Top 20 players of 2024: jL (5)

jL's monstrous peaks and big-match expertise help him crack the top 20 players list by 1xBet and Skin.Club for the first time at the nosebleed-inducing heights of number five.

Top 20 players of 2024: Introduction

The story of how a jLegend is born begins, as always, with a big brother showing him Counter-Strike for the first time.

After playing "some 1.6" before he was 10, he got the CS bug five or so years later in 2015-16 and his innate sense of competitiveness was what drove him further on the journey. "That was the hook at first, being better than [my brother]," he explains. "It didn’t take long for that to happen and the goals progressed to being the best in my school, the best in my city and then the best in the whole country."

The last task, proving himself to the nation, was one that he had to do the old-fashioned way at local LANs that "lacked co-ordination, funding or a comfortable place to stay." It was a scene skeptical of young talent that had proved themselves in pick-up games. You left your FACEIT ELO at the door; all that mattered was what you did offline.

"It was the competitive setting that I kept chasing," Justinas "⁠jL⁠" Lekavicius recalls. "No one cared about onliners. Everyone cared how well you performed at LAN, and on LAN I faced my biggest challenges. I'm glad I had this experience. It makes life easier now. I don’t really care how high the table is or how low the chair is.

"I used to be known for holding the highest ELO in Lithuanian FACEIT, but also delivering on LAN. There were some rumours that I was cheating, but performing well on LAN helped me beat those allegations."

In 2019, jL got onto HLTV for the first time with a top-four finish at a Baltic LAN against the likes of Mareks "⁠YEKINDAR⁠" Gaļinskis. He then made the final of two more, starring with 0.80+ KPR along the way as a primary AWPer.

He then joined selectah alongside Natus Vincere legend Ioann "⁠Edward⁠" Sukhariev for a few tournaments, but his most concrete opportunity came courtesy of Jakub "⁠kuben⁠" Gurczyński and MAD Lions. As was the brief trend in 2021, it was part of a six-man roster, and jL, the least experienced member, was the one on the bench most often — and he rarely got his hands on the AWP with Volodymyr "⁠Woro2k⁠" Veletniuk and Filip "⁠tudsoN⁠" Tudev around.

With his ego bruised and starved of game time, jL admits he used to have "negative emotional outbursts" after being disappointed with how (and where) he was playing. kuben, a key figure in his career, had to step in. jL was told he would play on just two maps out of seven in an emotional meeting, bringing the coach and sixth man to tears.

"kuben was like a father who cared about me on a deeper level than just coach to player. He helped shape me into the player I am now. He always confronted me about [the negative outbursts] and made sure I understood that none of that bullshit would help me as a player, and I’d lose the trust of players. It wasn’t the prettiest [relationship], it was a love-hate relationship. Nonetheless, we respected each other. I want to see him compete at the highest level; he deserves it."

Months later, in January 2022, the Lithuanian got his chance. Woro2k's departure opened up a big, AWP-sized hole, and jL scurried in. "I promised kuben to show him the best AWPer he has ever seen. Safe to say I didn’t show him shit."

He posted good numbers, but it wasn’t enough. The AWPing chapter of jL's career had to be left behind. "I’m not an AWPer," jL admits as he looks back. "It’s too much responsibility and not enough mobility for my style of play. Respect your AWPers, it isn’t easy."

MAD Lions closed their Counter-Strike division in April 2022, and after playing with the core for the rest of the season, jL received a call from kuben — now Apeks’ head coach —, and made the move.

But Apeks had a tricky season in 2022, bombing out of Rio Major contention online to end fellow new signing Richard "⁠shox⁠" Papillon's streak of 17 Majors in a row. The plug was pulled just six weeks after the roster had been assembled, and the Norwegian organization paused operations.

"After we failed to qualify for the [IEM Rio] Major, which in our defense we had limited practice for, I felt like some players gave up," in-game leader Martin "⁠STYKO⁠" Styk said at the time.

