When Cloud9 last month announced the acquisition of Timur “buster” Tulepov as a replacement for the loyal support player Timofey "interz" Yakushin, some experts and fans within the industry questioned that exact move.

Did they just use interz as a scapegoat? Won’t buster just the same impact and style to the table as interz? Was just some of the questions being asked.

But if you ask Cloud9’s in-game leader and long-standing captain Vladislav "nafany" Gorshkov this move will play a “huge difference” going forward, the Russian explained in an interview with ESL.

- Overall, I think this result is okay with us having a new player, nafany said. We didn’t prepare everything that we wanted and it’s a bit different game right now with a new player as well – I would say not even “a bit”, it’s a huge difference Cloud9 with interz and Cloud9 with buster.

- I think it’s obvious with buster that we now have more space to create new things. We can switch on a lot of maps – we have done it already. I know everything will be fine in the future.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"launders-cloud9-rumours-they-are-trying-scapegoat-interz-hate-this","isNewTab":true}]

In the interview, nafany elaborates by going more in depth when comparing interz with buster.

- I will say the main difference is that interz is a guy who’s doing his work and was doing a great job. But buster is a player who brings us fresh air and he can fix some gaps on some maps for us. So, it was necessary to change players because we have played in the previous roster for two and half years, which is very long time.

- We have some struggles in teamspeak. It’s not even because of buster, it’s more because of me, hobbit and sh1ro but I can’t say a lot about that because we still don’t really know how to use it perfectly, nafany concluded. 

You can watch the entire interview with nafany down below. 

[youtube:WblnlNpKnXM?feature=share&t=38591]

Yesterday Cloud9 secured themselves a spot at the prestigious IEM Katowice main event after a strong performance on the first day at the play-in stage. Beating IHC 16-5 and afterwards ENCE 2-1 in a decider match was ultimately enough to send them through to the $1 Million event.

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nafany

interz

buster

Cloud9

One of the biggest question marks before IEM Katowice was how Timur "buster" Tulepov would slot into the Cloud9 squad. The Kazak has replaced Timofey "interz" Yakushin on the CIS team for the 2023 season.

Initially, it looked comfortable for Cloud9. On ENCE’s own map pick of Anubis, it was sh1ro and Ax1Le completely running the show. A 12-3 lead at the break was converted to a 16-10 win.

Then it was time for Inferno. Here it was clear, that some of the positions at Cloud9 have changed. Abay 'HObbit' Khassenov was playing the role of a lurker on the team. On their T-site, it looked fine for the CIS team, but on their CT side, everything fell apart. Marco "Snappi" Pfeiffer called a great game and played a great map averaging 100 ADR per round. ENCE won 16-8.

Vertigo was left as the decider. Here the game turned into a true nailbiter. ENCE had a 12-8 lead during the second half, but then C9 got activated. Six consecutive rounds were won on the CT side to give themselves a 14-12 lead, which they managed to turn into a 16-13 win.

ENCE drops down to the lower bracket, where they will get another chance of qualifying Friday.

Cloud9 – ENCE 2-1 | IEM Katowice Play-in

MVP: {cflag:RU} Dmitry 'sh1ro' Sokolov - 1.20 rating / 61-41 K-D / 74.3 ADR

sh1ro

ENCE

Cloud9 has announced the signing of former Virtus Pro player Timur "⁠buster⁠" Tulepov. The 23-year-old rifler will join Cloud9 on a permanent deal going into the 2023 season. With buster coming in as an active player Timofey "⁠interz⁠" Yakushin will be put on the beach going forward.

After three years playing under the Outsiders and Virtus pro banner buster moves on to bring back his life inside the CS community. During the last 8-9 months buster has been on the Outsiders bench. According to an interview with [link:{"url":"https://www.hltv.org/news/34905/buster-on-leaving-vp-i-felt-the-weight-of-those-5-years-together","isNewTab":true,"text":"HLTV"}] Cloud9 was just one of three different teams that he could sign for, the other teams are Natus Vincere and Spirit. 

