GIANTX swept aside Team BDS 3-0 this Saturday in the first round of the LEC Playoffs. The Spanish team earns a major confidence boost as they now await their next opponent: the loser of Fnatic versus Movistar KOI, scheduled for Monday.

With this win, GX are now one win away from playing the LEC Summer Finals in Madrid. The Swiss, meanwhile, are officially eliminated from the LEC, closing out their 2025 season. They finish in 8th place for the second split in a row.

BDS closed their second-worst year since joining the LEC

It’s a real feeling of bitterness that weighs on the minds of the BDS roster. Their post-match reactions were filled with disappointment, starting with Ilias "nuc" Bizriken, who spoke about his personally and professionally difficult year. He admitted he couldn’t even remember the last time he walked away from a match proud of his performance. The ambition, sometimes with a bit of cockiness, consistently expressed by Head Coach Yanis "Striker" Kella throughout the year, wasn’t enough to push them back onto the same rails as last season.

In 2024, BDS finished 3rd in all three splits before falling just one game short of qualifying for Worlds against G2 Esports. In 2025, after changing three players to launch an ambitious project, the team ended up 6th in Winter, then 8th in both Spring and Summer — their worst results since their first year in the league in 2022. The year was also marked by mid-season roster changes in the toplane and jungle after Spring.

Bold decisions, but ones that didn’t pay off, and still provided the impression that all players were not playing on the same page. It is yet to be seen which changes can be expected for 2026, especially for nuc, who was still considered one of the best midlaner in LEC, and for Shin "Rooster" Yun-hwan, just coming from LCK CL, and still having to prove he can belong among the best toplaners in the league.

But one team’s failure is another’s opportunity. GIANTX, a project quietly built in the shadows of the hype nearly a year ago, may finally be ready to show its full potential now that the stakes are higher. This 3-0 victory is a promising sign for their confidence, especially with the botlane duo of Yoon "Jun" Se-jun and Oh "Noah" Hyeon-taek dominating.

Speaking with Sheep Esports earlier this year, right after building his roster, André "Guilhoto" Guilhoto was overflowing with confidence and optimism. Back in the first week of the Winter Split, after a BO1 win against Karmine Corp, he even said: “As things stand, if GX make it to Worlds and one favorite has to not make it, I think it’ll be G2.” Strangely enough, fate might soon put those words to the test as these playoffs move forward, and GX are still in the race despite highs and lows throughout the year. And even if G2 might qualify tomorrow against KC, it is yet to be seen if the prediction will come true.

For now, GX need to keep raising their level of play and prove that this roster — carefully built with the help of data science — can wreak havoc at the top of the LEC. Their first real playoff test comes in the next round, where they’ll face the loser of the Worlds-qualifying series between Fnatic and MKOI on Monday.