{"id":427844,"date":"2026-09-22T17:46:21","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T17:46:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/?p=427844"},"modified":"2026-09-22T17:47:52","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T17:47:52","slug":"jl-to-travel-with-vitality-to-esl-pro-league-season-24","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/news\/jl-to-travel-with-vitality-to-esl-pro-league-season-24","title":{"rendered":"jL to travel with Vitality to ESL Pro League Season 24"},"content":{"rendered":"

Justinas \u201cjL\u201d Lekavicius is set to travel with Vitality to ESL Pro League Season 24 as an emergency substitute for Dan \u201capEX\u201d Madesclaire, according to James \u201cBanKs\u201d Banks on the All About Counter-Strike podcast. Vitality are still expected to begin the tournament with their regular five-player lineup.<\/p>\n

The additional player is a precaution in case apEX has to leave Katowice early for the birth of his child. If that happens during the event, jL would be available to step into the lineup.<\/p>\n

jL will be on standby in Katowice<\/h2>\n

BanKs revealed that jL will travel with Vitality even though the team currently plans to use apEX, Mathieu \u201cZywOo\u201d Herbaut, Robin \u201cropz\u201d Kool, Shahar \u201cflameZ\u201d Shushan and William \u201cmezii\u201d Merriman from the start of ESL Pro League Season 24.<\/p>\n

The arrangement gives Vitality an immediate replacement if apEX needs to leave the tournament on short notice rather than forcing the team to organize an emergency substitute after the event has already begun. HLTV highlighted the information in its Short News section.<\/p>\n

There is no indication at this stage that apEX will miss any specific match at ESL Pro League Season 24.<\/p>\n\n

\n

read more<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\"\"\n<\/picture> <\/a>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n
\n

\n \n Luminosity beat B8 to reach Grand Final at Logitech G Play Connect 2026 <\/a>\n <\/h3>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/article> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Another temporary spell with Vitality<\/h2>\n

This would not be the first time jL has joined Vitality as a substitute in 2026.<\/p>\n

Vitality officially announced in August that jL would stand in for the team during two events because mezii and apEX were both expecting periods of parental leave. He later played with Vitality at BLAST Open Porto, where the team finished in 3rd-4th place.<\/p>\n

The previous arrangement also included jL replacing apEX at PGL Masters Bucharest later in October.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo Copyright by BLAST<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

ESL Pro League Season 24 begins October 3<\/h2>\n

ESL Pro League Season 24 will take place in Katowice from October 3-11. Sixteen teams will compete for a $1 million prize pool, with the tournament opening with a Swiss group stage before eight teams advance to the playoffs.<\/p>\n

The final three days of the event will be played at Spodek Arena. Vitality are among the 12 teams that received direct invitations through the VRS.<\/p>\n

