Justinas "jL" Lekavicius of NAVI shared his thoughts ahead of the team’s quarterfinal clash against Vitality at the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025. In an interview with Dust2.us, he reflected on the loss to Spirit, evaluated NAVI’s current form, discussed the balance between tactics and firepower, and responded to coach B1ad3’s comment about their odds versus the tournament favorites. 

The interview began with jL reflecting on NAVI’s performance in Stage 3, where the team reached the playoffs with a 3–1 record.

To be honest, it wasn’t exactly expected, but the teams we beat — we expected to beat. The team we lost to… this time we didn’t stand a chance, but usually we do.

 

He then explained why NAVI couldn’t put up a fight against Spirit, their only loss in the stage.

Anubis is a hard map for us, and Train — although it’s our home map — we didn’t show up. We lost rounds we were supposed to win. We made a lot of mistakes and got punished for it. That’s why there was no chance.

 

jL was also asked whether nerves, lack of matches, or other factors played a role in the loss — and if it’s something that concerns him ahead of the playoffs.

No, it doesn’t worry me at all. Sometimes it just happens. There’s not much more to it.

 

The conversation moved on to NAVI’s season overall, which has been more modest compared to their 2024 campaign.

If you look back at 2024, we also had a slow start to the season. Our first trophy that year was the Major, so we might pull that one off again.

 

jL was then asked if he’s concerned about NAVI’s firepower, especially given how many world-class aimers are present at the event — including ZywOo, donk, sh1ro, and s1mple.

First of all, we didn’t have that firepower in 2024 either — and people still had ZywOo, ropz, donk, NiKo, m0NESY — but we won the most trophies and the Major. I don’t think it’s a focus point at all. If we win the game, we win as a team. If one of us pops off, that’s a good bonus. We always focus on the team.

 

The discussion shifted toward the ongoing debate in CS2 between tactical depth and mechanical skill. jL gave his take on how the two elements coexist.

No matter how good your calls are, the game will always have 3v3 or 2v2 situations, and the team with higher firepower or game IQ usually wins those. Even if you’re at a disadvantage — if ZywOo and ropz are in a 2v4 clutch, you should never count them out. The game is a balance of tactics and firepower.

 

Next, he was asked to respond to B1ad3’s pre-tournament comment that winning one out of ten times against Vitality would be a good result for NAVI.

As a pro player, you shouldn’t think about odds that way. If I say we have a 12% chance of beating Vitality, how am I going to feel going into the game? You either win or lose. Your focus is to beat the enemy, and you shouldn’t undervalue yourself. As long as you play your game and control your emotions, you always have a chance to beat any team.

 

Finally, jL shared his mindset ahead of the highly anticipated quarterfinal match against Vitality, one of the most dominant teams of 2025.

I think they are the best team of the year. We’re feeling good, we’ve practiced against them — they’re not unbeatable. They’ve taken the pressure off their shoulders after ending the win streak, so they’re feeling better for sure. We just have to show up and play our game. We have to beat them as a team. We’re not relying on one player to pop off. They have a backup plan if they fail as a team, but we’ll try to show a better team game than they do.

 

On June 20 at 20:00 CEST, NAVI will play against Vitality in the quarterfinals of Blast.tv Austin Major 2025. The winner will advance to the semifinals, where they will play against MOUZ. You can follow the progress and live streaming of the match at the link.