Virtus Pro: An exemplary stability

Virtus.Pro, the story of Counter-Strike 1.6 veterans who met a duo of young talents to form an unavoidable team within the scene. An impeccable mix of skill and experience that always manages to get out of slumps and win events when all have written them off. Let's take a step back and take a look at this lineup, that in a few years has carved an amazing reputation and has accumulated an enormous fanbase.

This five man lineup was created in October of 2013 when Mariusz 'Loord' Cybulski and Jakub 'kuben' Gurczynski decided to leave and put an end to the Golden Five, a legendary formation with an impressive amount of trophies during 1.6 that dominated the scene for years. The three survivors, Wiktor 'TaZ' Wojtas, Filip 'NEO' Kubski and Jaroslaw 'paszaBiceps' Jarzabkowski, then took in Janusz 'Snax' Pogorzelski and Pawel 'byali' Bielinski from DELTA and GF Gaming, in order to join the organization Universal Soldiers. Even though the results were not exceptional back then, you will note that this will quickly change.

Results under Universal Soldiers :

3/4. EMS RC One Fall
2. Techlabs Cup
9/16. DH Winter 2013

Two months only after joining Universal Soldiers, the Poles leave the organization as it could no longer support their needs. They decide to play under the famous 'AGAiN' tag, until they managed to find something that suited them. They immediately display that they mean business by winning the SLTV StarSeries VIII.

Résults under AGAiN :

1. SLTV StarSeries VIII

In early 2014, the Russian organization Virtus.Pro decides to gamble on the polish team by taking it under its wing. It's then that will begin the incredible journey of the five giants from Eastern Europe. They begin by winning IEM Katowice at home, in front of an audience entirely dedicated to their cause, before exiting the Semi-Finals of Fragbite Masters 2, finishing at the third place. Afterwards, it will be a succession of good and bad results that awaits the Poles. But in the end, what should be noted is that the #1 from Poland seems to play online games as practices and not really giving it their all. This way, they test the waters and are ready to pull some headshots during big LANs. If you take a closer look at the results below you will see that they have always done well during offline events, especially the majors and those that offer the biggest prize pools. It is thanks to this that NEO and TaZ are the two players having earned the most prize money on CS:GO since the release of the game.

Résults under Virtus.Pro :

Throughout 65 offline events since their formation, 89% of them are within top 5 placings!

What we can say about this team, it is that it has managed to improve and reinvent itself in order to reach great heights, crossing good as well as worse moments in the greatest manner, by taking a step back. From the beginnings at Universal Soldiers all way to the top level with Virtus.Pro, these five players have remained together and were able to accomplish a substantial improvement upon themselves and their play styles, in order to evolve and reach the level that we now expect of them today. The poles are hard workers and it shows at every important competition. Because each time the conclusion is the same : the lineup falls for some time and at the next major we find them at the highest ceiling, defeating predictions and inflicting hard losses to their opponents.

Where many teams would replace players after each mishap, the Poles do none of that. This habit is not new for NEO & Co. Indeed, they had already gotten us used to this in 1.6 when the Golden Five were also a proof of stability since this magical formation had endured, winning pretty much all events on the previous opus for a long period despite a strong competition. Today, Astralis, SK Gaming, Natus Vincere and many others fight each other for the first place but we have often been too quick to forget that Virtus.Pro awaits quietly and that it too can finish at the top. 

The impressive Polish crowd

This ability to always manage to turn the tide and this exemplary stability is possibly the reason why crowds love the Poles so much. Indeed, whether we like this formation or not, we must admit that it has an enormous fanbase. It is certainly the result of the different personalities of the players as well as their distinct strengths.

Where NEO is known for his legendary status and certainly considered by many to be among the best players of all time, TaZ imposes respect with his extraordinary fair play : we all remember the semi-final they lost against Fnatic during ESL One Cologne, where the Polish audience was booing the Swedish team during the interview of Olof 'olofmeister' Kajbjer. TaZ then came back to the stage to take the microphone and ask the audience to respect the Swedes and their well deserved victory. There is also pasha who has changed his nickname to 'pasczaBiceps' and has become an icon thanks to his imposing muscles, his personality and his humor (227 302 followers).

The young byali, less prominent, also pleases the crowd and saves his team from long lost situations. As for Snax, the team leader, besides his personality, also offers us incredible individual performances and an uncommon gamesense.

 
Snax, an extraordinary gamesense

According to the website eSports earnings, the organization has brought in $2,270,454 thanks to its team, $2,236,097 in CS:GO with this lineup. It thus places itself in first place in front of fnatic ($2,051,023) and EnvyUs ($1,776,446). This would explain the love that Anton Cherepennikov, CEO of Virtus.Pro, holds towards his five players. Indeed, he was the first to offer the formation long term contracts, for a period of four years, as well as salaries between $15,000 and $20,000 per month. He has also recently purchased a Mercedes Class E as a gift to TaZ, to thank him for being at his sides for many years.

In conclusion, Virtus.Pro is stability, hard work and charming personalities. Even if fnatic dominated the scene for many months from the end of 2015 until April 2016, then SK from June to November 2016, it is VP that places ahead as the only unaltered lineup able to win events in the long run. Well done!