Meanwhile, buster takes the spot on the active lineup as interz is moved to the inactive roster after playing under Vladislav "⁠nafany⁠" Gorshkov for almost four years. The 22-year-old Russian has throughout 2022 been averaging 0.99 Rating / 0.74 Impact / 60.4 ADR / 0.56 KPR. interz in recent months has struggled on the server since the team became Cloud9 back in early 2022. The Russian rifler found it hard to compete against the world's best since the return to the LAN environment. 

Cloud9´s new rifle Timur "⁠buster⁠" Tulepov is set to make its debut at the IEM Katowice 2023.

Going forward into 2023, Cloud9´s roster will look as follows:

{cflag:RU} Sergey "⁠Ax1Le⁠" Rykhtorov

{cflag:RU} Vladislav "⁠nafany⁠" Gorshkov

{cflag:RU} Konstantin "⁠groove⁠" Pikiner (coach)

{cflag:RU} Timofey "⁠interz⁠" Yakushin (inactive)

The future surrounding Timur “buster” Tulepov is still unclear. The 22-year-old rifler is currently benched on Virtus.pro, and hasn’t featured in an official match since the conclusion of PGL Major Antwerp five months ago.

In an [link:{"url":"https://www.hltv.org/news/34905/buster-on-leaving-vp-i-felt-the-weight-of-those-5-years-together","isNewTab":true,"text":"interview"}] with HLTV.org, buster touched on his situation mentioning his three preferred CS:GO teams to get picked up by.

- If we’re talking about CIS tier-1 rosters, I’m only interested in playing for Cloud9, NAVI, or Team Spirit, buster said to HLTV.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"virtus-pro-bench-yekindar-buster","isNewTab":true}]

buster doesn’t rule out the possibility of joining an international team in the future, stating on Twitter that he’s started to learn English so he can compete outside of the CIS region – though his current English is “not enough for any EU/NA teams”

An aspect, the Kazakh also discusses in the interview.

- I should’ve done it a long time ago [learning English] … Right now I spend my time not only on training but also on learning English to be able to play in international rosters, communicating with teammates and audience, giving interviews in English, and so on, buster said where he also mentioned his former teammate Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis as a motivation.

- I have an admiring envy for him[YEKINDAR]. So, as I said before, I should’ve done it a long time ago, so it was at the top of my to-do list when I got benched and Mareks’ success in the international team definitely motivates me.

You can read the entire interview with buster down below. 

[slugORMA:{"slug":"media-navi-consider-buster-new-fifth-electronic-igl","isNewTab":true}]

[slugORMA:{"slug":"yekindar-offers-update-have-bought-myself-from-virtus-pro","isNewTab":true}]

Virtus.pro

According to [link:{"url":"https://www.dexerto.com/csgo/exclusive-electronic-could-take-up-igl-role-as-navi-monitor-buster-1836165/","isNewTab":true,"text":"Dexerto"}] and Luís Mira, the CIS giants from NAVI have set their sights on Timur “buster” Tulepov as a potential replacement for the newly-benched Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov.

However, a transfer will only be possible if buster is being released from his contract with Virtus.pro due to NAVI being “unwilling to conduct business with the Russian organization [VP]”, NAVI COO Alexey “xaoc” Kucherov has said to Dexerto.

In addition to the alleged interest in buster, the article also touches on the problematic in-game leader situation on NAVI following the departure of Boombl4. Here Kucherov (NAVI COO) explains that NAVI “is seriously considering the possibility of electroNic taking over as in-game leader”.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/Electronic_cgzgju","originalWidth":2048,"originalHeight":1152,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: PGL"}]

electronic (in focus) together with his long-standing NAVI companion Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev

{cflag:UA} Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev 

{cflag:RU} Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov 

{cflag:RU} Ilya "⁠Perfecto⁠" Zalutskiy 

{cflag:UA} Valeriy "⁠b1t⁠" Vakhovskiy 

{cflag:UA} Andrey "⁠B1ad3⁠" Gorodenskiy (coach)

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Boombl4

electronic

Natus Vincere

Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis and Timur "buster" Tulepov have been removed from Virtus.pro's active roster, the Russian organization announce on Twitter this Monday. 

