Virtus.pro (VP) was an international esports organization founded in 2003 in Russia and acquired by Armenian investors in 2022.[2] The organization has had players competing in such games as Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, Rainbow Six Siege, Warface and EFT: Arena.
Virtus.pro's Dota 2 team has participated in multiple Majors, winning record (tied with Team Secret) 5 of them and becoming the best Dota Pro Circuit first season team. Their League of Legends team won LCL Spring 2017.
VP's former Polish CS:GO team is considered one of the best teams in the history of Counter-Strike, winning the EMS One Katowice 2014 Major and several other premier tournaments.[3] VP's last CS:GO team with CIS players won the IEM Rio Major 2022 under the name Outsiders.
Ownership and naming
In November 2015, the team got an investment of over US$100,000,000 from Alisher Usmanov's USM Holdings.[4][5] From 2015 to 2022 Virtus.pro was part of the ESforce Holding (and also part of VK). In March 2022 Virtus.pro created a new tag, Outsiders, due to the requirements of tournament operators and their claims to VP's parent company (VK) ties with the Russian government. Outsiders tag is a neutral name for the team.
In September 2022 Virtus.pro announced the acquisition of the club by Armenian investor Aram Karamanukyan.[2] He became the new CEO of the club. Since then, in Dota 2 and other games, the club has been playing under its genuine name Virtus.pro, but continued to play in CS:GO as Outsiders. The new CEO claimed that he "contacted ESL [CS:GO tournament operator] to discuss the matter of performing under the name Virtus.pro" and "provided all supporting documents and are now awaiting a decision."[2]
On 22 March 2023, CS:GO tournament organizers lifted their bans on the Virtus.pro name.[6]
In October 2015, it was announced that Virtus.pro had joined an esports team trade union along with a dozen other teams.[11]
In 2016, Virtus.pro made it to the quarterfinals in MLG Columbus after beating G2 Esports 2–0 in a best-of-three game. The team then went on to win in the inaugural ELeague season, winning $390,000.[12] In December 2016, Virtus.pro re-signed the roster for another four years.[13] In 2017, Virtus.pro finishes 2nd place at the ELEAGUE Atlanta major, winning $150k, and won DreamHack Masters - Las Vegas 2017, winning $200k.[14] Virtus.pro finished 2nd place at EPICENTER 2017, winning $100k.[15]
Due to poor results, on 13 December 2018, Virtus.pro CS:GO roster was suspended.[16]
"Vegi" replaced "Toao" in the active squad and "Snax" takes over IGL role in 2019.[17] Due to poor results and grown unhappy with the team, Paweł "byali" Bieliński decided to leave Virtus.pro.[18] VP adds Okoliciouz as a replacement for byali.[19] Virtus.pro decided to test some players out, benching Michał "Okoliciouz" Głowaty that had a short lived place in the VP squad, replaced by a stand in Tomasz "phr" Wójcik.[20] Virtus.pro win Polish Esport League Spring in 2019, earning $10,708.[21] This event was the first 1st-place finish since Adrenaline Cyber League 2017, which was won by the original roster.[22] In December 2019, Virtus.pro announced that they have completed the signing of the AVANGAR roster, benching the Polish roster.[23]
In May 2020, Virtus.pro acquired "YEKINDAR" from pro100 as "buster" steps down from the starting lineup. Additionally, "Flatra" joined as an assistant coach.[24]
The roster competed under the name Outsiders from early March 2022, following several tournament organizers banning esports teams suspected to have ties to the Russian government.[25] Under the Outsiders tag the team won IEM Rio Major 2022, beating Heroic in the final. On 22 March 2023, tournament organizers ESL and BLAST lifted the ban on Virtus.pro.[6]
On December 17, 2023, Virtus.pro defeated Apeks at ESL Challenger Atlanta 2023,[26] where Pyotr "fame" Bolyshev was awarded his first ever HLTV MVP award.[27] Their victory at the event qualified the roster for ESL Pro League Season 19.
Despite being second place on 2018-2019 Dota Pro Circuit season and one of the favorites to win The International 2019, Virtus.pro got knocked out of the tournament by Royal Never Give Up, ending their journey with a 9th-12th place.[30] After the disappointing run, the roster was rebuilt, with Ramzes and 9pasha left the team after staying with the team for almost three years.
On 1 April 2020, Virtus.pro announced its second Dota 2 lineup: VP.Prodigy.[31] On 17 May 2020, VP.Prodigy's youth squad defeated Virtus.pro to win the Epic Prime League.[citation needed] In July 2020, Virtus.pro, the Russian cybersporting organization, ranked among the top 3 in Europe and the CIS in terms of prize money, percentage of wins and tournament placements during the quarantine period.[citation needed] On 5 November, a new roster is announced consisting of the current VP.Prodigy's roster,[32] leading to impressive results in the Dota Pro Circuit regional leagues in 2021.
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Virtus.pro roster played under the 'Outsiders' temporary tag to avoid ESL's ban on Russian esports organisations.[33] During a qualifying match leading up to ESL One Stockholm Major, player Ivan "Pure" Moskalenko drew a Z sign on the minimap, which was widely interpreted as expressing support for Russian invasion of Ukraine, a claim which Moskalenko later denied.[34]
In response, Virtus.pro terminated its contract with Moskalenko, while tournament organisers, Beyond the Summit, in consultation with Valve, disqualified the team from the competition, issuing a retroactive forfeit for every match the team played.[34] On 3 May 2023, the Virtus.pro cybersports organization announced that Sergey "G" Bragin has returned to the club as a Dota 2 lineup coach. Timur "Ahilles" Kulmukhambetov will shift to the position of lineup analyst instead of the coaching position.[citation needed]
Virtus.pro launched a EFT: Arena roster on 5th of December, 2023.[37] The team finished second in the first-ever EFT: Arena tournament, DreamHack Hannover[38].
On 19 July 2018, Virtus.pro opened a division of Fortnite, the first players in the new discipline were Arthur "7ssk7" Kurshin and Jamal "Jamside" Saydayev. On 21 September 2018, Dmitry "HURMA" Heins and Seid-Magomed "FiveSkill" Edilgireev joined the organization. On 16 October 2019, "FiveSkill" and "HURMA" leave the team.[39] On 29 April 2021, VP announced their decision to temporarily leave the discipline.
League of Legends
On 28 June 2014, Virtus.pro acquired the roster of Dragon Team. Soon the team disbands, but in November 2016 Virtus.pro re-opened its LoL division and acquired the LCL Spot of Vaevictis Syndicate.[40] On 19 September 2017, the organization closed its League of Legends department.
Starcraft 2
On 1 July 2014, Virtus.pro announced that they closed the StarCraft II section of their organization and that they would now focus on League of Legends instead.
Artifact
21 June 2018, long before the official release of the game, Virtus.pro announced its first player in the discipline, a former Hearthstone player Maria "Harleen" Kobzar. On 23 November 2018, Artem "DrHippi" Kravets, who previously defended the colors of Virtus.pro in Hearthstone, and Olzhas "Naiman" Batyrbekov joined the team.[41] 29 November 2018 Artifact was released on sale. 27 February 2019 "DrHippi" and "Harleen" left the team. On 10 September "Naiman" retires and Virtus.pro leaves Artifact.[42]
