After GIANTX’s triumphant climb in the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) Spring 2025, the team now sets its sights on the playoffs—though they’ll be starting from the lower bracket. Following their win over Team Heretics, coach Nicolas Perez spoke with Sheep Esports about the team’s qualification, Jackies’ development, and GIANTX’s chances heading into the next phase of the season.

You locked in playoffs with a clean 2-0 against Heretics — exactly the result you needed. Were you actually that confident going into today?

Nicolas Perez: "Yeah, honestly, we knew we were going to burn Heretics down today. There was zero doubt in our minds. We came in with that certainty — we were going to crush them. What’s funny is that during prep, we kind of gaslit our players a bit. We made them believe that even with a 2-0 win, there would still be tiebreakers. The goal was to keep them fully locked in. We didn’t want them doing any math — we just wanted them to play to win. And they did. We knew we were going to reduce them to ashes. No doubt about it.

You had a rough start to Spring, but something clearly shifted after your game against G2 in Madrid. What do you think sparked that change? It feels like we’re watching a completely different team.

Nicolas Perez: It’s important to remember that along with Vitality, we were the only team to make roster changes between Winter and Spring. So yeah, our early games were rough, but we didn’t really have a choice. Isma (Ismaïl Boualem) joined while he was still playing in EMEA Masters. We had just one week of scrims with him before the LEC officially started.

We had to adjust to him — new comms, new playstyle. On top of that, he was stepping into a role he had never played before, so he had a lot to learn. And that learning process isn’t like in The Matrix where you just plug in a USB drive and download everything. It takes time.

Even the team environment wasn’t quite where we wanted it to be early on. We had to make adjustments — myself included. I had to adapt to his individual needs, even though I already knew him well. For example, 80% of our morning one-on-ones were just the two of us talking about communication and how to handle teamfights to avoid misunderstandings.

I wouldn’t say there was a big turning point, more like steady progress. We started making changes just before our match against Karmine. Even though we lost 1-2, the games were close until mid game. Then we beat G2, narrowly lost to KOI, and crushed BDS and Heretics. So yeah, we’re definitely trending upward. Now we have to prove that in playoffs.

Do you think GIANTX is as strong now — or even stronger — than it was in the Winter Split?

Nicolas Perez: We’re stronger than in Winter. Back then, we had a real issue with progression — we were getting worse over time. It was like 'anti-scaling,' if you will. The way we were working wasn’t good, and as the staff, we had to take a step back. We re-evaluated and made a lot of changes.

Now, we’ve been in our groove for about three or four weeks. Everyone knows their responsibilities. And our performance coach Mew (Théo Ponzoni) has been a massive help with that — he understands what each player needs, how to talk to them, how to give feedback, even the tone to use. We’re really dialed in now. When a problem pops up, we identify it right away and fix it in two days. Before, it took us at least a week. That makes a huge difference in how efficiently we can improve.

Do you believe GX can genuinely go toe-to-toe with the top four teams — even starting from the lower bracket?

Nicolas Perez: We can really beat G2 and KOI. Of course, we still have to prove that on stage, as always. But I’m confident. We beat G2 during the group stage when they weren’t entirely in their comfort zone, so we’ll see what happens when it really matters. Against KOI, we kind of threw at the end — we got caught off-guard. It’s a play style detail we still need to refine, but it’s very doable.

I genuinely believe we can take on KOI and G2. Fnatic would be interesting — they’re one of the few teams who could really challenge us in a best-of-five. As for KC... if we can avoid facing them early, that’d be ideal. Honestly, we’re not quite ready for them yet.

Since 2025, you haven’t been the on-stage coach for GX. We see you more behind the scenes. What’s your current role within the team?

Nicolas Perez: I’m not on stage anymore because Guilhoto and I have very different approaches to draft. He needs someone who can support his plan and help him focus on key elements. That’s Emi’s (Emanuel Ursachi) role now — he helps during the second draft phase with his ideas. So I stepped back from that side of things, and I’m fine with it.

Right now, I focus more on individual development, especially with Jackies and Isma. They’re crucial for how we manage tempo across the map, so I work closely with them. More recently, I’ve also taken charge of our data operations at GIANTX. I act as the bridge between the team’s needs and our data analysts. I oversee our tools, make sure everything we develop is relevant, and ensure that it serves our day-to-day work.

Adam "Jackies" Jeřábek is known for his aggressive picks like Sylas, Yone, or Akali, but today he played Sion mid. Was that something you had prepped ahead of time?

Nicolas Perez: That was actually Guilhoto’s idea. It was a great call — it fit perfectly with how we wanted to play as a team. We worked on that comp a lot in scrims, and we feel really confident running it. What’s funny is that we’ve got quite a few other comps like that ready to go. We’re very confident heading into BO5s because we know we can bring out different picks depending on the situation. We’re super comfortable when it comes to flex picks.

Jackies has had a bit of a rocky road in the LEC. After a tough start, he really improved, but then seemed to struggle again at the start of 2025. As someone who works closely with him, how do you see his progression so far?

Nicolas Perez: Learning takes time, and Jackies is an extremely talented player — both mechanically and in terms of his personality. What he really lacked was discipline. But he’s put in serious work on that over the last few months. For instance, in that Sylas game where he used his E on raptors and died in a silly way — it wasn’t because he expected to hit something, just that his spell was about to expire.

When I joined him in Summer 2024, he’d often get stomped in lane — sometimes down 30 CS. We worked on that, and he got better. In Winter 2025, the issue was his side lane play: he’d die a lot, lack vision, get caught. We worked on that too. More recently, it’s been his teamfight positioning — still too many mistakes. We’re still working on that, and he’s improving every day.

He’s growing at his own pace. And it’s important to remember: joining the LEC on a team like G2 or KC, with experienced players, is not the same as joining a younger team with a long-term project. Jackies had to adjust to a super vocal style from Closer (Can Çelik), and Jun’s very particular style. Sometimes, we asked him to adapt to the team, but the team didn’t adapt to him — which is hard for a rookie. That’s been a key part of his development. For me, as long as he stays committed and keeps learning, I truly believe he can be top 3 or top 4 mid by the end of the year.

Any final words for the GX fans out there?

Nicolas Perez: I’m really hyped for the upcoming BO5s. We’re going to come back strong and cook some spicy picks. But more than that, I hope we approach these matches with the same hunger and drive to win. That’s what made the difference in our recent games — the further we advance, the more we hunger for victory, and I think you can see that in our gameplay. When we win, we win fast and clean. I want us to get back into that rhythm."