New Virtus.pro superteam: Why electroNic makes them dangerous
Virtus.pro rocked the Counter-Strike world when they announced the surprise signing of electroNic from Cloud9.
electroNic, who won a Major with NAVI, only signed for Cloud9 in July 2023, and arrives at VP as the highest-profile player that the organisation has had playing for them since the likes of NEO and Snax.
The move makes Virtus.pro a terrifying prospect for other teams. They're already an elite unit with the experience of winning a Major, and now they have added a superstar player to their ranks.
To make matters worse for those other teams, electroNic is also a perfect fit to fill the shoes tactically of the man he is replacing.
Here's why.
Photo: Stephanie LindgrenThe perfect fit
mir, the player electroNic is replacing, was once one of the hottest prospects in Eastern Europe.
A rifler who used to take over games for Spirit, he had a spell in the wilderness, but he appeared to have found an easy route back to the top when he signed for VP last year.
Unfortunately for him, it was a move that never quite panned out as initially hoped. Undoubtedly an improvement on Qikert, he lacked the cutting edge that he was brought in to provide and ultimately failed to make Virtus.pro into the contender that they had hoped he would.
Photo: Michal KonkolAlthough mir didn't take up too many resources on the team, he still took up enough that VP could no longer justify his presence.
He's a fairly passive player, a roamer who prefers to trade rather than be the one going in first. This is fine, and it worked tactically with Virtus.pro's other riflers, but given his 0.97 T side HLTV rating, it wasn't good enough for the roles he possessed.
The same rating trouble was present on the CT side, too.
Given that he had roles such as Connector on Mirage and Middle on Ancient and Anubis, a 1.00 HLTV rating is not the greatest. These are roles typically held by stars, and electroNic has been playing them for a while.
If we compare ratings for each side for mir and electroNic, the new signing is a huge upgrade on the man he is replacing.
His 1.09 rating on the CT side isn't spectacular, but it's a big enough leap to win a few extra rounds. The T side is the bigger change; however, electroNic's huge leap to 1.16 is sure to already excite Jame.
A legendary leader
On the topic of Jame, the AWPer may now be the most underappreciated in-game leader in Counter-Strike's history.
He has guided his teams to two Major finals, winning one, and manages to do so while playing a completely unique brand of Counter-Strike and putting up star numbers on the AWP.
You can argue that as an AWP IGL he is still second to FalleN, but the debate is far closer than the nostalgic casual would have you believe.
This is why we also have faith that any issues that may arise from electroNic's differences to mir won't matter.
Photo: Michal KonkolAs we said earlier, mir is typically a passive player. The same can not be said for electroNic. The Major winner is far more aggressive and far happier to also go in first and be the man looking for the entry for his team.
This role has typically been attributed to FL1T on Virtus.pro, and he may now have to relax a little in order to get the most out of electroNic.
The same can be said for electroNic's voice in a team too. The Russian spent a year of his career as an IGL on both NAVI and Cloud9, he has now given that up, but the desire to have a voice isn't one that goes away easily.
Jame runs a tight ship, one that limits individual freedom in ways that other teams, such as FaZe may not. Too many cooks would ruin that, and that's something he'll have to keep a lid on if he hopes to fully integrate electroNic into his system.
However, as we said, we aren't worried. electroNic has already praised Jame heavily for his abilities as an IGL, and he wouldn't have chosen to team up with him if he wasn't willing to integrate into his system.
Photo: Michal KonkolHeadshots galore
Ultimately, Counter-Strike is a game about killing your opponents before they kill you. Sure, there are bombsites and bomb plants to consider, but if you're getting outgunned, you're most likely getting outmatched.
Virtus.pro already had a solid star trio in FL1T, fame, and Jame, as well as a competent fourth piece in n0rb3r7. mir was disappointing given his form earlier on in his career, but electroNic won't be.
He may no longer be at the peak of his career, and he may have slowed down from the form he displayed in the opening months of CS2, but he is still a top-calibre rifler.
Virtus.pro adding another top calibre to their team is a scary prospect that makes them incredibly dangerous.
When we look at the teams at the top, we often talk about firepower above all. Vitality were so strong last year because of ZywOo and Spinx, Spirit this year have donk and sh1ro, FaZe are consistently strong because of ropz, frozen, and broky, NAVI's Major win was due to their own star trio firing on all cylinders.
Photo: Stephanie LindgrenVirtus.pro now have a unit of players capable of matching any of these teams on any given day, and they will surely be catapulted upwards as a result.
In the past, for all of their shining moments, Virtus,pro have also had low lows.
The year to date is a perfect example of this, they made light work of BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2024, but have since struggled at IEM Katowice 2024 and the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024.
This has always been the way of Virtus.pro, but with the addition of electroNic, it should serve as a turning point where we now always consider them a favourite for playoff appearances and even trophy victories.
They have a suffocating playstyle, and now they have the firepower to abuse any team the like.
It's Jame's world, and we're all just living in it.