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With shox out the door, four months of trials and self-evaluation followed. After using Michał "⁠MICHU⁠" Müller, another selectah member, as a stand-in, the decision was made to sign promising Macedonian captain Damjan "⁠kyxsan⁠" Stoilkovski. Only 22 at the time, the new skipper provided the immediate remedy Apeks needed as they swept the European RMR closed qualifier 3-0.

A few months later, in BLAST's Brøndby studios for the Paris Major RMR, jL's career caught light. He averaged a 1.24 rating over seven maps as Apeks smashed their way to a first-ever Major appearance. jL was emotional when he swung by HLTV's microphone. "I want to cry," he said after qualifying for his first Major. "There hasn't been a single tournament where I want to cry. Fuck, it means so much to me."

In France a few months later, jL and Apeks ended day one of the challengers stage 2-0 and with a 16-0 battering of Grayhound.

Two days later, in the 2-1 pool, just paiN stood in their way, with the Legends Stage of a Major in sight. An Anubis decider, where the team were 18-6 in 2023, was a gift that jL seized with both hands to end the map with 96.2 ADR and a Legends Stage berth. As he strutted through the mixed zone, jL knew what he was going to say before the microphone got near him: "Call me jLegend."

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jL: "Call me jLegend"

But the journey didn't end there. He was soon to become jPlayoffs, too, as Apeks recovered from a 3-14 deficit against jL's future captain Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen and Ninjas in Pyjamas to win 2-0 and secure the top eight of a Major.

There was something in the air in Paris, as upset after upset upended the seeding and Apeks were one of the teams caught in the whirlwind. Wins over Into the Breach, Bad News Eagles, and NIP would not usually get you a playoff berth, but in Paris it did for Apeks and who could take it from them?

They even went one step further, beating Liquid for a second time in the quarter-finals and taking eventual champions Vitality close in semis. But the Major cycle was simultaneously jL's breakout, a result beyond his wildest dreams, and an individual disappointment. It was the experience of Joakim "⁠jkaem⁠" Myrbostad and Tim "⁠nawwk⁠" Jonasson that had fired the team to playoffs, not jL.

"I was having a really good RMR," jL says. "But once we got to the major… Was it the pressure? Was it the relief of actually making it and having my sticker in the game? But I heavily dropped off. I paid too much attention to detail and didn’t let myself relax and play the game as I enjoyed."

The run, with jL's interviews, camera winks, loud screams, and versatile rifle play all year, had caught the attention of an unlikely scout: Andrey "⁠B1ad3⁠" Gorodenskiy.

There are obvious Counter-Strike benefits to being from Lithuania, a country at a crossroads between Europe and the former CIS where the young jL learned Russian and English. But it isn’t known for fast-tracking talent to either scene. The likes of Aurimas "⁠Bymas⁠" Pipiras, Žygimantas "⁠nukkye⁠" Chmieliauskas, Rokas "⁠EspiranTo⁠" Milasauskas, and Aurimas "⁠Kvik⁠" Kvakšys made it to Majors but could not make the Top 20 players of the year list or remain at the top of tier one.

jL, knowing it was likely one or the other, had made a "conscious decision" to pursue the English-speaking international scene. "I always dreamt of NAVI, they were also closest to my heart," jL says, but he admits he "didn't expect" the call; partly because of the language barrier, but also because of the prestigious nature of the operation.

"I was a nobody, just a guy who finished top 3-4 at his only major with very mediocre stats,” he adds. “When we reached an agreement with NAVI that I was 100% going to play for the team, I felt a lot of pressure. This is the legendary team that we all drooled about."

But the spotlight, at first, was elsewhere: "No one cared about me, they cared about iM and Aleksib. They expected me to be the support, the emotional pillar for the team, a second Zeus, you could say. That lifted a lot of pressure from my shoulders, and I could just focus on improving the same way I did in Mad Lions and Apeks: always absorbing information."

