GX Jackies: "I can be among the top 3-4 of midlaners in the LEC"

Adam "Jackies" Jeřábek, readying up to play on stage in the LEC 2024 Summer Season.

"I can finally say that I feel comfortable on stage"

Finally earning their first victory in the LEC 2024 Summer Season, GIANTX and Adam "Jackies" Jeřábek are now hoping to turn around their competitive League of Legends season. With newfound confidence, the mid laner delves into his hopes for the future and his recent improvements in this exclusive interview as his team now hopes to continue upon its ongoing momentum.

How does it feel to get your first win? Do you feel relieved?

Adam "Jackies" Jeřábek: "For sure, it feels way better. For me, that win kind of restored hope. What we were doing on stage before, losing those games, it was honestly so depressing. We could have had three more wins, but we lost those matches ourselves. Thankfully, today, we came on stage as a completely different team. We played it much calmer than usual. I'm really happy to finally have gotten this win; it really restored our hope.

You've been sitting at the top of the Damage/Minute and Damage/Gold charts. How do you feel about your performances this split so far? Do you feel like you've improved a lot since Winter?

Jackies: For sure. If you look at the stats, if you look at the gameplay, I definitely improved a lot. Honestly, I'd attribute a lot of my improvements to our new assistant coach Nicolas Perez, who was previously with our academy team. He became sort of my individual coach and, I think he helped fix my laning phase. I really think that it shows and, his guidance has made the game way easier for me. With Spring and Winter done, I can finally say that I feel comfortable on stage now. If the comms are not hectic and I can fully focus on my gameplay, I think that it's way easier for me to pop off. I'm kind of proud of myself honestly, even if we are 1-4. It's really good to see this improvement.

What is the biggest aspect Nicolas Perez has taught you so far?

Jackies: I struggled at reading my opponents' intentions. Sometimes, I also couldn't really tell what I needed to do and where I had to be. I view laning phase differently than I used to. I used to look solely for wave management, basing, and general stuff but now, I feel I have a much better read on the intentions of others, when to punish, when to go in, when to play defensive... I picked it all up quite fast and Nicolas has really helped a lot. He coached a lot of Korean midlaners in his career and he knows all about these kind of stuff. I'm trying to adapt my style and learn from those South Korean players so I can become better at my role.

How has integrating Antonio "Th3Antonio" Espinosa and Lee "Juhan" Ju-han been so far? Did you have to change your team's style at all?

Jackies: We actually adapted quite well to the additions of Antonio and Juhan. Obviously, we are 1-4, so it doesn't really show so far but, I feel like we adapted decently.

Th3Antonio, Juhan, and Jackies celebrating after their first victory. Credit: Wojciech Wandzel/Riot Games

To some extent, Antonio's champion pool makes my life much easier since I can play a lot of different styles. I can pick Taliyah, Azir, Varus, and many others which I don't want to leak obviously. His commitment to our team and ability to give up his lane to help me in particular makes my job much easier. It's really nice to have someone like him to help me get ahead and trust that I'll be able to carry.

As for Juhan, he hasn't played many games but, I feel like he still has so much experience and he's very smart about the game itself. The only issue is obviously the language barrier, but he's been learning quite fast. I was told that he did not speak English at all but, I was really surprised when we started playing together and he's just very smart both in and out of the game. It's beautiful to work with him.

We've seen you talk about and play a lot of Ezreal mid in solo queue. Do you think we might see it in the LEC?

Jackies: To be fair, I don't really think Ezreal mid is that good. It's only decent to use as a curve ball to catch enemies off guard. It's getting buffed next patch so, maybe I'll be able to pull it out in some specific matchups, but I don't want to say too much on that.

You mentioned at the start of the year that your first goal was to reach Season Finals. Do you think it is still achievable despite the team's results so far?

Jackies: I for sure think it's still achievable. I'm not gonna lie, our game against MAD Lions KOI felt like it could have been our breaking point though. This match was going to be the decider if we could make it or not. We showed a clean game against them and well, I did have some rather int Taliyah ults but, it was overall very good. It showed that, if we can stay calm in our games, we are not a bad team at all. Even in our past games, I feel that if we didn't panic as much, we wouldn't have lost most of our matches. There were some free wins in them. Considering that we have two new players and new coaches, I feel that our performances show we could be a very good team. I still believe.

Jackies, being interviewed on stage after winning in the LEC. Credit: Wojciech Wandzel/Riot Games

You will be facing Team Vitality and Team BDS in Week 3. What are your expectations for those matches?

Jackies: I want to go in with the expectations that we'll go 2-0, simply because I believe in myself and I know we can pull it off. The first two weeks were rough for our team, but our gameplay showed that we could have won those games. We threw a lot of our leads and, seeing the good in our games gives me a lot of confidence that we're close to greatness. Even if we can play like this against the good teams, we should win against middle-of-the-pack opponents. I expect a 2-0 week, it's fully in our hands.

Taking into account your recent improvements, where would you rank yourself among other mid laners?

Jackies: I don't think I can say that I'm better than Humanoid (Marek Brazda) or Caps (Rasmus Winther) yet. I will not pull a Supa (David Garcia), okay? Honestly, I feel I'm in a really good shape right now though. If I keep this form, I would say that I can be among the top 4... maybe top 3 of midlaners in the LEC. It's on me to keep playing well. I've been doing good but, it's not impossible that I drop my form again and play like shit again. It's also weird because Caps has not been in a good form at all recently. Everyone can see that. Some midlaners have been disrespecting us, which honestly is understandable. But yes overall, I just need to keep playing well and I could probably be top 3-4.

Do you see Caps and Humanoid as the two mid laners to take down or are there other players you are looking forward to facing?

Jackies: For sure Caps and Humanoid are by far the top 2, like there is no denying it. If I had to rank and talk about other midlaners, I'd say Nisqy and Larssen would be the next two best midlaners. In my eyes, Larssen in particular is mega underrated and... He's been getting griefed sometimes. In any case, those are the four players I definitely want to beat.

Do you have any closing words for your fans?

Jackies: Thank you to everyone who's cheering for us. I'm sad, even for you guys, that you have to endure some of our throws. But I hope last game made it clear that we are still in it and that you guys will keep supporting us. We will definitely show better results from now on."

Header Photo Credit: Wojciech Wandzel/Riot Games