Sources: ISMA will be GIANTX’s jungler in 2026

The offseason has been turbulent, but changes remain limited for GIANTX. Ismaïl "ISMA" Boualem is set to stay with GIANTX in the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC), sources tell Sheep Esports on Tuesday. ISMA will therefore remain in the LEC and start the year with GX, the team he joined in Spring after a difficult Winter Split with SK Gaming and a brief stint with Karmine Corp Blue.

He becomes the fourth player GIANTX is retaining for next year. Eren "Lot" Yıldız, Adam "Jackies" Jeřábek, and Oh "Noah" Hyeon-taek are all already locked in, and ISMA now joins them after the Spanish organization attempted—unsuccessfully—to recruit Iván "Razork" Martín Díaz.

Only Yoon "Jun" Se-jun is not fully locked in yet, but after GIANTX turned down Fnatic’s offer for their support, the Korean player is now likely to remain in the botlane alongside Noah. GIANTX only considered Razork for the jungle position, keeping ISMA as their sole fallback option in case the deal with the Spanish jungler didn’t go through. On ISMA’s side, he held discussions with a few LFL teams, but nothing concrete.

GIANTX will therefore keep the same — or nearly the same — roster that played the 2025 Spring and Summer Splits. With ISMA, the team finished top 5 in the LEC twice, but never managed to break through the league’s consistent top-four barrier (G2 Esports, Movistar KOI, Fnatic and KC). The Winter Split had been played with Can "Closer" Çelik, who later decided to take a break, forcing the team to find a replacement.

For the French jungler, 2025 has been a turbulent year. He started with SK Gaming, where the team struggled and finished ninth. He then moved to Karmine Corp in the LFL in a trade involving Mehdi "Boukada" Lahlou, competing in the EMEA Masters Winter Split. GX then entered the market looking for a new jungler and paid his buyout to secure ISMA’s services.

For more roster changes, check out our Transfers Hub and Offseason Live Tracker.