightly behind in farm, and has the second lowest First Blood (FB) participation, signaling that his early-game action is not his forte. He doesn’t lead in any key metric, although he has the second highest DPM (damage per minute).

Judging by the numbers, it looks like Yike is not individually strong as people seem to think. However, some characteristics go beyond the numbers. In particular, Yike has two shining points.

Throughout the majority of the LEC Winter Split, KC has played around dragons as a key win condition. Dragon stacking is considered quite a standard strategy in professional play, but putting it into practice is easier said than done.

The French team has the second highest average number of dragons secured at 15 minutes (1.08) and an impressive average of 2.88 dragons killed per game, meaning that KC is consistently securing the neutral objectives.

While lane matchups can be an influencing factor, it’s undeniable that Yike needs to be constantly on tempo and coordinated with the rest of the team. In other words, he’s usually at the right place, at the right time.

The other reason Yike’s had such a strong performance throughout the Winter Split has been his teamfighting and versatility, which have been greatly honed during his past two years on G2 Esports.

Originally a carry player when he emerged from the European Regional Leagues, Yike found himself having to sacrifice his own resources and adapt to G2’s carry duo, Rasmus ‘Caps‘ Winther and Steven ‘Hans Sama‘ Liv. While there were occasional games where he would play carry junglers, Yike was often put into a utility role because that’s what G2 needed.

Now with Fearless Draft format — which encourages teams to increase the champion diversity —his ability to play multiple styles has allowed him to thrive even more. And considering Karmine Corp has players that can do the same in all roles, the combination has led to the winning formula that dominated G2 in the LEC Winter Final.

It’s not an easy yes or no answer. He may not have scored the best individual stats during the split, but you can’t argue Yike was a determining factor in KC’s success.

With the team lifting the LEC trophy and heading to First Stand, it’s clear that Yike is the most in-form jungler in Europe right now. The real test, however, is ahead: Will he deliver on the international stage? Find out when First Stand kicks off next Monday, on March 10th.