Armenian-Russian esports organization Virtus.pro has announced the decision to withdraw their CS:GO roster from Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2023.The decision comes after a disastrous showing for the reigning Major champions at the BLAST.tv Paris Major Europe RMR A, with the team failing to make CS:GO’s final Major after a 1-3 showing in the swiss stage.
Virtus.pro’s run in the RMR included the much-criticized decision to sub in David ‘n0rb3r7’ Daniyelyan in for Aleksandr ‘KaiR0N-‘ Anashkin ahead of the team’s match against MOUZ, despite the latter player’s performance in preceding matches.
“We believe that in the current shape, participation in the tournament will not bring satisfaction to either the team or the fans. Therefore, we are committing to enhanced training,” noted Virtus.pro’s statement.
In Virtus.pro’s stead, ESL have announced the decision to invite hometown heroes Imperial Esports, with Imperial taking over VP’s spot in the bracket.
Virtus.pro CS:GO squad is now:
- Aleksei “Qikert” Golubev
- Dzhami “Jame” Ali (in-game leader)
- Evgeniy “FL1T” Lebedev
- Aleksandr “KaiR0N-” Anashkin
- Dastan “dastan” Aqbaev (coach)
