After two years of competing for Natus Vincere and winning four S-tier trophies including the PGL Major Copenhagen, Justinas “jL” Lekavičius has decided to take a break and focus on his personal life for the next 3-6 months.
This decision might surprise some people but the truth is that competing and thriving at the highest level comes at a huge price. To be the best of the best in an esport that’s played by tens of millions of people is no easy task.
At the professional level, many players train for 10 hours a day or more. To remain at the top, you need to think about Counter-Strike all the time. This can be fun for a while, but everyone has limits.
It’s rare to find players and teams who can go from victory to victory or, more often, from disappointment to disappointment without losing motivation.
In 2025, Team Vitality achieved this extraordinary performance. Even after seven consecutive S-tier trophies, including a victory at the Austin Major, the players seem to be hungry for more.
For jL, who was the MVP of the Copenhagen Major, the last two years of his career have been very intense. NAVI won multiple prestigious tournaments during this time and they couldn’t have done it without him.
What’s Next for NAVI
We know that jL will relax for the remainder of 2025. But what can we expect from NAVI? The club recently promoted Drin “makazze” Shaqiri from NAVI Junior and everyone is eager to see him competing at the highest level. His first test will come soon enough because IEM Cologne is scheduled to start in just two weeks.
If makazze proves to be a formidable player, we can expect NAVI to do well in the coming months. But if not, the team is likely going to struggle in this competitive climate. There are just too many teams that are eager to win trophies right now.
