Aleksib's IEM Curse Has Finally Broken

IGL Aleksib has ushered in a new era for NAVI following the team's victory against MOUZ at IEM Rio 2024. While the result saw players Justinas "jL" Lekavičius and Mihai "iM" Ivan walk away with the DHL MVP and HLTV MVP awards, respectively, the win marked something notably special for the in-game leader. 

Aleksib had made it to six IEM Grand Finals since 2019 as part of ENCE, OG, G2 and NAVI. Each time, he and his team fell at the final hurdle, denying the Finnish player the chance to lift an IEM trophy. However, with seventh time being the charm, the IGL finally stamped out the curse and ended his losing streak on the IEM grand stage. 

• Read more: NAVI Shuts Down MOUZ to Win IEM Rio 2024

"This one was special," Aleksib said in an 'X' post after the match. "I’m grieving a loss of a close person and I’ve tried my best to fight the emotions. Hug your loved ones."

Aleksib's past IEM tournaments had played out in the following ways:

• 0:2 ENCE vs. Astralis - IEM Katowice '19
• 0:3 ENCE vs. Liquid - IEM Chicago '19
• 0:3 OG vs. Faze - IEM New York EU '20
• 0:3 OG vs. Gambit - IEM Summer '21
• 0:3 G2 vs. FaZe - IEM Katowice '22
• 1:3 NAVI vs. Vitality - IEM Cologne '24

IEM Rio 2024 was NAVI's sixth consecutive grand final appearance, ending Rio with a 3-1 score against MOUZ. The team earned the top share of the $250,000 prize pool, and a space in the EPT Winter Championship 2025.

Speaking on the win, jL said, “I feel really proud of us as a team. Even though we had our ups and downs, being 10-2, we knew we were gonna win this game. And I wanna thank this crowd for being so amazing. It was truly a one-in-a-million experience.”