Liqud to field jL as stand-in at Roman Imperium Cup VI

Team Liquid will field Justinas “jL” Lekasvicius as a stand-in during Roman Imperium Cup VI in place of Guy “NertZ” Iluz who is unable to attend the tournament due to travel issues.

By being called up by Team Liquid, the benched Natus Vincere player will make his return to the pro Counter-Strike 2 scene for the first time since BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 in July.

At the time, jL announced that he was taking a break from the game to focus on himself. Since then, the Ukrainian player has featured at Intel Extreme Masters Krakow as a part of the on-air talent, but has yet to hint at his return to competition – until Monday, March 9.

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  The bookies' bookie

By joining Team Liquid as a stand-in, jL will reunite with Viktor “flashie” Tamás Bea, who was previously a part of NAVI’s coaching staff and has since transitioned to head coach position at Liquid.

With the arrival of jL, Team Liquid will field a complete roster for the upcoming tournament, however, this marks the second time in the last two months that Liquid were unable to play with thier entire lineup.

In January, Liquid had to turn to ex-BIG player Karim “Krimbo” Moussa to serve as a stand-in for Keith “NAF” Markovic during IEM Krakow. With a weakened roster, Liquid did not make it far in Poland and placed 17th-20th and have since added another disappointing placement at ESL Pro League, placing 17th-19th.

The poor showings since the turn of the year, forced Liquid to sign up for Roman Imperium Cup VI, as they have not secured enough Valve Regional Standings (VRS) points to guarantee a direct invite for the upcoming Major.

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  Fast Payouts

The Roman Imperium Cup, scheduled to take place from March 12-15, will offer a great opportunity for Liquid to improve their standing, as the tournament featuresa fairly soft field, consisting of mostly lower-rated teams.

Notable attendees include 9INE, EYEBALLERS, M80, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and BC.Game Esports as the second-highest rated team (#27), behind Liquid who are in 16th spot in the global standings.

Team Liquid will debut jL as a stand-in in the first match of Group C, on March 13. In Group C, they got paired with BESTIA, Gaimin Gladiators, hypewrld, and FC Famalicão Esports.

The best CS2 betting sites have yet to open markets for Group C fixtures. However, considering the level of opponents Liquid are set to face during the group stage, they are clear favorites to qualify for the next stage of the tournament.