The move westward for Natus Vincere was one that came out of necessity after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and came with a reset of expectations for a team that had come close to securing an era in 2021. But with Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev on the roster, there is always pressure, and, despite a grand final run at EPL Season 18, it was not enough. Ahead of IEM Sydney, the first event on CS2 — a game he had been critical of throughout — s1mple announced the break he seemed to have wanted since June 2022. Only Valeriy "⁠b1t⁠" Vakhovskiy and B1ad3 remained from the 2021 roster.

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It should have been a hammer blow for Natus Vincere. They had lost their stars, thanks to geopolitics rather than any mistakes they had made. But B1ad3 knew what he was doing. A new, quieter, sniper came in, Ihor "⁠w0nderful⁠" Zhdanov from Sprout, and expectations were set to zero once again. With the supposed star player Mihai "⁠iM⁠" Ivan struggling, the team was reset to a flat hierarchy with no superstars. It was five players on an even keel, who were all eager to learn from B1ad3.

"Teams started to underestimate us even more, that gave us the drive," jL says about s1mple's departure. "We have the best strategic coach in the world. We just have to listen to what he says, adapt it to ourselves and, most importantly, understand the concept.

"People see B1ad3 as the guy who sees it his way and it has to be that way, but it isn’t. He teaches you the details of the game and pushes you to be better. You have all the freedom in the team to do whatever you want, but it has to make sense, otherwise you’re doing bullshit. He is open to discussions and if you prove him wrong, he’ll admit it. B1ad3 was a huge part of our success and that’s why I speak about him here."

There was also an attitude shift, thanks to that star-less system: "A big part that contributed to our success is the selflessness within the team, everyone working for a single goal and respecting each other equally. Some could say not having a dedicated star player has its advantages."

In their first two events, Natus Vincere made the playoffs at the BLAST Fall Final and top four at the BLAST World Final. Quietly, slowly but surely, B1ad3's work was making its mark. Entering 2024 as dark horses, the team was ready to pounce with the first CS2 Major just months away.

IEM Katowice was another development event for B1ad3's troops, getting donked for the first time and just missing out on playoffs at the hand of a Mohammad "⁠BOROS⁠" Malhas-inspired Falcons. It was a disappointing result, but also an extra week of rest and preparation for the big prize: PGL Major Copenhagen.

The RMR was straightforward, if not perfect after a loss to Virtus.pro, and NAVI went into the Major ranked sixth and clear outsiders compared to the CS2 early birds FaZe and the Danil "⁠donk⁠" Kryshkovets-fuelled Spirit.

jL had been a solid addition, keeping his reputation as a good vibes guy, and had a 1.06 rating in his aggressive lurking roles thus far. But Major MVP? You would have got some long odds.

Natus Vincere's first day in Copenhagen was a good one, defeating The MongolZ and Aleksib’s kryptonite, G2, for a 2-0 record. But, a second loss to donk and company in 2024 and against the former NAVI core in Cloud9 put them on the brink of elimination, 2-2. But that was the "turning point," according to jL. Something clicked as NAVI swept paiN 2-0. Two Majors and two playoffs for jL, who ended groups as the team's best on a 1.17 rating.

Drawn on the opposite side to favorites FaZe and Spirit, an opportunity was opening up for jL. The luck of the draw was on their side.

Underdogs Eternal Fire were beaten aside, with jL and w0nderful in great form. In the semi-finals, it was G2 again, perfect opponents for Aleksib despite the firepower of a red-hot Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov. The win, however, had to be earned. Ancient was the decider, a perceived weakness for NAVI because of losses to VP, Spirit, and Cloud9.

It started in G2's favor, too, leading 3-0 with the pistol and first gun round in their back pocket. Yet, one man had different ideas. jL's ace set the tone as he went on to finish the map with a 1.91 rating, 7-0 record in opening duels, and 120 ADR. A 12-6 lead was secured, and after a struggle Natus Vincere broke through to win 13-11. They had made the final.

