Virtus.pro has placed longtime player Dzhami ‘Jame’ Ali on the bench, as announced by the Russian organization on Wednesday. This decision follows the team’s lackluster season, which ended with an early exit during the Opening Stage at the Shanghai Major.
‘Jame’ has been part of Virtus.pro since December 2019, when the Russian organization took over the AVANGAR roster and decided to end its association with the Polish team.
He led Virtus.pro to triumph in Flashpoint 2 and cs_summit 7 during the online era. At the close of 2021, he took charge of Outsiders—a neutral identity after numerous tournament organizers excluded Virtus.pro due to their perceived connections with the Russian government—to secure the IEM Rio Major title in a surprising performance.
The Russian team struggled to meet expectations after the IEM Rio campaign. In 2023, Virtus.pro won three LAN trophies at tier-two events and reached finals at PARI Dunav Party and BetBoom Dacha. However, their performance declined in 2024, despite the high-profile signing of Denis ‘electroNic’ Sharipov in April.
The latter part of the season was quite chaotic for Virtus.pro. The team underwent two coaching changes — first replacing Dastan ‘dastan’ Akbayev with Andrey ‘Xoma’ Mironenko, and then elevating analyst Pavel ‘PASHANOJ’ Legostaev to the position of head coach — in an effort to finish the season on a high note.
Virtus.pro started their RMR journey with a surprising defeat against Passion UA but quickly recovered with wins over TSM, 9 Pandas, and Sashi. Their weaknesses were then exposed during the Opening Stage of the Major, where they ended up eliminated with a 1-3 record after losing to MIBR, BIG, and Wildcard.
A player who has been recognized twice in the HLTV Top 20, ‘Jame’ is currently considering offers to further his career.
Virtus.pro Announcement
Virtus.pro roster is as follows:
- Denis ‘electroNic’ Sharipov
- Evgenii ‘FL1T’ Lebedev
- David ‘n0rb3r7’ Danielyan
- Petr ‘fame’ Bolyshev
- Pavel ‘PASHANOJ’ Legostaev (coach)
- Dzhami ‘Jame’ Ali (benched)
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