GIANTX continues its steady rise at the start of the
2026 League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) Versus, despite suffering a roadblock at the hands of Team Heretics. One of the few teams to retain its full roster this season, expectations remain high for the squad as it aims to break into the upper ranks. After a shaky but ultimately sufficient Week 1, the team sits at 2-1. In an exclusive interview with
Sheep Esports, midlaner
Adam "Jackies" Jeřábek reflects on the team’s challenging results, areas that need improvement, and the upcoming matchups.
Despite ending the week 2–1, the team’s level of play wasn’t always convincing. How do you evaluate this week overall, and what needs to improve going into next week?
Adam "Jackies" Jeřábek: "I mean, it’s hard to judge, right? We've just came out of our loss to Heretics. But for me, I think our read on the patch—we didn’t really stand by what we know and what we should do.
Regarding our gameplay: the match against Shifters was a bit chokey. It was our first on stage game, it is what it is. We still pulled off a win. Against G2, it became way better. Everyone was back in motion, even though the game was close. G2 is still a strong opponent, and we showed up pretty well.
Today against Heretics was kind of a disappointment, though. To be fair, I had seven deaths, so it's on me. Honestly, there were a lot of blunders, especially in draft. We just played pretty poorly overall as well. I feel like today we were just out of sync. I don’t know what it was, but yeah, there was something wrong for sure.
After the game, you were talking with Ismaïl "ISMA" Boualem. What were you discussing?
Jackies: I probably can't say the exact words we shared, but I think we were just talking about the game in general. It honestly felt kind of cringe to play. I felt like they could just walk wherever they wanted. Dr. Mundo goes where he pleases, and we just died. I mean, I died, but yeah, it felt very hard. So of course there was some frustration.
GIANTX often looks better when playing through the early game. Do you think the Malphite pick didn’t really fit your team’s style? Is there a reason why you put such high priority on the pick, even first picking it?
Jackies: I believe we misjudged the meta a bit. But at the same time, don’t get me wrong, Malphite is strong, right? It has a lot of presence in other leagues too, especially when it comes to things like the Sylas ban and Malphite answers and stuff. But yeah, Mundo was a good answer. In some way, we expected it, but at the same time we disrespected it.
And yeah, it’s known that we are a team that likes to either fight early or do something productive. With Malphite, you kind of just need to wait, but we were fighting early anyway. So yeah, the game just went downhill.
We'll need to spend time reviewing our many mistakes, obviously, like anyone would. In my eyes though, it’s more about figuring out the exact meta. I think we know what the meta is, but we’re failing to apply it in a way that plays to our strengths. I feel like today what we tried wasn’t our strength at all. Honestly, almost every champion we played today wasn’t really what GX is known for. So yeah, probably just figuring things out with the team, honestly.
Given your ambitions to be a Worlds-contending team, when do you think GIANTX should really start to hit its stride?
Jackies: I agree that we should be aiming higher, especially for the first split, right? The new teams require more time to settle in and stuff. Still, I feel like people, especially right now, don’t realize that it’s week one of a brand-new season.
Right now, official games are still where our real issues show up, and that's what we need to work on. Scrims are one thing, but the first and third games on stage were obviously not what we wished them to be. Right now, we know more clearly what we need to improve. It can only go up from here.
On a personal level, what are you focusing on right now, and how did you use the offseason to prepare for this season?
Jackies: Honestly, when the offseason came, I was spamming solo queue a bit. But then when I read all the changes, I was mostly just waiting for the in-houses to start since the game was about to change so drastically, so I took a little break. Since the new season hit the live servers, it's been grinding, in-houses, and scrims constantly.
Now that you’ve had a few weeks on the new patch, how are you adjusting to the new meta? Do you enjoy it, and what are your thoughts on midlane being considered the strongest role?
Jackies: I like it. I think it’s fun for sure. The new season is way more fun than the last one. Midlane most OP? In competitive, I can see it. Mid is pretty strong, though not because of the boots. Some champions are definitely not balanced—for example, Ryze. Azir in the right angle is very strong too, and Orianna is basically a first-pick or ban these days. There are a lot of champions like that. But in solo queue, I think toplane is not balanced. If your toplaner dies two times, GG, the game’s basically over.
Today, Heretics' Sebastian "Tracyn" Wojtoń went quite hard on you, so I can see that.
Jackies: [chuckles] Yeah, I mean, I wouldn’t put any shame on Lot (Eren Yıldız). Tracyn played well, and I think Lot played fine too. We just got gapped as a team today. It is what it is.
You’re now in your third year on GX, having originally signed a three-year contract as a rookie. Even though your contract could get extended, has that affected your mindset or how you’re approaching this season?
Jackies: I approach pretty much every year the same way. I just try to do my best so that at the end of the year I don’t doubt myself or regret things. Obviously, even when you lose, you will always regret some stuff. But for me, I want to look back at the year and ask myself: did I do the most I could? And if the answer is no, then there’s an issue. About the contract, I don’t really care that it’s ending. If I do good, if I play well, then I’ll just see what’s up next year. For me, the main focus is this year.
With all the experience you’ve gained since your first year in the LEC, are you approaching this season differently compared to your rookie year?
Jackies: Well, the first lesson I've learned is not to overreact after week one results [chuckles]. Last year, for example, we started 4–1 and ended 4–5. Just because we beat G2 doesn’t mean we’re the best team in the world. And losing to Heretics doesn’t mean we’re the worst team either. So yeah, just take it slow.
For me, the main learning from the past two years, and now the third one, is to not overreact. As everyone knows, unless you’re a bottom team—which we’re in the middle of the pack—we will always make playoffs if we stay consistent. It’s really just about not overreacting and focusing on what actually matters.
What are your thoughts on your upcoming opponents—Los Ratones, Fnatic, and Movistar KOI?
Jackies: Sounds like a fun week. But I’m going in with the mindset that I don’t really care about the name on the other side. If it’s Los Ratones or MKOI, I’m going to take the game the same way.
Playing against Los Ratones will always be fun, especially Baus—I saw that level three mid gank, so I’m a bit scared now [chuckles]. MKOI and Fnatic sound like good games too, and I feel like GX—I don’t know why, but I feel like we perform better against the stronger teams.
Why do you think GX seems to struggle against the lower-ranked teams?
Jackies: Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t think it’s disrespect, because it’s not like we go into the game thinking, “Ah, it’s Heretics, we’ll just take it easy”—no one thinks like that at all. But then, in the gameplay, it kind of looks like that. It’s not in our heads, though, so I need to figure out what’s actually happening.
Is there anything you’d like to add before we finish?
Jackies: The classic “thank you” to all the GX fans, right? Even though we’re 2–1 and just lost to Heretics, don’t overreact, okay? We’re scrim gods though, so that might be an issue. Our last scrims were pretty good, so maybe that’s why we didn’t play our best. Maybe we need to start running it down in scrims, I guess. I hope next week will be better and that we can show a stronger performance."