The roster move comes only one day after the conclusion of PGL Major Antwerp, which ended up being a huge disappointment for Virtus.pro/Outsiders by only reaching an overall 12-14th placement. Virtus.pro explain the roster move like this:

- In the recent tournaments, the roster failed to meet the expectations of the fans, management, and its own, therefore we made a collective decision to go for changes in the roster. (...) Due to a number of reasons, some of which are related to the current international environment, YEKINDAR’s journey in the Virtus.pro CS:GO roster comes to an end, the statement says which also touched on buster's benching:

- He [buster] needs a new challenge, while we need fresh ideas about the game. This decision is going to be mutually beneficial and will allow both the player and the club to keep progressing and striving for success.

[link:{"url":"https://virtus.pro/en/articles/virtuspro-perevodit-buster-i-yekindar-v-zapas","isNewTab":true,"text":"Full statement from Virtus.pro"}]

{cflag:KZ} Dastan “dastan” Akbaev (coach)

[slugORMA:{"slug":"report-yekindar-possibly-leaving-virtus-pro","isNewTab":true}]

YEKINDAR

It was a fight for survival when G2 and Outsiders clashed in the 1-2 bracket. Both teams were 1-1 after Day 1 but now faced elimination after losing against Heroic and ENCE on Day 2.

Outsiders' pick of Inferno was first up to bat, and after fifteen rounds it was as close as can be at 8-7 in favor of G2 on the defense.

The CT side was where the problems came for the CIS squad. With the save-heavy style they like to play, they were left doing exactly that as G2 were successful in a lot of their openings and reads. The convincing T side of "Aleksib" and co. brought them a 16-10 victory.

After the disappointing CT side on Inferno, the Outsiders defended better as they arrived on G2's pick of Vertigo. It was still not a huge success for the CIS squad as only "YEKINDAR" went above and beyond, and G2 led by 8-7 at the half.

The Outsiders, with their backs against the wall, suddenly found new life on the T side. The "Jame"-led squad had a lot of success around the ramp position and turned that into a huge stack of rounds despite a great showing from "m0NESY". The icing on the cake was a huge step-up from "buster", which led to a victory for the Outsiders.

An extremely back and forth first half is what we got on the third and final map of Dust2. The Outsiders on the T side came out on top at 8-7 after a seven-round streak of trading rounds.

G2 were done trading rounds, so after losing the two initial rounds of the second half, they went on a six-round streak, where the Outsiders in true Outsiders-fashion saved in five of them. Ths CIS squad did not find form on their T side, and after three maps G2 could hold their heads high.

G2 are now 2-2 and will play an all-or-nothing game tomorrow, while the Outsiders are sent packing.

[twitchClip:pgl_csgo/clip/MotionlessThirstyBeaverAMPEnergyCherry-HE6Nqd9RUsn_5wgc]

G2 - Outsiders 2-1 | PGL Major Antwerp Legends Stage

16-10 (Inferno) | {cflag:BA} NiKo - 1.68 Rating / 25-11 K-D / 91.9 ADR

10-16 (Vertigo) | {cflag:KZ} buster - 1.59 Rating / 23-11 K-D / 104.5 ADR

16-11 (Dust2) | {cflag:BA} NiKo - 1.29 Rating / 24-17 K-D / 90.5 ADR

MVP: {cflag:BA} Nikola "NiKo" Kovač - 1.36 Rating / 67-45 K-D / 89.9 ADR

NiKo

m0NESY

G2 Esports

Outsiders

The final match of the day had Outsiders going up against FaZe. Both teams looked to take their first win after disappointingly losing yesterday.

FaZe got off to a great start on their map pick of Inferno, as they won the first three rounds of the map on their T-side. The rest of the half was characterized by heavy tactical gameplay and many saves, which is not surprising considering the teams in play. FaZe barely got away with a lead of 8-7 at halftime.

Outsiders looked absolutely outstanding after the break, as they wrecked the defense of FaZe, and took every single round on their T-side, to win 16-8.

