Vitality Turns to Free Agent jL as Stand-In for Two Fall Events

Vitality confirmed on its own account that free agent Justinas "jL" Lekavicius will stand in for two events this fall, replacing William "mezii" Merriman at BLAST Open Porto in late August and Dan "apEX" Madesclaire at PGL Masters Bucharest in October. The confirmation follows details journalist Sébastien "KRL" Pérez shared on social media days earlier, with both absences tied to the births of mezii's and apEX's children.

jL has been without a team since leaving Natus Vincere in July, following an earlier break from competition after stepping down from Na'Vi's starting lineup. He spent time on loan at MOUZ, taking third place at both PGL Astana and the CS Asia Championships in 2026. For each event, he rounds out a Vitality lineup built around apEX, ropz, ZywOo, and flameZ, minus whichever player is away that week.

The stand-ins land during a rougher patch for the roster, which has gone three events without a top-four finish after a run of five straight wins earlier in the season.