GX Jackies: "We want to show that we can fight for the title"

are starting their LEC 2026 Spring Split with a bang, taking down 2–1 in Week 1. Though the split will be long, every match counts in a format where teams only face one another once, and only the six best teams will have a chance to compete for spots at the Mid-Season Invitational. A convincing showing, the squad appeared composed and seems to have learned from its shakiness in past splits. With a relatively easy schedule on paper ahead against , , and in the coming weeks, it already looks like GIANTX’s path toward the top of the standings is taking shape.

In an exclusive interview, the team’s franchise midlaner sat down with Sheep Esports to discuss his mindset heading into year three with the team, how GIANTX is learning from LEC Versus, and the upcoming EWC qualifier.

Adam "Jackies" Jeřábek: “It definitely feels good. I'm way happier with how we won than just the fact that we won. For example, when we won last split against NAVI, or even Heretics, it didn’t feel that good. We just won because we found random fights and then ended the game.

But today, especially in game three, no one was scared. Everyone was just going in, and we were finally on the same page. So I’m happier that, in our first game, this is how we started the split.

Jackies: It's a bit of both. Everyone knows how Fnatic ended last split. Even the second game, which we lost, I wouldn’t say it was fully on them playing well. Don’t get me wrong, they played better, and we just played worse, but I don’t feel like they really did something special. In my opinion, we just kind of went in and lost the game ourselves.

So I think Fnatic had a bit of a rough showing. But to be fair, I still believe there are five good players on that roster. I don’t know if they just don’t click as a team or what the reason is, but I’m fully confident Fnatic can be good. It just feels like there’s one missing piece. That aside, I’m happy with what we showed today.

Jackies: For sure, right? The way we won against those teams before was just messy, and we weren’t on the same page. So this split, it feels like we started working more on doing the same plays together.

Everyone knows that these days in League of Legends, even if a play is bad, if you do it as five, it can still work. Against FNC, in game three, we took a lot of fights that we didn’t even execute well. We didn’t really outplay them—in some cases, we even got outplayed—and we still won. We are playing way more as a unit now. It’s something we’ll just keep building on.

Jackies: We started around the third or fourth of March.

Jackies: We only scrimmed LEC teams—there were no ERL scrims. Practice has been pretty fine. At the beginning, we for sure had two or three partners that were also already scrimming, and then more teams started coming in.

Jackies: There’s way more time to work with. There are going to be a lot of changes in the season, especially champion-wise. There will be a lot of patches, so there will be a lot of switch-ups: who adapts the fastest, who finds the best stuff. So it’s going to be very interesting.

Usually, I say that scrims are sort of useless, how what you play in practice is in some ways whatever, but this split, since it’s much longer, I do believe that it’s super important. It’s definitely a marathon.

We’re a bit lucky with the schedule or something, because there’s the EWC qualifier, and it’s during the weeks when we don’t actually play LEC matches. So I guess that’s better for us. We are chilling.

Jackies: I’d say it’s on a similar level. I wouldn’t play at an international tournament and just be like, “yeah, I don’t really care.”

For GX and for me, we’ve never been to an international event, right? So that’s definitely something we’re missing and something we want. And if we can start through EWC, that’s good. We want to make it to Worlds. So if we can already get that kind of practice at EWC, that would be very nice.

Jackies: I’m gonna be honest, I don’t really know what’s going on there, and I’m not really aware of what people think of it, I’m staying out of these discussions. I don’t know much about what did or did not happen there, I’m just staying out of it.

In my eyes, the Esports World Cup is just another international tournament to compete in. If I get to play against teams like or , that’s all I care about.

Jackies: My first year in the LEC was the most chaotic and stressful one in a way. Even though people say, “oh, you’re a rookie, you have no pressure,” that line of thoughts just isn’t true these days. New players before were treated more like actual rookies, but now when you bring one in, people expect them to just carry in two splits, or they’re out. People are just coming and going. So the first year was kind of the stressful one.

During the 2024 Summer Finals—what I still consider my best split to this day—when the AD carry midlane meta was dominant, a meta I feel I helped popularize, I realized I had what it takes to be the best, no matter what. That remains my goal today.

I was decently happy with my improvement last year, even though our results didn’t really show it. But I still have a lot of weaknesses, and I’ve been working on that throughout the years.

Now, in spring and summer, it’s time for me to finally show my strength, like I did in that good split. That’s why today I was playing three proactive champions with Hextech Rocketbelt—Annie, Aurora, Akali—which match my playstyle.

Jackies: It’s a little bit of multiple things—not really jealousy, but definitely motivation. Still, I wouldn’t suddenly start saying things like, “oh my God, I’ll just win Worlds now,” you know? Of course, that’s a goal every player has, right? G2 making it to the First Stand finals is for sure a good sign, though. The one thing I realized from those games is that people are undervaluing EU a lot.

I mean, sure, it was just two series against and , but personally, I was expecting G2 to win—just not 6-0. I think people were undermining G2 just because “EU, lol”. [sic]

[Laughs] And also, of course, since we beat G2 last split, in theory, we are better than Gen.G and BFX. So basically, I can actually go win Worlds now.

Jackies: To the GIANTX family, I hope we showed a satisfying performance today against Fnatic, because usually we struggle against them. It’s finally something to be hyped about, and we will for sure show that we actually deserve to be the best.

We reached top four last split, sure, but it wasn’t really dominant in a way. So this split and next split, we want to show that we can even fight for the title. Just be ready for that.”