This is where the run was supposed to end. FaZe were the best team in the world and had conquered donk and Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut already. Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen, master of the veto, then made the same mistake G2 did by underestimating Natus Vincere's Ancient and picking it. NAVI won 13-9.

Mirage was a disaster, and as we went to Inferno's decider FaZe were favorites again. But, thanks to b1t's domination of Apartments (and the oft-forgotten jL control of Banana), karrigan and company were helpless. NAVI took the decider 13-3 to win the Major. The international project had succeeded against all odds.

Unsurprisingly, the Major was jL’s best memory of the year. "It was an absolute cinema to be a part of,” he says. “My performance did make a difference, but the most vivid memories I have of us playing that major is our teamwork, the way we could look into each other's eyes and feel the trust between each other, the bond that we’re building at that time. It was great to experience all of that with the people I had around me; it was magical.

"All the stories emerged after the major. Hugging my fiance, looking into her eyes and both of us acknowledging all of the hardship and the things we've been through are starting to pay off.

"Aleksib, the outcast who proved to everyone that he was the shit. b1t, who won his second major trophy with a different lineup in a different language that he never spoke on a constant level previously. The player who was head-level above everyone else on the roster. iM, who had such great performances at the Paris Major and won the next Major — his impact is not to be described with numbers. w0nderful, who thought filling the shoes of s1mple seemed like an impossible task, won the Major less than 6 months after joining the team.

"All that pressure from the outside, just relieved in a single tournament. And, of course, the vibes guy who just earned his career-first MVP, which also happened to be the Major one."

But winning this soon into the project comes with its challenges. jL had completed CS early, and his motivation tanked. Poor showings at IEM Dallas and ESL Pro League 19 followed. "I'd say it was my ego going through the moon and [having] no serious goals to strive for,” he says when asked about why that was.” Both of those are fixed now, the world is such a big place, no one really cares if you are the Major MVP or not."

jL labeled this run as the worst of the year. "The inner fight with myself to stay grounded and find myself goals that I’d like to achieve was a challenge I never faced before. I felt really demotivated. The game wasn’t fun anymore, and that’s why It’s super important to always have goals; no matter how big or small, they will propel you towards the direction you want to go."

NAVI strived for more even as allegations of the Major being a fluke flew in. It was time to rebuff them. Spring Final arrived, and NAVI looked rejuvenated. A "humbled" jL earned a strong EVP as NAVI went to the final, only to fall at the hands of donk for a third time that season.

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jL: "I got humbled at Dallas and EPL; I really want to win again"

But the switch had been flipped as we returned from the summer break. NAVI won the Esports World Cup, bringing another EVP for jL, and went into IEM Cologne among the favorites. The road to the final was fairly smooth, bringing the streak to three, but Vitality were made of stern stuff.

In one of the series of the year, including a 22-20 win on NAVI’s Mirage stronghold, ZywOo hit 100 frags to deny NAVI a second Super-Elite title. jL, usually the big game player, was noticeably absent.

But Natus Vincere's momentum kept rolling. jL was their best player as they won Pro League’s 20th season. He hit a 1.28 rating after dominating groups and smashing Spirit (1.78 series rating) and G2 (1.71 rating in map one, 1.44 in map three) in playoffs. He then endured a quiet final, but still popped up with a 1.52-rated map-winning performance on Ancient to secure a second MVP.

Unlike his last MVP, however, jL stayed motivated. The 'good vibes guy' had proven he had a sharp edge. He wanted more wins. "[Good vibes] are an important part of the game. When your team is having a bad game and you know you really have to lift the team's spirits, you drop the focus on your game and start to fake the vibes a little bit. But it did prove to work so, in my eyes, it's a worthy sacrifice."