Outsiders continued the great play on the second map of Dust2, as they played a very convincing T-side. “buster”, especially, showed up in a big way, which helped them net a halftime lead of 9-6.

As they switched sides, FaZe quickly put themselves in the driver’s seat, as they were terrorizing the defense of Outsiders in a major way. Despite a semi-flat showing on the CT-side, Outsiders reached map-point at 15-14, but unluckily for the CIS-squad FaZe were not done with this Bo3, and the map went into overtime.

FaZe got into a good position in overtime by taking an 18-16 lead. Unfortunately, they squandered both opportunities to end the game and another overtime was needed. Outsiders kept it clean in the second overtime by taking each and every round and winning 22-18.

FaZe are now down 0-2 in Group B while Outsiders improve to 1-1.

Outsiders - FaZe 2-0 | ESL Pro League Season 15 (Group B)

16-8 (Inferno) | {cflag:RU} Jame – 1.47 Rating / 20-9 K-D / 82.9 ADR

22-18 (Dust2) | {cflag:LV} YEKINDAR – 1.18 Rating / 30-27 K-D / 86.8 ADR

MVP: {cflag:LV} Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis – 1.26 Rating / 49-37 K-D / 86.2 ADR

Jame

FaZe

The last day of Legends is underway. In our first match of the day, we saw Vitality secure their spot in the Champions Stage over the underdogs from Entropiq. Now FaZe and Virtus.pro had to fight for their chance to become one of the final eight.

Virtus.pro picked Inferno as the first map and was also the first team to strike as they took the all-important pistol round. “broky”, who was the MVP of the map, did not allow VP to it into any more rounds as he napped a 4k to shut them down. From there on the first half was all FaZe as they went to halftime 10-5, only allowing VP a few rounds at the end.

The second half was a lot more competitive as the calm and calculated CIS-team started to wiggle themselves back into the game. But the deficit from the first half was too big, which resulted in a 16-13 win for FaZe on Virtus.pro’s map pick.

Ancient was not surprisingly picked by FaZe as the second battleground of this do-or-die match. A map that statistically has looked very poor for Virtus.pro, and consistently comfortable for FaZe.

Surprisingly Virtus.pro was able to make a game of it in the first half which ended 8-7 in favor of FaZe. Especially star player “YEKINDAR” was looking great for his team, which was sorely needed. 

Virtus.pro kept on looking great in the second half and surprised everyone by getting to map point at 15-13 after a series of massive clutches, and eventually winning the map 16-14.

The destiny-deciding map of the series took place on Overpass. FaZe started on the CT-side of this heavily CT-sided map, but went against the statistics early on, as Virtus.pro managed to take eight of the first nine. The “karrigan”-led squad managed to turn it around and go on their own streak to end the half 8-7.

The second half had the two contenders neck-and-neck for seven rounds at the scoreline 11-11. From there on out Virtus.pro took every single round and secured their spot at the Challengers Stage.

Virtus.pro – FaZe 2-1 | PGL Stockholm Major Legends Stage

13-16 (Inferno) | {cflag:LV} broky – 1.47 Rating / 29-13 K-D / 92.7 ADR

16-14 (Ancient) | {cflag:LV} YEKINDAR – 1.21 Rating / 26-19 K-D / 81.6 ADR

16-11 (Overpass) | {cflag:KZ} buster – 1.35 Rating / 23-13 K-D / 79.7 ADR

MVP: {cflag:LV} Helvijs ”broky” Saukants – 1.22 Rating / 68-45 K-D / 80.0 ADR

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[twitchClip:pgl/clip/ColdAcceptableGarlicTheTarFu-LMXuiwAWrLCF3Xx4]

broky

The action started with MOUZ’s pick on Ancient. The European Mixture showed a masterclass on the T-side, running over Virtus.pro’ defense. VP did only manage to get two rounds in the first half, where MOUZ was in control. A 2-13 lead the break was converted to a 16-9 win on Ancient by MOUZ.

On Inferno, it was a different story, as VP gave MOUZ a taste of how they felt on Ancient, cruised to a 12-3 lead before the break. VP continued their dominant performance and with the help of YEKINDER, VPclosed out the map 16-3.

