jL shines as NAVI outclass Spirit in EPL quarter-finals

The Copenhagen Major champions have finally conquered their demons after losing all previous matches against Spirit in 2024.

jL is averaging a tournament-high 1.50 rating in Malta

Natus Vincere are through to the semi-finals of ESL Pro League Season 20 after a quick 2-0 victory over Spirit, beating the Russian team at last after losing the previous four matches.

"Finally we did it, took us quite a while," Justinas "⁠jL⁠" Lekavicius said after the match. "We lost so many games against them and the games weren't even close, so feels good to get a win back."

The Lithuanian player was the star of the show as he produced some incredible moments in this one-sided match. His 1.80 series rating puts him at the top of the tournament's leaderboards ahead of Saturday's semi-final, against the winner of G2 vs Liquid.

Date Matches
ESL Pro League Season 20
21/09/2024
19:30
Match

Natus Vincere came out guns blazing and stormed to a 9-3 lead on Dust2, Spirit's map pick, after a one-sided first half. More misery was piled on the Russians after the side switch, with jL putting NAVI on map point with a spectacular 1v3 clutch.

Spirit still tried to respond, but they couldn't muster a comeback as Natus Vincere put the game to bed at 13-5 with a clean execute.

Mirage began with Spirit grabbing an early lead before Natus Vincere put together a string of rounds once they had money to work with. In the end, it would be Spirit taking a narrow lead to half-time after a masterclass of a CT showing from Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov, who racked up 18 frags.

But the Russian AWPer (and the rest of his team) went missing in the second half as Natus Vincere took the reins of the game. The only exception was Danil "⁠donk⁠" Kryshkovets, who picked up nine frags (almost as many his teammates combined), but there was no stopping the NAVI juggernaut in this match, with jL leading the charge with a stunning 2.98 CT rating.

Matchpage
2
0
20th September 2024
13
Dust2
5
13
Mirage
9
 Natus Vincere K - D Swing ADR KAST Rating2.0
47 - 21 +9.20% 110.1 85.0% 1.80
30 - 22 +4.07% 77.5 85.0% 1.37
32 - 23 -2.17% 92.0 72.5% 1.36
19 - 19 +0.77% 49.8 77.5% 1.08
20 - 20 -0.53% 62.1 80.0% 1.04
 Spirit K - D Swing ADR KAST Rating2.0
31 - 26 +0.06% 73.7 72.5% 1.08
27 - 31 -2.79% 76.8 60.0% 0.95
20 - 28 +1.12% 63.8 72.5% 0.91
15 - 32 -5.03% 58.4 62.5% 0.64
12 - 31 -4.69% 41.8 62.5% 0.56
Lithuania Justinas 'jL' Lekavicius
Justinas 'jL' Lekavicius
Age:
24
Rating 1.0:
1.06
Maps played:
783
KPR:
0.73
DPR:
0.67
Russia Dmitry 'sh1ro' Sokolov
Dmitry 'sh1ro' Sokolov
Age:
23
Team:
Rating 1.0:
1.22
Maps played:
1191
KPR:
0.77
DPR:
0.54
Russia Danil 'donk' Kryshkovets
Danil 'donk' Kryshkovets
Age:
17
Team:
Rating 1.0:
1.22
Maps played:
470
KPR:
0.84
DPR:
0.67
jL big game player
2024-09-20 18:34
75
#3
Faceit level 6  | 
NiKo | 
Canada swagcrazy
Well done outsmarting them zont1x!
2024-09-20 18:34
56
1 reply
Rofl
2024-09-20 19:05
0
zont1x: "It's easier for us to play against better teams because we're used to outthinking people" xd
2024-09-20 18:35
64
#5
s1mple | 
Ukraine Sejfu
broky started a trend......
2024-09-20 18:34
2
#6
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
 | 
World streetson
donk exposed LMAO go farm mickey mouse cups boy
2024-09-20 18:35
22
#7
 | 
Sweden Vrede
1.80 against Donk and his friends damn...
2024-09-20 18:35
16
unnecessary "celebration" from jL, great performance regardless, this team is absolutely insane
2024-09-20 18:35
7
Nice out thinking by "i feel no pressure" guy
2024-09-20 18:36
5
This is how you break the curse and silence the haters over and over again.
2024-09-20 18:36
3
EZ
2024-09-20 18:37
2
Expected
2024-09-20 18:37
2
navi just outthinked* Spirit
2024-09-20 18:46
1
outclass outthinked..... ty navi
2024-09-20 18:47
2
#20
 | 
Russia KopHuLLloH
Man, almost no match goes the way I expect in those play offs...
2024-09-20 18:47
0
#21
Faceit level 8  | 
DZ | 
Algeria SilverQuick
De_stroyed.
2024-09-20 18:50
4
I understand what zont1x was saying, against lower tier teams they can just out aim and default to win generally. When you're the guy on the bubble potentially on the roster even if they aren't making changes until after next major, it's weird to say things that could come back to bite you. But then again we don't want players to give by the book standard answers in interviews, so it's hard to have it both ways.
2024-09-20 18:53
1
jLegend
2024-09-20 19:06
0
zont1x has more ego than donk, but less impact. Spirit find a better second star rifler, plz.
2024-09-20 19:12
2
#27
ness | 
Canada ssau
I am always looking for pimp as I continue to see Navi succeed
2024-09-20 19:18
2
Vitality and Spirit both out within 1 day, what a time to be alive. P.S. zont1x: "It's easier for us to play against better teams because we're used to outthinking people"
2024-09-20 19:20
1
#34
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
United States erokmofo
we knew this outcome as soon as zont1x interview dropped, no offense to zont1x but murphy's law had high probabilities here
2024-09-20 19:27
4
#36
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Sweden svempa
Well played Aleksi and the gang!
2024-09-20 19:28
0
#38
 | 
Lithuania hardyyk
ez
2024-09-20 19:30
3
Not surprising really. Donk is an insane player but he can't perform at that crazy level in every match of every tournament. The second he's not carrying Spirit fall apart. Teams with GOAT contenders like Vitality, G2 or that 2021 NaVi squad had enough quality in the team to pick up the slack when the star is having a bad game. Sh1ro's good but he can't carry to that extent and Chopper isn't good enough of an IGL to outcall other top 10 teams.
2024-09-20 20:26
1
#48
Bymas | 
Lithuania ashas
jL haters can suck on this
2024-09-20 20:40
3
#51
 | 
New Zealand Skye620
As soon as Donk isn’t hard carrying spirit fall apart Wondering if Donk has outgrown his team as a player
2024-09-21 02:04
0
#52
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Australia hoangii
At least sh1ro has a rating over 1 yeah boys. Thats all that matters
2024-09-21 03:02
0
Told ya
2024-09-21 05:13
0
gigachad
2024-09-21 05:16
0
Donk vs the world
2024-09-21 13:43
0
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