Sources: Closer set to join GIANTX in the LEC

The most American of Europeans has found a new home in the LEC. After making his LEC debut this summer, Can "Closer" Çelik is set to remain in the league — per Sheep Esports sources, the Turkish jungler reached a verbal agreement with GIANTX for the upcoming season on Friday.

GX held tryouts with a number of junglers for the position: ERL prospects like Mehdi "Boukada" Lahlou and Enes "Rhilech" Uçan; former LEC players like Doğukan "113" Balcı, Andrei “Xerxe” Dragomir, Zhao "Shad0w" Zhi-Qiang; and top LEC junglers like Ismaïl "ISMA" Boualem, Mark "Markoon" van Woensel, Théo "Sheo" Borile, and Martin "Yike" Sundelin. Mingyi "Spica" Lu, Zhou "Bo" Yang-Bo and Marcin "Jankos" Jankowski were also considered but did not do any tryouts for the position — the latter, though, was out of the team’s budget.

The Turkish veteran began his career in the Turkish esports scene, making his debut in the TCL in Summer 2018 with Royal Bandits, alongside notable teammates like Sergen "BrokenBlade" Çelik and Felix "Abbedagge" Braun. In 2019, the rebranded Royal Youth overhauled its roster, retaining only Closer and his support. This year marked a turning point in his career: by winning the Summer Split, he qualified for his first Worlds, although his journey ended in the Play-In stage after a close loss to Clutch Gaming in the qualification match for the main event.

Following this success, he was recruited to North America, where he stayed for four years. He first joined the Golden Guardians roster in 2020, playing a mid-tier season before moving to 100 Thieves, where he spent the next three years. These were the best years of his career, earning his first and only LCS title in 2021 in the LCS 2021 Championship (equivalent to the Summer’s Playoffs) after reuniting with Abbedagge as his teammate. That year, he made it to Worlds again, though he fell short in a challenging group stage against T1 and EDG (they did, however, manage to take a game off EDG, which will become champions that year).

In 2022, he secured second place in both splits but concluded the year with a disappointing Worlds run, facing a tough group stage against Gen.G and RNG. By 2023, the team lost its momentum, and Closer was the only player retained from the previous roster, joined by veterans Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg and Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng in their joint last dance. However, the team couldn’t rise above a fifth-place finish in Spring and saw very disappointing results throughout the rest of the year.

With a lackluster 2023 season, Closer, regarded as 100 Thieves' star player, took a break at the start of 2024. Unable to find a project willing to take him on in the LCS, he found an opportunity back in Europe with Karmine Corp, which also needed to rebuild its LEC project from the ground up following a disastrous Winter and Spring Split that year. Closer was one of three key changes to KC’s topside roster, fitting perfectly with his selfless playstyle to support the team. His addition breathed some life into the club’s project, taking them to the brink of a miracle run during the Summer Split. They finished in fourth place, narrowly losing 3-2 to BDS in the playoffs—just one game away from qualifying for the Season Finals and potentially earning a spot at Worlds.

Closer is the final addition to GIANTX's LEC roster. After helping Karmine Corp get back on track in Summer 2024, he joins an exciting European project, strengthening an already talent-rich lineup. His synergy with mid-laner Adam “Jackies” Jeřábek and support Yoon “Jun” Se-jun will be particularly anticipated, as their potential to dominate early-to-mid-game matches looks promising on paper.