MOUZ have confirmed a major shake-up of their CS2 roster, signing Justinas “jL” Lekavicius on a short-term loan from Natus Vincere and promoting MOUZ NXT prospect Adrian “xelex” Vincze to the main team. Ludvig “Brollan” Brolin and Jimi “Jimpphat” Salo have both been benched, while Dorian “xertioN” Berman steps up as the new in-game leader. The catch: Major Supplemental Rulebook restrictions mean jL cannot debut at IEM Cologne, so Brollan returns for that event only.

We are making the following roster changes effective immediately. Our roster will be as follows for the next three tournaments:

Astana and Shanghai:

• xelex
• Spinx
• torzsi
• xertioN (IGL)
• jL (On loan from NAVI)

Cologne Major:

• xelex
• Spinx
• torzsi
• Brollan… pic.twitter.com/tHG7odkNmz

— MOUZ (@mousesports) April 18, 2026

The announcement, made on 19 April 2026, ends weeks of speculation about how MOUZ would respond to a steep dip in form after more than a year as one of the most consistent teams in Counter-Strike.

The New MOUZ Roster Explained

The changes take effect immediately, but MOUZ will run two slightly different lineups across the next three tournaments because of Major rules. jL slots in for the Asian swing at PGL Astana 2026 and CS Asia Championships, while Brollan returns as a one-event substitute at IEM Cologne before officially leaving the organisation.

xelex, xertioN, torzsi and Spinx are the four constants across both rosters. xertioN takes over the in-game leader role full-time, with xelex stepping into the pack opener slot that xertioN previously occupied.

Dennis “sycrone” Nielsen remains in the coaching seat across all three events.

Why jL Cannot Play The Cologne Major

The split-roster situation comes down to the Major Supplemental Rulebook. Teams are locked into the lineup that was listed on the invite VRS from 6 April, and they are only permitted one change through a substitute. MOUZ have used that substitute slot to bring Brollan back for Cologne, which means jL has to sit the event out despite already being a signed player.

MOUZ explained the unusual timing as a deliberate choice to give the new lineup a head start rather than wait for a cleaner window after the Major. The organisation said confidence in the previous roster’s ability to bounce back had run out, and that prioritising preparation for the next competitive cycle outweighed keeping the existing five intact for one more tournament.

Brollan And Jimpphat’s Exit

The decision to move on from Brollan is the more delicate of the two. He was the player who took on in-game leadership duties after Kamil “siuhy” Szkaradek was removed in early 2025, and that transition kicked off the run that saw MOUZ reach at least the semi-finals at 13 of 15 events between early 2025 and early 2026.

That stretch ended sharply. The team has missed the top four at three consecutive events, capped by a last-place finish at BLAST Open Rotterdam last month.

This decision is not fair to him on a personal level. But leadership sometimes means accepting that fairness and necessity are not always the same thing.

That line came from sycrone in his statement on the changes, acknowledging Brollan’s role in the team’s previous success while explaining the call to bench him. Brollan will leave the organisation entirely after the Cologne Major, and his replacement has not yet been announced. Jimpphat has already been removed from the active roster.

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xelex’s Promotion From MOUZ NXT

xelex’s call-up continues a now-familiar pattern at MOUZ, where the academy team has steadily fed the main roster. xertioN and torzsi both came through the same pipeline, and xelex now joins them after a year and a half in MOUZ NXT.

The Hungarian rifler put up a 1.21 average rating across 154 maps in 2026, a workload that landed him in the top 15 of HLTV’s Prospects series as of last month. MOUZ’s CBDO Jan Dominicus framed the promotion as consistent with the organisation’s preference for in-house development, calling xelex a player aligned with that philosophy.

jL’s Return To Tier-One CS

For jL, the loan deal is his first appearance on a professional roster since he stepped down from Natus Vincere in July last year to take time away from the game. The trial spans only the Asian swing for now, with Astana opening on 7 May.

Dominicus said the team is looking for jL to bring initiative in tough situations and to lift the squad’s communication, two areas the organisation appears to feel were lacking. Whether that short window is enough to convert the loan into something permanent will likely depend on how the new five gel before the post-Major reset.

What Comes After Cologne

The Cologne Major is the closing chapter for the current era of MOUZ as much as it is the next event on the calendar. Brollan walks away, jL’s loan ends without a guaranteed extension, and MOUZ still need to lock in a fifth player for whatever the next competitive cycle looks like. The Astana and Asia Championships campaigns will effectively serve as the audition window for the version of MOUZ that follows.

The post MOUZ Sign jL On Loan, Promote xelex As Brollan And Jimpphat Are Benched appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

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.

jL just finished in 2nd place at the $6,000 United21 League Season 35 tournament with team fish123 ‼️

He played as a stand-in alongside Smooya, MAGILA, 7kick, and juho. pic.twitter.com/UWHsBxvHAj

— Counter-Strike News (@TheCSTimes) August 4, 2025

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.

Final jL statistics over three maps. pic.twitter.com/xvtgxgsND2

— CS2 NEWS (@CS2News_EN) August 4, 2025

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.

This might feel like I’ve retired, but that’s not the case.

I’ve always enjoyed creating content, interacting with all of youq and putting smiles on people’s faces and that is what I’m going to focus on for now.

Taking a break from competitive cs does not equal being on… https://t.co/fTwuu6gFgZ

— NAVI jL (@jLcsgo_) August 3, 2025

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.

The post jL Makes Surprise CS2 Return But Falls to G2’s Academy Team appeared first on Shane the Gamer.