The young blood didn't work out - VP change their roster

The young blood didn't work out - VP change their roster
The young blood didn't work out - VP change their roster
posted by NanaKrustofski,
Virtus.pro change their roster for the upcoming ESL One Los Angeles 2020 qualifiers. After a disappointing start in the new DPC season, the team has to step up its performance to make it to The International 2020. VP and Natus Vincere recently caused some uproar when fighting over Bakyt 'w_Zayac' Emilzhanov. The former support and captain of Na'Vi wanted to leave for VP, but the transfer was not managed properly and causes issues.

Now, the transfer has finally been concluded and Zayac replaces Vitalie 'Save-' Melnic. On top of that, VP made an additional roster change: Zaur 'Cooman' Shakhmurzaev takes over the carry position as a stand-in and participates in the upcoming qualifiers, instead of previous carry Egor 'Nightfall' Grigorenko.





VP's roster:



ru Zaur 'Cooman' Shakhmurzaev
ua Vladimir 'No[o]ne' Minenko
ua Roman 'Resolut1on' Fominok
kg Bakyt 'w_Zayac' Emilzhanov
ru Aleksey 'Solo' Berezin

Stand-in Cooman is already quite known in the CIS region. He is not only a popular streamer, he also played for several Russian teams in the past such as AS Monaco Gambit, Effect*, Team Empire or Winstrike.



Their former carry epileptick1d as well as former support Save- were said to remain on the roster for now. Additional information will be disclosed soon, according to a explanation on VP's homepage.

The organisation went through a lot of trouble to get Zayac, but their management claimed it was a necessary move. Sergey Glamazda, their general manager, revealed in a statement:

“The Leipzig Major showed us that the former roster’s effectiveness was insufficient to reach the goals set before the team. If we want to be successful in this season, we have to adapt no matter the effort.”


The mighty have fallen?



Virtus.pro's most recent team constellation was not able to continue the legacy of the once dominant CIS powerhouse. Since the roster shuffle after The International 2019, VP could not celebrate any victories and started the new season with a low: they were not able to qualify for MDL Chengdu Major. Their attempt at the second Major, DreamLeague Season 13: The Leipzig Major was quite disappointing as well. Neither in the group stage nor in the playoffs did VP manage to win a single map.

The rocky start of the latest roster contrasts to the once shiny and powerful performance of VP. In the 2017/18 DPC season, VP reigned at the top of the ranking with a huge lead. They won four Majors and finished the season with a solid fifth place at The International 2018.

Their victory streak did not end there: In the 2018/19 DPC season, they nearly were able to replicate their successful run. With Team Secret narrowly overtaking them in points, VP concluded the season on the second rank this time. At The International 2019, the team struggled and landed on the ninth place.

In the current season, VP fell quite low. They are now at the 12th place of the ranking with 120 points. The new lineup has to accelerate their performance tremendously to secure their participation at The International 2020.

Do you think VP can find back on track with their new players?



Source: Virtus.pro homepage
Photo credit: Adela Sznajder DreamHack

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