SR Contractz: "I think we would definitely be at the top compared to other mid-jungle duos"

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is the only team attending the 2026 League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) Homegrounds in Mexico City that leaves the event winless. However, their series against and went the full distance and showed a glimpse of how much progress the team has made since their early elimination at the LCS Lock-In Tournament back in February.

The Rebels’ loss pushed them away from the three-way tie for third place, but they can still finish inside the Top 4 if they beat

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and Cloud9 beats . Following his match against TL but before his match against C9, jungler Juan “" García had a chat with Sheep Esports. He shared how Mexico City is connected to his roots, his familiarity with being an underdog, and how he and Yoo “Zinie" Baek-jin fare against fellow mid-jungle duos in the league.

Juan “Contractz” García: “I can speak a little bit. I can hear words here and there. Depending on context, I can get it, but yeah.

Contractz: “Our video guy speaks better Spanish than me. His isn’t super good, but it’s passable. All I can do is speak the basic conversation like “do you want your hotel room cleaned up?” Simple stuff like that.

Contractz: Not that I remember. First time.

Contractz: Yeah! My grandparents moved from Mexico City to the Bay Area, probably around forty or fifty years ago, give or take, but they are from Mexico City.

Contractz: Yeah! It’s definitely cool to see where they grew up. This (Arena Esports Stadium at Cinemex Artz Pedregal) isn’t exactly where they’re from; it’s more of a nicer area. It’s nice driving the streets, walking around, and seeing the culture. It’s super good.

Contractz: Yes, they’re still alive.

Contractz: I told them I was coming, and I asked if I had any more family in Mexico City. They told me that they all moved to the Bay Area, so I don’t have much family here anymore. It was nice to visit the area for the first time and see where they’re from.

Contractz: Honestly, I had pretty high confidence for Game 1 because it was a draft that I was comfortable in and pretty easy to pilot. They had the kind of more smurf comp with Akali, Trundle, stuff that doesn’t teamfight that well without set up. We were playing Xayah, Rakan, Orianna style of front-to-back, let them come comp, especially because we had K’Sante against Olaf matchup on the toplane. It was a pretty comfortable position, and I got a few free kills early game that really drove the game in our favor. Game 1 was pretty simple and pretty easy.

Game 2 and 3… I think for Game 2, we had a draft that I wouldn’t say we are the best at stylistically, like more global ults, more one-three-one play, and side laning. Stuff like that is not our strength, but we were still in a pretty good position that game. We were up about one thousand gold at around eight or nine minutes, so we were definitely in a position to win.

We kind of took some bad fights, wasted some ultimates, and TL, once you give them too much information and too much free time, they’re really good at punishing these fast angles. Once we gave two kills to (Sean Sung) botlane, I think the game became pretty hard. I think Zinie played really well that game. He got a lane advantage and got me a jungle advantage. Props to Zinie for that one.

Contractz: I think we would definitely be at the top. Probably… Honestly, there’s a lot of strong duos in the LCS. I think we comfortably sit around Top 4, and we can compete with all of them. My Top 4 would be… I would say (Kacper Słoma) and (Kang Sung-in), and after that, everybody is fighting for their lives. ’s (Lee Sang-min) and (Robert Huang) are strong; (Brandon Villegas) and (Lim Hyeon-seung) are strong too.

I think we’re somewhere around there fighting to prove ourselves. Especially Zinie after a rough half of the year, but I think he is finally finding his footing. He is really showing what was promised, per se. I think he’s always been a strong player, but it was just about connecting his ideas, knowing how to play the map, and knowing when to play defensive and when to pressure. Obviously, his English has gotten a lot better, and there’s not much communcation issues in game anymore.

Contractz: The first week was pretty normal. We scrimmed and had one content day, nothing crazy. This week has definitely been complicated for sure. We haven’t had the most ideal practice situations like playing solo queue or getting a lot of scrim time. We’re kind of winging it a little bit. It’s not the most ideal of situations in terms of being match-ready, but we’re doing our best to combat whatever they throw at us.

I think we’re in a good spot, and we looked pretty solid for playing three scrim games in the past four games or so. Hopefully, we’re able to practice a little more tonight and just talk about draft. That’s the most important thing. We’ll have a draft meeting to go over what we want to prioritize over C9 tomorrow. We’ll probably review our games as well, and go from there.

Contractz: Honestly, it doesn’t matter where we end. I think us losing today prevents us from finishing Top 2, or it’s pretty hard. No matter what, we’ll finish somewhere around three and six. We’re just trying to take it one game at a time and be in the best form we can for the playoff match. My history in playoffs is that I’ve always gone in as the underdog. When you’re underestimated and people don’t think much of you, you’re able to play strong and play fast, like throwing them some curveballs. As long as we’re in the best form for the playoffs, it’s all that matters.

Contractz: It’s been an amazing experience. Playing in front of a crowd is something we haven’t done since Week 1, so it’s been five to six weeks of waiting to feel the hype and the atmosphere when walking out onto the stage. Fans are super loud and energetic, and you kind of feed off their energy. It’s been fun; you don’t get that same kind of energy in California, sorry to say. I feel like Mexican fans are a little bit more passionate and fiery. It’s definitely a really fun experience, and I hope I can do it again.