So, Virtus.pro kicked Jame, and for some reason, everyone seems to be happy about it.
Look, we get it, it’s always easy to blame the IGL or the coach. It’s something that happens time and time again. They’re meant to be the brains behind the system, the people who go out there and make sure the guns are facing in the right direction, so if they’re not doing so, how can it not be their fault?
It’s an easy assumption to make, and it’s likely why fans, experts, and players themselves all make the decision, but this time it’s a mistake – and we’re about to tell you why.
A lack of soldiers
Let’s move away from Jame a second and consider cadiaN, starting with the time he spent on HEROIC.
HEROIC’s system under cadiaN was known for being chaotic. They pressured points on the map as a unit to gain map control or information, a proactive style of play that became meta for how to effectively play aggressive on the CT side.
But, despite that perceived chaos, cadiaN’s system was clearly very structured. It wasn’t hard to figure out the roles of each member of the team, and it was clearly defined across every map they played.
Now consider the failed move to Liquid. What changed? Of course, the system did somewhat, but why? It was because of the lack of soldiers.
Systems such as cadiaN’s, or, as we’ll come to discuss, Jame’s, thrive off the inclusion of soldiers. Selfless players who are not overcome by ego or a desire to look better on a statistical metric, players who will sacrifice for the good of their teammate and the overall goal, players who will shut up and get the job done.
Those players were absent for cadiaN on Liquid, and he failed. The same happened to Jame on Virtus.pro and just look at the outcome.
On HEROIC, cadiaN had two soldiers in TeSeS and sjuush. Jame used to have that, but he lost that when Qikert was booted in favour of mir. A move that aimed to bring in more consistent results through greater firepower, it never quite worked out, but the excuse was that mir just wasn’t suited to the roles or system he played in.
Of course, when mir was benched following the PGL Major Copenhagen earlier this year, VP then thought the answer was to bring in electroNic, and why wouldn’t they? A Major winner, regarded as one of the best rifles in Counter-Strike history, and an experienced fragger, it’s a no-brainer, right? Wrong.
Signing electroNic was a huge mistake, and the opposite of what they should have done. Not only is he clearly past his best, it was VP doubling down on the real mistake that they made with mir, and it wasn’t going to suddenly not be a mistake just because electroNic is a better player.
Undermining the captain
From the very start of electroNic’s time on Virtus.pro, there was plenty of questions asked to Jame and the former NAVI man about the system and the captaincy.
Those questions, as much as they were designed to be headline-bait, ended up getting good answers for anyone who asked them. But that’s the worrying part.
From the start, it was clear that the idea had been baked into everyone that the system was no longer effective, that it needed to adapt to fit their new man, and in terms of electroNic taking the reins in order to ensure that came to pass, it didn’t entirely seem to have been ruled out either.
If that didn’t worry you for the future back then, we can assure you it worried us.
It’s never good when an IGL is being undermined on a team, and it almost always spells the end, especially when the person doing the undermining has also been an IGL in the past.
The worst part is the adaptations that were made to the system. We constantly see statements that Jame’s system wouldn’t work in CS2 due to MR12, but how can we really know?
Given when Qikert left the team in August 2023, when have we really ever seen a non-bastardised version of Jame’s system in CS2? We certainly haven’t since electroNic arrived.
Are the people willing to say that it won’t work in CS2 also willing to say that Jame won’t immediately make his next team better? We’re willing to bet they’re not, but that doesn’t quite make sense, does it?
Misconceptions
The final element we feel we need to talk about in regard to Jame’s benching are misconceptions.
Or rather, the one misconception that Virtus.pro were consistently that good. They weren’t.
People seem to believe that Virtus.pro were typically title contenders, and we’re not really sure where that came from. Maybe it’s down to an increase in expectation due to a dark horse Major win, but suddenly there was this misconception that VP had ever been more than a top eight team.
It’s that change in expectation that probably led to the downfall of the team. Expectations changing is what would have led the team to look for results through a firepower increase, expectations changing is what would have led to VP sacrificing what made them so good.
VP may have only been a top eight team, but their run at the IEM Rio Major proved something: When they are on, their system is near impossible to beat.
The foundational idea that any future moves should have been based upon was Jame’s system, but for some reason, it wasn’t, and that cost one of the game’s greatest leaders dearly.
Ultimately, we think that it will cost Virtus.pro dearly, too.
Images credits: Esports World Cup, PGL, ESL.
Cover image: ESL.
