jL after being knocked out of the Major: "A heartbreaking way to end the season, lost ourselves somewhere along the way to the major and couldn't pick ourselves back up."
The season for NAVI ended with a painful defeat to Heroic in the crucial match for a playoff spot at the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024. After the match, NAVI player Justinas "jL" Lekavicius wrote an emotional message on the social media platform X .
Justinas's message addressed not only his professional issues but also his internal struggle with psychological challenges. He openly shared his experiences and expressed disappointment in not being able to handle his own emotional "downfalls" during key moments of the season.
NAVI's Path to Failure at the Shanghai Major
The year 2024 was challenging and ambiguous for NAVI. The team consistently remained among the leaders, maintaining a high status on the global CS2 scene. However, the end of the season was less successful than expected. The defeat to Heroic in the crucial match at the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 left NAVI out of the playoffs.
The loss to Heroic was the final point in the season, which jL himself called lost:
"Lost ourselves somewhere along the way to the major and couldn't pick ourselves back up." Justinas “jL” Lekavicius
According to the player, he could not find reasons for his emotional slumps which led to a loss of confidence in his abilities.
Emotional Confession
In his post, Justinas admitted that throughout the year he struggled with a wave of negativity and self-doubt. He noted that despite the support, he often faced hate that forced him to change his behavior. The player also expressed gratitude to everyone who supported him this year, calling 2024 the best year of his life.
"Also disappointed the way I ended the year, couldn't find the reasons as to why I have such lows from time to time.
I would spiral down a big rabbit hole of negative thoughts and lose all confidence in my abilities. Without fixing this problem, there is no bright future for me in a competitive environment. The more this year went, the more support I felt, but with a lot of support, comes a lot of hate. There would be times where I would actively try not to look at a camera or pull a funny face. What really was pissing me off was people calling me out for being fake, but me not looking at the camera or joking around is me being fake. So I guess they were right.
Remember to believe in yourself and follow your vision, there will be a lot of people who doubt you, but don't be one of them. Thank you all for making this year the best year of my life, there is more to come in the next year." Justinas “jL” Lekavicius
