jL steps down from NAVI roster to take a break from competition

The Lithuanian player has been moved to the team's inactive roster.

Justinas "⁠jL⁠" Lekavicius is taking a break from competitive Counter-Strike and will be placed on Natus Vincere's bench, the Ukrainian organization announced Tuesday. His spot will be taken by Drin "⁠makazze⁠" Shaqiri, who was recently promoted from the organization's academy team, NAVI Junior.

In a statement, NAVI explained that, as they began exploring options in the off-season, jL expressed "his wish to step away for now and focus on his well-being."

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In a video posted to his YouTube channel, jL gave more insight into his decision. He revealed that he was "not happy playing anymore, purely of my own thoughts, and how I felt about the game and about myself."

"I want to take a little break for six months, maybe less, maybe three, four, five," he added. "There are a lot of things I want to do.

"The sole reason for competing in tier one is being the best, and being the best requires a lot of sacrifice, and that's what I cannot give anymore. I really want to enjoy myself. I want to try myself out in different things."

jL signed with Natus Vincere in the summer of 2023 as the team switched to an English communication system, joining the roster alongside Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen and Mihai "⁠iM⁠" Ivan.

The Lithuanian played at a level never seen before in 2024, helping NAVI win four trophies, including PGL Major Copenhagen, where he picked up an MVP medal. He was named the fifth-best player of 2024 and won the Closer of the Year award.

But then Natus Vincere endured a disappointing first season in 2025 that saw them fail to challenge for titles. Though they consistently made the playoffs, they only managed to reach the semi-finals twice, at BLAST Bounty and IEM Katowice. jL was also unable to reach the same heights as in 2024, averaging a 1.06 rating on LAN, down from 1.13 last year.

"Those two years went by in a second, but there's nothing but good memories," jL said. "2024 was a great year. 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.

"I want to shout out all my teammates and all the people I have worked with. It's been a blast. It's been a pleasure. I hope to come back stronger. I hope I come back more ready and more capable of being a tier-one player."

The new Natus Vincere roster will make its first appearance later this month at IEM Cologne. They will begin their campaign in Stage 2, which is slated to start on July 26.

Natus Vincere now have:

Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen
Mihai "⁠iM⁠" Ivan
Valeriy "⁠b1t⁠" Vakhovskiy
Ihor "⁠w0nderful⁠" Zhdanov
Drin "⁠makazze⁠" Shaqiri

Andrey "⁠B1ad3⁠" Gorodenskiy (coach)

Justinas "⁠jL⁠" Lekavicius (benched)