GIANTX was
eliminated from the LEC Summer Split by Fnatic, bringing an early end to GX’s season. Although the outcome was expected on paper, the roster truly cracked under pressure after losing the first game of the series due to a major coordination mistake that cost them a game they had firmly in their hands.
André "Guilhoto" Guilhoto reflected on his team’s performance after the match, sharing his immediate feelings about this bitter defeat while also expressing the pleasure he felt watching his roster improve throughout the year. He plans to focus on the 2026 season after taking a well-deserved break, and he still hopes to remain part of the team, although nothing is certain yet since the offseason has not begun.
How are you feeling after the conclusion of this season for GIANTX?
André "Guilhoto" Pereira Guilhoto: "Quite bad. That first game dictated the whole series, and I couldn't really get them to bounce back.
What do we say to our player after such a crushing throw in game 1, when everything seemed to have been in between your hands?
Guilhoto: That we just need to listen to each other more, because we told Noah (Oh Hyeon-taek) to do Drake, and then Lot (Eren Yıldız) decided to engage alone. And then we followed, and then Jackies (Adam Jeřábek) decided to go there next. I don't know. It was so messy. So I just said that we need to listen to each other more and some other in-game stuff. But no one was able to listen. I think I didn't do a good job at getting them back. And they didn't do a good job on that either. It was obviously the most important fail in the series, but it's hard to tell you how much influence that had on the rest. Because who knows, maybe it wouldn't matter at all, and we would lose the three games after anyway.
Guilhoto: Yes, we did it before. It's something that we were doing when we had a good angle of Nidalee and against champions that can't really kill them. Usually, we do it on red side to have a better match-up top, but we felt like this game was good to do it when they picked Jarvan like that, and I think it actually was working well.
Reflecting on your overall year, the roster saw some changes this year, including Can "Closer" Çelik taking a break and Ismaïl "ISMA" Boualem stepping in. How did these factors impact the team’s rhythm?
Guilhoto: It has impacted, but not necessarily in a bad way. Plus, all the other teams play by the same rules. KC is in a weird situation with Nisqy (Yasin Dinçer) as well. G2 had bad splits for their standards in Spring and Winter. Every team has issues, every team has internal discussions, and ups and downs. I don't believe the impact was big. If anything, it was positive because ISMA turned out to be a very good player. To me, he is the most improved player of this whole year.
Nicolas Perez stated that he was working more closely with ISMA and Jackies, Emmanuel and Rúben "rhuckz" Barbosa were working with some other players. Would you like to explain to us what your role has been in coordinating all of this?
Guilhoto: Everything that is team-related comes through me. Draft, main voice, everything that is related to structure, the things that we worked on, every macro aspect comes through me. And Emi helps me with the drafts and scouting. And then Rhuckz is mostly dedicated to botlane, and Nico is mostly dedicated to Jackies and ISMA. And throughout the year, Rhuckz and Nico split a bit of ISMA. And whenever there is something a bit bigger to work on, I'll step in.
That was kind of how we were organized as a team. Then, Mew was responsible for everything related to putting out the fires, to be fair. And he did a really good job on that. Everyone in general did a good job, even if obviously, it still could have been better.
What would you say is the biggest difference between you and KC, MKOI, Fnatic, and G2?
Guilhoto: Just consistency. We still look up to the better teams, but from the quality of teams, we should be able to look straight in their eyes. Also, it's hard to ignore the impact of their names. I'm not talking about individual player names, but the teams' names. They definitely carry weight. The biggest difference for us was building consistency, which we achieved this year, in my opinion. Once we have that, we can go and knock on that door.
The quality of players seems to be less important than the team’s overall experience and the organization’s reputation. It’s not about facilities, food, or what we eat. Mainly, it’s about the team name. The organization's name means a lot and brings a lot, especially in terms of experience. These teams are surrounded by experienced players. It is less true for MKOI. They have Elyoya (Javier Prades), who has an incredible curriculum. But now, as they go to their second Worlds with this roster, they will be even more established.
Even if KC’s Caliste (Caliste Henry-Hennebert) isn’t the most experienced player, he plays like a veteran with ten years of experience. So, for me, the two biggest factors are experience and the organization’s name.
Lot said "We aren't a 'scrim team' anymore" a few months ago. Why would you say the team did not manage to replicate the scrim's energy to official games on stage?
Guilhoto: I think we did. I honestly think we did. We went to three games with MKOI, we went to three games with KC. In both series, we could have won. And today, this game, it's hard to say because of the game one. Honestly, even though it didn't happen many times, if ever, if we throw this way the game in game one, we might have a bad day of scrims too. We also had bad days of scrims.
This previous week was good, but the week before was not the best. Some teams had a really hard time beating us. For example, G2, we had a really good result in the last scrim against them, but overall, they outnumbered us the whole year. With MKOI, this same week, every scrim we played against them was 3-2. Same with Vitality, every scrim we played against them was 3-2. Most of those were even in their favor.
KC, in scrims, was not the best as well, but they still put up big fights against us. Actually, the majority of scrims were 3-2 as well. So our scrim power has been way too exaggerated and our stage power way too downplayed. It’s just that today, the day we had to prove it, we didn’t. So I think those narratives will stay.
Would you blame somehow the format of the Summer split for providing this little amount of games to improve?
Guilhoto: Yes, but the format is the same for everyone. Fnatic could also use more games with
their new midlaner, right? And Vitality, with Fleshy (
Kadir Kemiksiz), could have benefited from more games as well. We are competitors, and of course, we have the right to complain about the format, but at the end of the day, it's the same for everyone, and we all signed. Even if it’s one best-of-five that decides, at the start of the year, single elimination, one round robin, we have to play it, and that’s just our job. I don’t put a single blame on the format, even though I hate it.
Now that the season is officially over, what will be your focus over the next few weeks or months?
Guilhoto: Spending time with my kids. It's been hard, but I'll spend time with my kids, I'll stream a bit, not sure if I'll do something league related or not and then just read a lot of books, prepare myself for next year obviously, if I stay. Every offseason, there's always that question. But so far, that's the plan.
Who do you think between KC and Fnatic will go to Worlds?
Guilhoto: I'll give you a straight answer. I don't think I will even watch the match. I hope both lose. A team is going to make it to Worlds, that is not mine. Whoever makes it, I'll support them really hard at Worlds. But I just want both teams to find a way to lose, be disqualified, and we have to play Vitality for a spot at Worlds instead. I don't want anyone to win. That's how I feel right now. But if I have to predict purely on results, I think KC is better, but Madrid will play in favor of Fnatic. And that matters. So probably Fnatic."
Header Photo Credit: Wojciech Wandzel/Riot Games