VP kept her momentum onto the decider of Vertigo and kicked off on the right foot, grabbing an 8-0 lead, a lead which was further extended to 10-1 before MOUZ finally put a halt to the onslaught. But MOUZ was not to give up, as they won 12 rounds in a row, taking the lead on the map for the first time until VP cracked through to score their first T-side round. It went back-and-forth, but MOUZ reached the match point, but Virtus.pro forced to overtime, where both teams continued the intense battle that was them at 18-18 before Virtus.pro took control to close things out, and eliminated MOUZ from PGL Stockholm.

Virtus.pro – MOUZ 2-1 | PGL Major Stockholm 2021

9-16 (Ancient) | {cflag:LT} Bymas – 1.36 Rating / 19-14 / 90.2 ADR 

16-3 (Inferno) | {cflag:LV} YEKINDER – 1.70 Rating / 17-8 / 91.8 ADR

22-18 (Vertigo) | {cflag:KZ} buster - 1.39 Rating / 35-25 / 90.8 ADR

MVP: {cflag:LT} Aurimas "Bymas" Pipiras – 1.12 Rating / 58-53 / 77.1 ADR

Bymas

MOUZ

It is five months ago, that Virtus.pro took home $180.000 and a second-place at IEM Katowice. Today they nearly got eliminated without winning a single map at IEM Cologne.

2021 has been a weird year for Virtus.pro. They started on a high note, but lately the results have been poor. On Mirage the downfall continued. None of the VP players ended the map with a positive K-D score and was handed a devastating 16-6 loss.

On their own map pick, Dust2, VP was once again dominated. Complexity had almost sent VP home without winning a map, but then something happened. First, it was Jame, then qikert, and then buster who made multiple kills during a round to complete a much-needed comeback to force the map to overtime. Here buster destroyed Complexity with an AWP ace to close off the overtime with Virtus.pro winning all four OT rounds.

Overpass was picked as the decider. Again it was an even show, but in the end Virtus.pro got the upper hand and secured a 16-13 to win the match. Complexity is done and dusted at IEM Cologne.

Virtus.pro - Complexity 2-1 | IEM Cologne

Virtus.pro will now have to beat Ninjas in Pyjamas to stay alive at IEM Cologne.

In the upper bracket, it started exciting between G2 and BIG. The Germans won Dust2 in convincing fashion, and then everyone thought, that we were in for a thriller of a match. But BIG just managed to win five rounds on the last two maps. Even AmenNEK, who had finished Dust2 with a horrible 3-17 K-D score ended up with a positive K-D after Mirage and Inferno. A disappointing showing for tabseN and his teammates.

G2 is ready for the playoffs and can even qualify for the semi-finals with a win against Gambit on Sunday in the Group A final. BIG will have to make a run in the lower brackets to qualify for the playoffs. Next opponent is Team Liquid.

qikert

tabseN

compLexity Gaming

The first map was played on the famous map Mirage, where most competitive games are being played.

It was a very even map, where NIP ended up taking the map win after winning 16-14.

In the first half, NIP got themselves a great start as the T side, where their offensive plays bulldozed through the CT defense from the Russian side, but then they came back in the game Virtus.pro and only lost the first half 8-7, after a great half by NIP.

Nip delivered again as the CT side, where they had troubles holding the A bombsite, but they managed to win 8-7 again in the second half, meaning that they won the map 16-14, but from here on the game had one team, and that team was Virtus.pro as NIP seemed to have disappeared from the game after Mirage.

Virtus.pro got themselves the perfect start at their map pick Inferno, they won 10-5 in the first half, and they were in full control of the game.

It was almost certain that the game would need a third and decisive map, but NIP fought on in the map, but they didn’t come any closer in the map against a strong Virtus.pro side, as both teams managed to win 6 rounds in the second half, and this was enough for Virtus.pro who won the map 16-11.

Therefore, a third and decisive map was needed and it was on Overpass, a map where there only was one team on the field.

It is not any day that we witness such a clear demonstration of powers on the professional scene, but the performance by Virtus.pro in the third map was outrageous and clearly near perfect.

