Home

Justinas “jL” Lekavicius is technically on a break from competitive Counter-Strike, but that didn’t stop him from hopping back into the server this past weekend. In a surprise return, the Lithuanian stood in for smooya’s fish123 roster in the United21 League Season 35 grand final.

While fans were hyped to see jL back, the result wasn’t quite a fairytale. fish123 ended up losing 2-1 to G2 Ares, G2 Esports’ academy team. A bit of a rough one, considering fish123 were fielding not just smooya (a former Major quarter-finalist), but also jL himself,  a 2024 Major MVP.

The series went 5-13, 13-7, 5-13 in G2 Ares’ favour, leaving fish123 with a second-place finish and jL’s comeback feeling more like a brief cameo than a triumphant return.

Why was jL even playing?

The short version: fish123 needed a stand-in. Their usual substitute, kreaz, was unavailable, and with former rifler aNdu off to join s1mple at BC.Game, the team needed someone fast. So jL, despite being on a break, filled the gap.

The squad itself is a bit of a mixed bag: smooya, EPIC 45 champ; MAGILA, an IESF winner; former ENCE rifler juho; and 7kick, a young Romanian talent from Nexus. Even with that firepower, they couldn’t quite keep up with G2 Ares, whose crisp aim and hungry energy proved too much.

Still, jL didn’t look washed. He held a 39/39 K/D and ended with a 1.06 HLTV rating, a decent reminder that he’s still got the mechanics.

Taking a step back from NAVI

This appearance comes not long after jL officially stepped down from Natus Vincere’s active roster. In July, the Ukrainian org confirmed that jL would be benched after he requested time off to focus on himself.

In his own words, jL admitted that he just wasn’t happy playing anymore, not because of outside pressure, but because of how he personally felt about the game and himself.

“The sole reason for competing in tier one is being the best, and being the best requires a lot of sacrifice, that’s what I cannot give anymore,”

He made it clear that this isn’t a retirement, it’s just a breather. Maybe for six months, maybe less. In the meantime, he’s been diving into content creation: streaming, uploading videos, and engaging with fans in a more relaxed way.

Considering how intense the past two years have been for him, including four titles and a Major MVP in 2024, it’s hard to blame him. 2025 was a bit of a comedown, with NAVI struggling to find form and jL’s own LAN rating dipping from 1.13 to 1.06.

What’s next for jL?

At the moment, this fish123 match looks like a one-off. jL’s focused on content for now and doesn’t seem in a rush to commit to a new team. Still, his performance in the final showed he hasn’t lost his edge entirely.

On the flip side, smooya, jL’s teammate for the weekend, seems to be heading in the opposite direction, doubling down on the grind and trying to make it work with fish123 long-term.

So is jL back in CS2? Not quite. But if this weekend proved anything, it’s that he’s not gone for good either.