The Virtus.pro CS:GO team have become the first ever defending CS:GO Major winners to not even qualify for the next Major, after a series of bizarre decisions led to an early exit from the RMR. There’s no sugar-coating it – this was a disastrous performance, that could have long-term implications for the team’s future.
Source: Virtus.pro
Jame Time
It started off so well for Virtus.pro, no longer competing under the Outsiders moniker. An early win over SAW was business as usual, and a favorable draw saw them among the favorites to qualify.
The next match was where it started to unravel for Virtus.pro. Make no mistake – they underestimated B8 as early as the map pick. They allowed the best-of-one to go to Ancient, a map that Virtus.pro hadn’t won since November 2022. For comparison, B8 had won on Ancient three times just in March, and it’s considered home turf for them. This was pure disrespect from Virtus.pro. It immediately backfired, as B8 defeated them 16-14. It was bad news, sure, but the team still had opportunities to make it through.
Along come Into The Breach, a plucky British core that only came together in February. Surely a walk in the park for the defending CS:GO Major winners? No – a 16-13 defeat saw them come undone, with Qikert and fame delivering timeless disasterclasses to leave Jame and his team at death’s door.
Something had to give. In the performances, in the attitudes, just something. Virtus.pro had their own ideas, making one of the more baffling decisions in recent memory.
Virtus.Pro CS:GO Legacy Under Threat
With alarm bells ringing, Virtus.pro sidelined new signing KaiR0N- for the previously-benched n0rb3r7. The team claimed that KaiR0N- didn’t “immediately adapt to the pressure of LAN events.” The team even had Jame straight in the media to discredit KaiR0N-‘s signing as “a mistake” so far. It was a colossally unfair attack on the 19-year-old, who had been Virtus.pro’s second-highest-rated player at the RMR.
With the team in real danger, they were looking for a scapegoat, and the young new signing was easy pickings. Did it help? Of course not, as MOUZ waltzed past the CIS roster 2-0, with n0rb3r7 going 27-38 across both maps. The whole thing was a series of farcical events that seemed to spiral away from Virtus.pro before it was too late.
The only positive for Virtus.pro is that they don’t have long to wallow in their own misery. With IEM Rio 2023 approaching next week, they’ll have to lick their wounds fast. It will be interesting to see if the team sticks with KaiR0N-, or if they’ll double down on their decision.
About Post Author
