This Friday,
suffered a 0â2 defeat in their opening match in Madrid against the hosts of this LEC Roadtrip,
. Already qualified for the
Spring Split playoffs thanks to a four-game winning streak at the start of the regular season, the team has now, however, fallen to three consecutive defeats against the leagueâs top contenders.
GX will nonetheless have two more opportunities to reverse the momentum ahead of the playoffs, in matches where they will once again enter as underdogs: against
on Saturday and
on Sunday. That prospect does not appear to intimidate the teamâs midlaner,
, who remains confident in his teamâs potential.
First of all, whatâs your immediate takeaway from todayâs games? I guess youâre a bit frustrated right now.
Adam "Jackies" JeĆĂĄbek: âI wouldnât fully say frustrated. I donât think I played my best, but at the same time,I didnât want to come here and play defensively just because we are theoretically the weakest team. So I wanted to come out with some power, and yeah, it backfired. I think in both games â in the Akali game, I probably could have carried, but in the Azir game, I played a bit too aggressively. I was kind of a free kill in mid. But I wouldnât say Iâm frustrated. I think it was a fine showing. Today they were just better, and thatâs it.
You hadnât played an official match in two weeks before this roadtrip. Did you feel âcoldâ coming back on stage today, mechanically or with the crowd?
Jackies: I wouldnât say so for me personally. I donât know about the rest of my team, but for me, I felt pretty fine. I even pulled off a TikTok Azir combo Iâd never done before, so that was something, so not really.
How did it feel to play on stage today compared to Berlin?
Jackies: I think it actually made me way more aggressive than before, even compared to Berlin. Maybe thatâs a positive thing. I mean, last time we played in Madrid, we were last place, I think, and we beat G2. So for me, I like the pressure,and I like playing in Madrid for sure. I guess I just play more aggressively here.
You started the split really well at 4â0. What do you think changed during these last weeks? Is it stronger opponents, team dynamics, or something else going on in GIANTX?
Jackies: I donât think anything really bad is happening. Everyone says it, and itâs true, that we played weaker teams in the beginning. But at the same time, I think our team atmosphere, team dynamics, and the way we played the game were also really good at the start. Everything was clicking together. And now that weâre facing harder teams, some issues have started showing up. But thatâs normal for every team, right? There are ups and downs, and weâre in a down right now. So weâre trying to get back up, and weâre using Madrid as a step for that. Weâll see where it goes.
You now have to recover mentally for tomorrowâs matches. Whatâs usually the hardest part after a loss like this â reviewing mistakes or rebuilding confidence?
Jackies: I donât really⊠I mean, not âcare,â but I canât really find the word. Iâll probably just review the games on my own or maybe with Guilhoto (AndrĂ© Guilhoto) and see what happened. Because honestly, I donât take these games super negatively. Sure, we lost 0â2, and they ended both games in around 30 minutes. But at the same time, if we win one fight, we probably win the game, right? So it really depends on that. I donât really go home with a super negative mindset. Iâm just ready to stomp G2 tomorrow.
How do you feel about the new patch? A lot changed â Statikk Shiv is strong again, there are new runes. Do GIANTX feel comfortable on it?
Jackies: I think weâre probably one of the more creative teams. Today, we didnât really show it because we had zero angles for it, but at least for me, I like the patch for sure. I like it when there are big changes during the split. I feel like it shakes things up a lot. And yeah, Iâve got my spicy stuff ready â it just didnât get an angle yet. So hopefully this week we can pull out some of our own stuff.
This roster has played together for a long time now. Do you still believe this roster can peak in playoffs?
Jackies: For sure we can. We all know what weâre capable of. Some players started the split slowly, but at the same time, we all know the potential every single player has. Thatâs also a big reason why we didnât make roster changes â because we know we have what it takes. Itâs just about getting everyone there at the same time. And again, this is something weâre using Madrid for. Itâs actually kind of lucky that we already locked playoffs because now we can play with no fear and no pressure at all. I mean, everyone against us is the favorite, right? So itâs really about building confidence, even if you lose. For example, I actually liked that the games ended this way â well, not liked, but⊠even in Game 2, I played Azir into Anivia, but Iâm not going to back down just because Iâm facing a good player. I know
Joseph Pyun) is really good, but at the same time, I donât think he was dominating lane the way people expected before. So in a way Iâm happy about that, and yeah, weâll just keep it up for the next days.
Lastly, do you have any message for the GIANTX fans who came here to Madrid?
Jackies: Yeah, I think I saw almost every fan, so Iâm really grateful for it. I hope theyâre not disappointed after these two days. But I can tell you the aggression wonât stop â weâll just keep going.â