Justinas “jL” Lekavičius has taken a leave of absence from NAVI and the pro CS2 scene, citing his struggles to cope with the demands of high-level esports.
JL leaves NAVI to take break from Counter-Strike 2 esports
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Justinas “jL” Lekavičius has stepped away from the Natus Vincere Counter-Strike 2 roster to take a break from competitive play.
The news marks the end of jL’s two-year stint with NAVI, who he joined on June 30, 2023, alongside Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen and Mihai “iM” Ivan as a part of a new English-speaking lineup.
In a statement, Natus Vincere stated that jL expressed his wish to take a break from the game and focus on his well-being, adding that they were exploring options to strengthen their Counter-Strike 2 division.
The Lithuanian player further explained his decision in a YouTube video, stating that he was struggling to cope with the constant pressure to perform that comes with playing at the highest level.
Throughout his stay with Natus Vincere, jL has averaged a 1.11 performance rating and helped NAVI to four big-event titles.
They include Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2024, ESL Pro League Season 20, Esports World Cup 2024, and PGL Major Copenhagen 2024, where jL received the MVP award.
For his contributions, the 25-year-old was declared the fifth-best player of 2024, when he also won the Closer of the Year award.
Despite the immense success jL experienced with NAVI last year, the team’s run through 2025 has been largely disappointing, with just two semifinal appearances at BLAST Bounty Spring and IEM Katowice.
More recently, Natus Vincere exited BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 in the quarterfinals.
“2025 was a year of failures, but you learn from failures. And what I’ve learned is that maybe it’s time for me to hang up the mouse, at least for six months,” jL said.
The announcement of the Lithuanian rifler stepping away from pro play comes just a week after Natus Vincere put their academy roster up for sale and promoted Drin “makazze” Shaqiri to the main lineup.
The 18-year-old will fill in the void left behind by jL in what is expected to be their only off-season change.
Natus Vincere will showcase a new-look lineup in Stage 2 of IEM Cologne later this month, while they are also confirmed to attend the Esports World Cup in August.
The top Counter-Strike 2 betting sites have yet to open outright markets for IEM Cologne; however, given Natus Vincere’s recent struggles and the departure of jL, they are expected to be among the outsiders.
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