After the first half, where Virtus.pro started as the CT side they were leading 14-1, a perfect CT side on the map.

The NIP offense didn’t have a chance against the perfect defensive strategy from the Russian roster.

The map was already decided if we shouldn’t see the biggest comeback in CS:GO history, but they fought bravely after being demolished in the first half, they managed to win themselves three round in the second half before losing two against Virtus.pro, which was enough for them.

NIP – Virtus.pro (1-2) | IEM Summer 2021

16-14 (Mirage) | {cflag:SE} hampus – 1.43 Rating / 26-16 K-D / 89.0 ADR

11-16 (Inferno) | {cflag:UZ} SANJI– 1.61 Rating / 27-15 K-D / 102.1 ADR

4-16 (Overpass) | {cflag:KZ} buster – 1.59 Rating / 19-7 K-D / 95.8 ADR

MVP: {cflag:KZ} Timur ”buster” Tulepov – 1.29 Rating / 62-38 K-D / 81.6 ADR

hampus

SANJI

Ninjas in Pyjamas

Dzami “Jame” Ali and the rest of Virtus.pro got their retaliation at the RMR CIS qualifier, as VP managed to defeat the Ukrainian underdogs from Akuma. The win means that they will set up a profiled Grand Final against the world #1 in Gambit.

In the consolidation final, we saw a dominant VP-side who time after time caught Akuma off guard, especially on Akuma’s map pick on Mirage. A map, where VP’s Timur “buster” Tolepov took over the server, presenting a stellar 1.58 Rating including a 11-3 K-D on the CT-side.

The Russian Bears continued their great form on Overpass, and it looked like it was only a matter of time before Akuma were down and dusted. With a confident 16-9 victory, VP seals a vital Grand Final spot where they will take on Gambit today at 19:00 (CET).

Virtus.pro – Akuma (2-0) | EPIC League CIS 2021

16-8 (Mirage) | {cflag:KZ}  buster – 1.58 Rating / 23-12 K-D / 100.2 ADR

16-9 (Overpass) | {cflag:KZ} Qikert – 1.47 Rating / 22-11 K-D / 90.0 ADR

{cflag:LV} Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis - 1.38 Rating / 43-35 K-D / 103.2 ADR

Akuma

Virtus.pro took down Spirit 2-1 in the lower final of EPIC League CIS 2021 and have secured a spot in the consolidation final of the event against either Akuma or Gambit. Jame and company started off the series in good fashion and secured their own map pick on Inferno (16-12), before Spirit bounced back and dominated them out of the server on Dust2 (5-16). On the decider of Overpass, neither of the teams were able to find their footing in the opening rounds, but after several contributions from VP’s SANJI, him and company managed to wrap up the series 2-0 by closing out the map 16-7.

Inferno: 16-12 | Jame – 1.37 Rating – 72.4 ADR – 22-12 K/D  

Dust2: 16-5 | magixx – 1.64 Rating – 111.9 ADR – 23-12 K/D 

Overpass: 16-7 | buster – 1.69 Rating – 105.8 ADR – 25-13 K/D

MVP: Timur “buster” Tulepov – 1.32 Rating – 86.0 ADR – 61-44 K/D – 75.0% KAST

The winner of the upcoming consolidation between Virtus.pro and either Akuma or Gambit, will be the second Grand finalist.

Spirit

The first map was on Dust2, where Virtus.pro delivered a great map.

In the first half Virtus.pro was the CT side, and they did very well on the T-sided Dust2.

They won the first half 9-6, as they defended the bombsite very well, it was very effective the way they got closed down especially the A bombsite against a normal stronger Entropiq.

In the second half, they also delivered a strong T side, where they bulldozed through the defensive line of Entropiq, who on the day didn’t seem to have a chance against a strong Virtus.pro where Jame impressed and outplayed especially El1an, who normally is the biggest star on the Entropiq roster.

In the second map on Overpass, Virtus.pro were classes better than the Russian side, who got outplayed to the fullest.

In the first half in the tunnels, it was more even with Virtus.pro winning 9-6 as the CT side, but then their shifted gears as the T side.

