GX F1RE: "Right now we’re kind of the “we need to improve” meme [...] but I also don’t think we’re that far from the other teams"

GIANTX iTero remain firmly in the race for the 2026 Spring Split playoffs of the Liga Española de League of Legends (LES), sitting at 2–1 after a mixed start to the season. While the team secured the wins they were expected to take, a heavy defeat against Team Heretics exposed several areas that still need work if they want to challenge for the title.

In an interview with Sheep Esports, coach and content creator Jose Maria “F1RE” Iznardo reflects on the loss to , the team’s playoff ambitions, and the challenge of managing an experienced roster with strong personalities. He also discusses GIANTX’s room for improvement, his background in LEC and LCS, balancing coaching with content creation, and why he still sees himself returning to a top league in the future.

Jose Maria “F1RE” Iznardo: “The second game, we didn’t even play it. They got us at level 1, and it was fucking ridiculous, because the day before we had scrimmed off-stream, and the team we played against hit us with three completely psycho level 1s.

So we talked very clearly about how we wanted to react to those level 1s and how we wanted to play. Then the second game against Heretics came; we knew they could invade, we had talked about it… and we made the biggest mess possible.

F1RE: I’m worried in the sense that we need to beat those teams if we want to secure playoffs. I’d say we need to beat at least two of them, and then it depends on how everything else plays out.

I’m calm because we won the games we had to win. Now the tougher teams are coming, and those are the teams we really need to beat if we want playoffs. It’s a challenge.

Against Heretics, at least in the first game, we showed some small positive signs. I think Heretics with Daglas (Kacper Dagiel) is the best team in the league. There isn’t any team that is massively above the rest among the teams fighting for playoffs.

Yes, they’ll be difficult matches, but like I said the other day: if competing was easy, everyone would do it.

F1RE: We have good players, but also because the overall individual level of the league isn’t insanely demanding.

Right now we’re kind of the “we need to improve” meme. ManoloGap (Manuel García) has to improve his laning phase. Miniduke (Ismael Martínez) too. Th3Antonio (Antonio Espinosa), when he gets invaded, needs to sharpen up and be calmer in certain games.

Our bot lane has been more volatile than I’d like lately, although in lane they’ve been among the better performers.

Then our mid-game is horrible. We need to stop dying in side lanes, and sometimes our objective setups are terrifying in the worst possible way.

There are a lot of things to improve, but I also don’t think we’re that far from the other teams in terms of what they need to fix to win the league.

You also have to remember we’re in a regional league. We have two players who role-swapped. ManoloGap comes from CT (amateur), Miniduke comes from Uber… It’s normal that we’re still learning certain things.

F1RE: You can never be satisfied with just making playoffs. You get into playoffs, and if you don’t believe you can win, then why the fuck are you even playing?

Obviously, inside the team you can understand certain limitations, but right now, if Daglas doesn’t play the rest of the split, I don’t think it’s crazy to think about winning the split.

Would it be difficult? Yes. But for me, winning the split would be a success. Reaching a final would also be a successful split.

Making playoffs and losing in the first round would piss me the fuck off. And not just us—Barça, UCAM, KOI… none of those teams are satisfied with just making it.

F1RE: I have my tasks, the ones Lozark (David Alonso)—GX Esports Director—gave me. Mainly helping the team in reviews, match preparation, and acting as a guide so they can reach agreements.

We all know they’re experienced players who know a lot. So you need someone who can channel that and help everyone get on the same page.

Then outside of the stream, I talk with them individually, meet with one or another, and discuss things. Usually game-related stuff, although these days also other topics because the Heretics’ loss didn’t sit well.

To be honest, I’m not the best person for managing all of that. I’m someone who prepares matches, knows LoL, and that kind of thing.

But I’m positively surprised. They’re pretty easy to manage. There have been clashes here and there, but I’ve seen thousands of teams, and this one has been super chill in that regard.

F1RE: It’s very different, because in those teams my job was to make sure staff and players were as prepared as possible for every match.

I handled opponent prep: what the other team would do, how we should approach the week, what we wanted to practice. Every team was different, but that was the general focus.

Here the role is different. So I try to apply what I learned from watching really good people work. Things I saw Guilhoto (André Pereira) do, things I saw Jandro (Alejandro Fernández-Valdés) do, and things from other coaches I worked with.

But this stage is also about learning for me in this role. I’m testing things. Some will work, some won’t.

A coach with ten years of experience knows what to do in every moment. I still need to experiment more because, in the end, I’ve mostly worked as an analyst, not a coach.

F1RE: It’s weird. Last year I felt like everyone was more on my side because at ZETA I was the one in charge. You’d walk into reviews and nobody had a fucking clue, and I had to grab the kids and teach them how to add numbers.

So for people it was like, “F1RE is the man.”

Now this is different. It’s a team where reviews are discussions between much more experienced players, which is what happens in 90% of serious teams.

Yeah, I run into negativity sometimes, people saying stupid shit, but I honestly don’t care that much. What matters to me is the feedback from the people I work with and the people I respect.

The opinion of some guy in the chat watching a scrim at four in the afternoon isn’t the one I care about most. The opinion that matters is someone like Lozark’s, the guy putting the contract on the table.

F1RE: I had always thought about it, but it felt like a massive chore.

Opening stream and talking about LoL isn’t something I enjoy. I like playing FIFA with my friends and messing around.

But I understood that if I made content, people would expect me to talk about LoL because I know the game.

It never appealed to me because if I spend eight hours a day talking about LoL, the last thing I want is to keep talking about LoL for the rest of the day. I need to disconnect.

When the ZETA opportunity came last year, I had just started doing YouTube videos and Patreon. I thought I could combine both things.

And I realized what I really enjoy most is YouTube videos. If I didn’t have to stream and could only focus on ideas and making videos, I’d be happier.

F1RE: Yes, because being an analyst in LEC or LCS is something I can perfectly combine with content creation.

Right now I’d like to be an analyst for a team while continuing with my own stuff. I’m sure I could have that opportunity at any time.

This year I had several approaches from LEC teams. Last summer I was with NAVI. It doesn’t surprise me that teams call.

I’ve been there for a long time; I still know how most people work, and I believe I’m a better analyst than many of the ones currently in LEC.

Also, being an analyst doesn’t require the same full day-to-day involvement as some other roles, which leaves you time to create content. They’re perfectly compatible. If it doesn’t happen, I’ll put my energy into content and do other things.

F1RE: Sorry for the shit match against Heretics. If this comes out before the UCAM match, trust us. I think we can step up and take the win.

GIANTX fans have always been very supportive. The people who come to be annoying usually come from somewhere else.

Thank you so much for all the support, and against UCAM we’re going to smack them.”