Natus Vincere went to Copenhagen and made the grand final again, only to fall to G2 — bringing an end to a streak of nine wins. Rio was next, and NAVI's pattern of tournament win, second place, tournament win, continued as a fourth trophy was secured for the year. jL was neck-and-neck with b1t and iM for the MVP, but had to settle for second in that race and a fourth EVP.

The team had made six grand finals in a row, with jL getting an individual award in five out of six. Attention turned to Shanghai and another Major — win this one and forget talk of flukes; NAVI were building an era. But this is when the Jenga tower collapsed. On the road for the whole season, NAVI barely practiced in this run of six grand finals. Exhaustion and fatigue set in.

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jL: "We're all fatigued, maybe we're getting a bit tired of each other"

Having benefited from being underdogs in Copenhagen, Shanghai was the opposite. A win was not just realistic. It was expected. The stress this pressure exuded on Natus Vincere was obvious. And they crumbled; last place at World Final in Singapore, and a group stage exit in Shanghai. They knocked the Major crown off their own heads.

"All of the focus was on Shanghai, but once we got there, I feel like we put too much importance on the tournament," jL says. "We didn’t enjoy playing as much as we did other tournaments. This tournament, sub-consciously in our minds, was the tournament to win — the wrong approach to any tournament you’re playing."

It was a disappointing way to end a year that had been so good for jL and Natus Vincere, winning four trophies, making seven grand finals, and spending 18 weeks at number one. The lows, including four events at a 1.00 rating or below, were matched by incredible highs in Copenhagen, Riyadh, Malta, and Rio.

We are spoilt by donk, but entering the Top 20 players of the year list for the first time in the top five, and in contention to win Closer of the Year, is something special. jL is also Lithuania's first ever top 20 player, going where no compatriot has been before.

"Before I joined NAVI and saw my first HLTV Awards, I instantly made an individual goal for myself to be within the Top 20 of the world and be the best in my category whether it’d be opener, closer, or anchor because I was not sure where my career was heading towards at that time," jL adds. "The small gifts and souvenirs they had for the players sold it to me. The number 5 keycap is traveling to every tournament with me."

Why was jL the 5th best player of 2024?

jL cracks the top five thanks to sensational MVP-level peaks at PGL Major Copenhagen — where his impact won NAVI the Major — and ESL Pro League S20. Add four more big event EVPs, including one at the prestigious IEM Cologne. His CV for 2024 was firmly one for the top six.

His base level of a 1.12 rating at big events was solid, and he was dragged up to the top five by his performance under the lights with a 1.16 rating in arenas (4th), and 1.17 in big matches (also 4th). Only four players in the top 20 improved on their base rating in arenas and jL was one of them, 0.04 above his yearly average.

He also held up against the very best opposition with a 1.13 rating against top 5 teams (5th) and 1.10 versus the top 10 (7th).

But he couldn't go any higher, with his raw stats closer to the group below and only top 15 in overall rating (1.13, and just 1.09 on CT) for the year.

jL was also the only top 20 player to have three bad events, not getting a Valuable Player (VP) mention at Dallas, World Final, or Shanghai, and the bottom half of his event list was far less impressive than the top.

Bold prediction by 1xBet

jL didn't have to look far for his Bold Prediction, landing on compatriot Džiugas "⁠dziugss⁠" Steponavičius of NAVI Junior. The 16-year-old has a 1.07 rating in tough anchor-lurker roles for the NAVI academy, but jL says that this doesn't "do him justice."

"He's a 16-year-old Lithuanian prodigy, and I don’t think we Lithuanians had a prodigy of this caliber yet. We had a few talents and a few hard workers, but never a hardworking talent that had a passion for the game and was so eager to get better.

"His stats on HLTV don’t do him justice, the impact he brings to a team is immeasurable by stats. But most likely, even to an untrained eye, if you watch his game, you’d understand he’s about that life."

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Stay tuned to our Top 20 Players of 2024 ranking and learn more about how the players were selected in our introduction article.