NAVI player Justinas "jL" Lekavicius shared his thoughts with Dust2 Brasil following his team's victory in the IEM Rio 2024 Counter-Strike 2 final. The Lithuanian esports athlete highlighted that both he and his teammates managed to overcome their challenges and finally deliver a strong performance in a BO5 series.
"It’s not just about the trophy, but also the issues we overcame in the BO5 final to win the whole tournament. This is more about our team’s development. We played a pretty solid best-of-five series, at last. There were moments of instability, but we managed to bounce back."
He also expressed his joy at winning in Rio, stating, "Of course, it’s great to win in Rio. This tournament has always been in the back of my mind. It also brings us one step closer to the Intel Grand Slam trophy."
IEM Rio 2024 took place from 7 to 13 October in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, featuring 16 teams and a prize pool of $250,000. In the final, NAVI defeated MOUZ 3-1. Mihai "iM" Ivan was named the tournament's MVP.