In a tournament that seemed like it could be a redemption story for many rosters like Astralis, Liquid and Vitality after a disappointing BLAST Spring groups finish has turned out to be a rude awakening instead. 4 out of 5 of HLTV’s top 5 teams were eliminated by three new CIS rosters in Gambit, Virtus Pro and newly breakouts Team Spirit. With the region seeing a revival, it begs the question of what makes these new teams able to take down the veteran greats of CS:GO and what we can expect from them going into ESL Pro League in March.
The main source of many of these upsets has been once great but now fallen Virtus Pro. Most of AVANGAR’s roster transferred there months after their shocking finalist appearance against Astralis at the Starladder Berlin Major with the addition of Latvia prodigy YEKINDAR. This roster has proven itself to be capable of taking down the likes of Vitality and Liquid before at Starladder however floundered in A and B-series tournaments for most of 2020. After adding YEKINDAR in May the team has found far more success by winning cs_summit 7 and Flashpoint Season 2, allowing them to qualify for IEM Katowice.
Clearly Virtus.Pro have refound their step in IEM. After beating FURIA 2-0 to qualify for the playoffs they have been tearing through their competition. In the quarterfinals they beat the #1 team Astralis 2-1 after a truly ungodly performance by YAKINDAR, who is shaping up to possibly be one of the best entry fraggers CS:GO has seen in awhile. Pair this with amazing leadership from Jame, the two combined for 52 kills, over half of their entire team’s total frags.
Against Team Liquid in the semifinals it was the same story. Jame showed his excellent AWPing skills with numerous impossible entry kills, finishing the game with a 28-12 record. Again, YEKINDAR terrorized any attempt to rotate players with skillful lurking and daunting smoke pushes. No member of Liquid finished their match with a rating higher than 1.00, while 4 members of Virtus.Pro finished above. This team has finally refounded a roster that can carry its legacy to the top and it will be a treat to watch them in ESL Pro League coming soon.
With the final match tomorrow against Gambit, another CIS powerhouse who trounced Na’Vi 2-0, the team is eager to show off their rosters skill, win IEM Katowice, and start a new era for Virtus Pro.