For now, jL remains a backup option rather than part of the starting five. His participation would depend on whether apEX needs to leave during the tournament.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Justinas \u201cjL\u201d Lekavicius is set to travel with Vitality to ESL Pro League Season 24 as an emergency substitute for Dan \u201capEX\u201d Madesclaire, according to James \u201cBanKs\u201d Banks on the All About Counter-Strike podcast. Vitality are still expected to begin the tournament with their regular five-player lineup. The additional player is a precaution in case […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":82,"featured_media":427845,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[836],"class_list":["post-427844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-esl-pro-league-season-24"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\njL to travel with Vitality as backup for apEX at ESL Pro League Season 24<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"jL is set to travel with Vitality to ESL Pro League Season 24 as an emergency substitute in case apEX has to leave Katowice for the birth of his child.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/news\/jl-to-travel-with-vitality-to-esl-pro-league-season-24\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"jL to travel with Vitality as backup for apEX at ESL Pro League Season 24\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"jL is set to travel with Vitality to ESL Pro League Season 24 as an emergency substitute in case apEX has to leave Katowice for the birth of his child.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/news\/jl-to-travel-with-vitality-to-esl-pro-league-season-24\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CS2 & CS:GO Articles, News, Events | Skin.Club Community\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-22T17:46:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-22T17:47:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/55500953870_32e788848f_k-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1281\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kyoto\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kyoto\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/en\\\/news\\\/jl-to-travel-with-vitality-to-esl-pro-league-season-24#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/en\\\/news\\\/jl-to-travel-with-vitality-to-esl-pro-league-season-24\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kyoto\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9c8a5c02fee4b636733071c323f8d9d4\"},\"headline\":\"jL to travel with Vitality to ESL Pro League Season 24\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-22T17:46:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-22T17:47:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/en\\\/news\\\/jl-to-travel-with-vitality-to-esl-pro-league-season-24\"},\"wordCount\":398,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/en\\\/news\\\/jl-to-travel-with-vitality-to-esl-pro-league-season-24#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/55500953870_32e788848f_k-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"ESL Pro League Season 24\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2026\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/en\\\/news\\\/jl-to-travel-with-vitality-to-esl-pro-league-season-24\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/en\\\/news\\\/jl-to-travel-with-vitality-to-esl-pro-league-season-24\",\"name\":\"jL to travel with Vitality as backup for apEX at ESL Pro League Season 24\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/en\\\/news\\\/jl-to-travel-with-vitality-to-esl-pro-league-season-24#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/en\\\/news\\\/jl-to-travel-with-vitality-to-esl-pro-league-season-24#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/55500953870_32e788848f_k-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-22T17:46:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-22T17:47:52+00:00\",\"description\":\"jL is set to travel with Vitality to ESL Pro League Season 24 as an emergency substitute in case apEX has to leave Katowice for the birth of his child.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/en\\\/news\\\/jl-to-travel-with-vitality-to-esl-pro-league-season-24#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/en\\\/news\\\/jl-to-travel-with-vitality-to-esl-pro-league-season-24\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/en\\\/news\\\/jl-to-travel-with-vitality-to-esl-pro-league-season-24#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/55500953870_32e788848f_k-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/55500953870_32e788848f_k-1.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1281,\"caption\":\"Photo Copyright by BLAST\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/en\\\/news\\\/jl-to-travel-with-vitality-to-esl-pro-league-season-24#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Community\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/en\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/en\\\/news\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"jL to travel with Vitality to ESL Pro League Season 24\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Skin.Club Community \u2014 CS2 News, Articles & Events\",\"description\":\"CS2 & CS:GO Articles, News, Events | Skin.Club Community\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"CS2 Community\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"SkinClub\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/07\\\/logo-1-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/07\\\/logo-1-1.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":490,\"caption\":\"SkinClub\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9c8a5c02fee4b636733071c323f8d9d4\",\"name\":\"Kyoto\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5c883d408f3cddf332ac4f0c82c2fb8d15e8511bfe731be336f368aefe493c2f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5c883d408f3cddf332ac4f0c82c2fb8d15e8511bfe731be336f368aefe493c2f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5c883d408f3cddf332ac4f0c82c2fb8d15e8511bfe731be336f368aefe493c2f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kyoto\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.skin.club\\\/en\\\/members\\\/kyoto\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"jL to travel with Vitality as backup for apEX at ESL Pro League Season 24","description":"jL is set to travel with Vitality to ESL Pro League Season 24 as an emergency substitute in case apEX has to leave Katowice for the birth of his child.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/news\/jl-to-travel-with-vitality-to-esl-pro-league-season-24","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"jL to travel with Vitality as backup for apEX at ESL Pro League Season 24","og_description":"jL is set to travel with Vitality to ESL Pro League Season 24 as an emergency substitute in case apEX has to leave Katowice for the birth of his child.","og_url":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/news\/jl-to-travel-with-vitality-to-esl-pro-league-season-24","og_site_name":"CS2 & CS:GO Articles, News, Events | Skin.Club Community","article_published_time":"2026-09-22T17:46:21+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-09-22T17:47:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1281,"url":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/55500953870_32e788848f_k-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kyoto","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kyoto","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/news\/jl-to-travel-with-vitality-to-esl-pro-league-season-24#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/news\/jl-to-travel-with-vitality-to-esl-pro-league-season-24"},"author":{"name":"Kyoto","@id":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/9c8a5c02fee4b636733071c323f8d9d4"},"headline":"jL to travel with Vitality to ESL Pro League Season 24","datePublished":"2026-09-22T17:46:21+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-22T17:47:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/news\/jl-to-travel-with-vitality-to-esl-pro-league-season-24"},"wordCount":398,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/news\/jl-to-travel-with-vitality-to-esl-pro-league-season-24#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/55500953870_32e788848f_k-1.jpg","keywords":["ESL Pro League Season 24"],"articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","copyrightYear":"2026","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/news\/jl-to-travel-with-vitality-to-esl-pro-league-season-24","url":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/news\/jl-to-travel-with-vitality-to-esl-pro-league-season-24","name":"jL to travel with Vitality as backup for apEX at ESL Pro League Season 24","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/news\/jl-to-travel-with-vitality-to-esl-pro-league-season-24#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/news\/jl-to-travel-with-vitality-to-esl-pro-league-season-24#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/55500953870_32e788848f_k-1.jpg","datePublished":"2026-09-22T17:46:21+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-22T17:47:52+00:00","description":"jL is set to travel with Vitality to ESL Pro League Season 24 as an emergency substitute in case apEX has to leave Katowice for the birth of his child.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/news\/jl-to-travel-with-vitality-to-esl-pro-league-season-24#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/news\/jl-to-travel-with-vitality-to-esl-pro-league-season-24"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/news\/jl-to-travel-with-vitality-to-esl-pro-league-season-24#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/55500953870_32e788848f_k-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/55500953870_32e788848f_k-1.jpg","width":1920,"height":1281,"caption":"Photo Copyright by BLAST"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/news\/jl-to-travel-with-vitality-to-esl-pro-league-season-24#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Community","item":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/news"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"jL to travel with Vitality to ESL Pro League Season 24"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/","name":"Skin.Club Community \u2014 CS2 News, Articles & Events","description":"CS2 & CS:GO Articles, News, Events | Skin.Club Community","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/#organization"},"alternateName":"CS2 Community","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/#organization","name":"SkinClub","url":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/logo-1-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/logo-1-1.png","width":512,"height":490,"caption":"SkinClub"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/9c8a5c02fee4b636733071c323f8d9d4","name":"Kyoto","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5c883d408f3cddf332ac4f0c82c2fb8d15e8511bfe731be336f368aefe493c2f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5c883d408f3cddf332ac4f0c82c2fb8d15e8511bfe731be336f368aefe493c2f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5c883d408f3cddf332ac4f0c82c2fb8d15e8511bfe731be336f368aefe493c2f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kyoto"},"url":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/members\/kyoto"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/82"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=427844"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427844\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":427849,"href":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427844\/revisions\/427849"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/427845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=427844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=427844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=427844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}