Polish CS:GO: The Virtus.pro era and future hope
Take a look at some of the historical moments Virtus.pro produced and the future of Polish CS:GO
When looking back in time and discussing the greats of Counter-Strike it would be wrong not to mention Virtus Pro. Besides their impressive ability to perform at the highest of levels they were also beloved by fans, not only in Poland but across the entire world of Counter-Strike fanatics.
The roster showed great signs of the pending success, even in the early stages, and managed to win their first Major in 2014, the year that they had been established as a roster, on their own home soil at EMS One Katowice 2014. With players such as "pasha" and "TaZ" the Virtus Pro roster became one of if not the most, beloved and charismatic roster the world of Counter-Strike has ever seen.
However, it wasn't all just a fairytale with a happy ending. Virtus Pro experienced some major slumps but always seemed to bounce back and reassert their dominance when it mattered the most. This was true for many years, but when 2017 came around and the roster had been performing under par for quite some time, people began to question whether or not this was the end of the Polish Giants. The answer was, unfortunately, yes. The iconic five-man roster split up and never reunited. For once they didn't bounce back but instead left the Counter-Strike scene with their names engraved deeply into its foundation.
The longest-serving member of the iconic Virtus Pro roster was the fan-favorite "pashaBiceps" who announced his retirement on Twitter on December 13th. 2018.
It has been quite some time since a Polish player has been in contention for the top 20 or has it? Whilst not being 100% Polish both Mateusz "mantuu" Wilczewski and Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski have the Polish blood in them and is perhaps one of the reasons for their impressive talent.
However, all hope is not lost just yet. The Polish roster of AGO has shown to be a stable contender for the top 30 and could perhaps be the roster to bring back some of the glory days for the Polish Counter-Strike scene. They are currently ranked as the best Polish roster at 37th. in the world, with their current best performing player being Michał "snatchie" Rudzki.
