JL had been an instrumental part of NAVI's dominant run in 2024, notably winning the MVP award in the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024.
Ukrainian Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) powerhouse
Natus Vincere (NAVI) announced that star rifler 
Justinas “jL” Lekavičius has decided to take a break from competitive play and has been placed on the team's inactive roster. JL's benching is notably a mutual decision, with NAVI saying the player “shared his wish to step away for now and focus on his well-being” in their announcement on Tuesday (8 July).
JL will be replaced by Kosovan prodigy 
Drin “makazze” Shaqiri, who was promoted from 
NAVI Junior to the organisation's main squad at the end of June. The rest of the NAVI Junior squad have notably been shopped by the organisation.
JL's decision to step away from professional CS2 comes after a disappointing run for NAVI so far in 2025. Of the seven S-Tier tournaments attended by NAVI this year, their best results were back-to-back 3rd-4th place finishes in BLAST Bounty Spring 2025 and Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Katowice 2025. The rest of the team's performances saw them only make it as far as the Top 8, including in the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025.
NAVI's middling results in the first half of 2025 stands in stark contrast to their dominant run throughout most of the last year, where they claimed the first-ever CS2 Major championship in the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 and won three other S-Tier tournaments. JL had been an instrumental part of NAVI's stellar showing in 2024, notably being awarded the Copenhagen Major MVP honour by HLTV.
NAVI gave their well wishes to jL alongside their announcement of his competitive break, calling him “one of the most charismatic and committed players in our team's history–authentic, emotionally open, and always full of positive energy to share with everyone around him.”
“We’re grateful for everything we achieved together, on and off the server, and wish him to take all the time he needs to find his inner balance, rest, and recharge,” said NAVI.
JL also shared the reasons for his decision to step away from competitive play in a vlog posted shortly after the announcement, clarifying that his benching was a mutual decision. The player also said he had not been feeling the best physically and mentally in what was “not the best year for NAVI." That, and his recent marriage, became crucial factors in jL's decision to step away from pro play.
“I knew NAVI was looking for a replacement, I knew I wasn't happy playing anymore–purely of my own thoughts–and how I felt about the game and how I felt about myself,” said jL. “I want to take a little break for six months, maybe less, maybe three, four, or five. There's a lot of other things that I now want to do.”
With jL's departure from the active lineup, NAVI is set to make debut its retooled roster with makazze in IEM Cologne 2025 on 23 July. NAVI will face off against 23 other world class teams in IEM Cologne for a cut of the US$1 million prize pool.