In the second half Virtus.pro was dominating to the fullest, they were way better than the opponents, winning the half 7-1, after a clear demonstration of powers.

Virtus.pro got their revenge against Entroipiq after the Russian side won in last week's meeting.

Entropiq – Virtus.pro 0-2 | EPIC League CIS 2021

10-16 (Dust2) | Jame – 1.34 Rating / 22-17 K-D / 78.8 ADR

7-16 (Overpass) | buster – 1.56 Rating / 22-9 K-D / 99.8 ADR

MVP: Dzhami ”Jame” Ali – 1.40 Rating / 42-22 K-D / 84.6 ADR

Entropiq

Virtus.pro is on an incredible streak with three consecutive tournament victories in a row. At cs_summit 7 they were invincible and did not lose a single map during their run for the title.

The three wins a Flashpoint 2, DreamHack Open December, and cs_summit 7 has elevated the team to their highest world ranking since November 2019.

The talented roster will undoubtedly be one of the most exciting rosters to follow in 2021. 

You can see highlights from the Grand Final at cs_summit here.

In this series, we take a look at the teams that finished 2020 in the top 20 rankings. Today we take a look at number 12.

2020 did not look like a year, that Virtus.pro would look back on with joy. The team struggled with the performances in the first half of the year ultimately leading to the departure of Dauren “AdreN” Kystaubayev. Since then the results kept improving. The team ended the year with three trophies and ended as number 2 on the money list of 2020.

After a surprising win at IEM New York CIS, there were high hopes that Virtus.pro could be a dangerous team to face in Flashpoint 2. The CIS team had to go through a qualifier to even be at the event. Here they dismantled teams like Cloud9, Gen.G, MAD Lions, BIG, fnatic, and OG in the Grand Final securing them a whopping $500.000. Even more impressive was the fact, that none of the Virtus.pro players finished the tournament in the top 10 rankings individually. A pure team performance from the CIS team.

By winning DreamHack Open in December Virtus.pro cemented their position as a team to count on when the 2021 season launches. The team is invited to the Play-in at IEM Katowice, and will definitely be one of the rosters to keep an eye on to qualify. With an average age of 22, the roster seems to be exactly where they are supposed to be, so don’t be surprised, if Virtus.pro ends 2021 in the top 10 of the world rankings.

Virtus.pro has finished the year with amazing results after winning the DreamHack Open December final, defeating sAw in the grand final. YEKINDAR and company were able to turn around a one map deficit after losing their first pick of the series on Inferno, to win the final 3-1. The Portuguese squad, who recently hit the top 30 in the world rankings, looked strong on the first map and really shocked VP with aggressive plays, but unfortunately, they weren’t able to keep up with VP in the end. It looked like sAw would take the game into a fifth and deciding map, but VP wanted it different as they secured a hard-fought overtime victory on Dust to win the final. 

VP’s buster had a strong performance throughout the series, ending up on top of the overall scoreboard with an impressive 86-58 score and a rating of 1.28. He and the rest of the squad leave the event with a trophy and $50.000, while sAw finishes the standings in second place and takes home $20.000. 

It was clear, that it was a confident Virtus.pro team who showed up in the opening round of DreamHack Open. The Russian bears come from a massive triumph in Flashpoint 2 where they grabbed the trophy and the huge $500.000 1st prize. Virtus.pro continued their strong form when they took upon the female team of XSET in the first match at the event. It was quickly shown that XSET was heavily overmatched, even though, they pulled up acceptable performances on both maps.

The Kazakhstan duo of Timur “Buster” Tulepov and Alexey “qikert” Golubev led Virtus.pro to the confident 2-0 victory through victories on Dust2 and Vertigo.

16-6 (Dust2) Buster 1.86 rating / 26-10 K-D / 100.8 ADR

16-5 (Vertigo) qikert 1.72 rating / 24-9 K-D / 115.5 ADR

DreamHack Open December groups and schedule:

[link:{"url":"https://www.hltv.org/events/5599/dreamhack-open-december-2020"}]

	30 days	90 days
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buster

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