The Lituanian simply irradiates charisma.
One of the most charismatic figures in the CS2 community right now is Natus Vincere's star rifler Justinas "jL" Lekavičius. Not only is jL one of the greatest players at the moment, but he's always shouting during matches, smiling, and making fun on social media.
The rise of jL comes at a time when many CS2 pros have distanced themselves from the community, possibly because there are so many tournaments nowadays and back-and-forth travel, or to avoid negativity from fans after losses.
The Lithuanian rifler saw his life change after he helped Apeks finish top-four at the BLAST Paris Major in May 2023. That Cinderella run earned jL a spot in NAVI in June and since then, he has only become more popular. His popularity is at an all-time peak as NAVI won the first CS2 Major ever at PGL Copenhagen in March.
What makes jL different?
Well, part of the reasoning behind jL's popularity over the past year is because he's just trying to be himself, he told esports.gg on Monday, April 29 during ESL Pro League season 19's media day.
"I feel it's nice [to have a positive influence on the CS2 community], viewers don't get much of those players anymore. My goal is just to show my real self and don't be an actor. I don't like I'm a very serious player or whatever, I just focus on the game, and I enjoy the whole process. I enjoy the people, I enjoy the community, and I enjoy winning as much as I enjoy playing the game."
A lot of didn't fans know jL before Apeks' massive result at the BLAST Paris Major last year. The Lithuanian had been lingering around the Tier 2 scene since 2021, and never had shined on a big stage upon that Major.
That was the turning point in jL's career as NAVI, one of the biggest organizations in Counter-Strike history, picked him up amid a roster rebuild followed by Denis "electroNic" Sharipov and Ilya "Perfecto" Zalutskiy's departures to Cloud9. JL couldn't imagine that he'd win his first Major so fast after joining NAVI's CS2 team.
"No, for sure I didn't [expect to win the Major so fast]," jL said. "I expected to win a Major maybe in the next three or four years maybe, but for sure not the next Major after I played with Apeks. It's a dream come true and I'm super happy with it."
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The challenges ahead for Natus Vincere and jL in CS2
Winning a Major might be the easiest part of becoming the No. 1 CS2 team in the world. After all, other top teams turn their eyes to the reigning Major champion and make it even harder to build the so-called "era", which is winning S-tier events in a row.
Fans haven't seen NAVI play since the Major, so there are a lot of expectations for their debut in ESL Pro League season 19 this week — and jL guarantees they won't show up hungover.
"Zero hangover, zero, we're back. We had one week of break and then it's back on the grind ever since. Last year we finished second place and lost 3-0 to MOUZ. This year, we're not doing that. I can't wait to perform for the fans at this stage in Malta at EPL."
NAVI will debut in ESL Pro League season 19 on Wednesday, May 1 at 4:30 a.m PT against FlyQuest. These two teams are part of Group D alongside Complexity, PERA, Ninjas in Pyjamas, HEROIC, BIG, and BOSS.
Stay tuned to esports.gg for the latest CS2 news and updates.
