Virtus.pro: Success is inevitable - Hugo's Spring Final predictions

Virtus.pro recently pulled off something rare in modern Counter-Strike: they made a roster change that wasn’t reported by any leaker beforehand - and what a signing it was.

The team brought in electroNic from Cloud9, an entirely unexpected deal that added a wealth of experience to their roster, as well as huge fragging potential.

However, for all the potential that electroNic and VP now possess, they have so far failed to unlock it, and as a result, Hugo views them as the seventh-best team coming into BLAST Premier Spring Final 2024.

On recent form it may be true, but as Jame’s team has proved time and time again; on their day, they are unstoppable.

Photo: Michal Konkol

The reasons for the struggle

Let’s face it, some fans don't enjoy Virtus.pro play Counter-Strike. We do, but we understand why others may be turned off by their style.

Some might say it's slow.

It’s methodical, built upon frustrating their opponents and grinding them down, creating a fear of the unknown based on not knowing whether FL1T, fame, Jame, or even n0rb3r7 are waiting around the corner or if they have already retreated to the site they are defending.

Their T sides are slow-paced, hoping to catch off CTs who slip up in their such for information or capitalise off lapses in concentration. It’s a style that requires their opponents to make no mistakes or risk a punishment that quickly sees them trailing a big lead.

Although electroNic may have played in slow-paced structures before, particularly on NAVI (We all miss you, Zeus), there’s nothing that can prepare someone for playing in Jame’s system. It is the end product of the way Astralis ‘perfected’ CS way back in 2018, a natural evolution of that style that the metaphorical Neanderthal could never hope to adapt to.

Photo: Michal Konkol

Some players would never be able to make that adaptation, it’s likely that it’s a reason as to why we saw the n0rb3r7 and KaiR0N- shuffles last year, but is it likely that electroNic would be one such player?

In his first event with the team, ESL Pro League Season 19, electroNic struggled as VP were eliminated in the quarter-finals; across the 18 maps he played in Malta, he recorded a 1.03 HLTV rating. Even more troubling was BetBoom Dacha Belgrade, where he recorded a 0.96 rating across eight maps as VP went out in 5th-6th place.

However, if his form with Cloud9 in the early days of CS2 is anything to go by, these numbers are bound to go up when electroNic becomes more accustomed to his new IGL’s unique style of calling.

We may even be getting a glimpse at the first signs of an upturn in form at IEM Dallas.

The Russian has only played four maps at the time of writing, one against HEROIC and three against FaZe, but he is the fifth highest-rated player after those four maps with a 1.41 rating. This will be a scary prospect for any team set to soon cross paths with VP.

Photo: Michal Konkol

Virtus.pro is just Counter-Strike’s answer to Thanos

Cast your mind back to November 2022.

At that time, the Counter-Strike world was enjoying its first Brazilian Major, IEM Rio 2022. It was an event full of shocks and upsets, but perhaps none were as great as Virtus.pro (ahem, Outsiders) taking home the trophy.

It was a run that angered the casuals, forced to watch peak-level Counter-Strike played by a team whose rhythm they couldn’t follow, especially when it made HEROIC’s far more exciting, high-tempo brand of CS crumble in the final.

While those casuals may have been displeased by the result, it only served to prove one thing to the Counter-Strike purists: Jame and Virtus.pro are inevitable.

If they unlock the power they have within their hands to hit headshots, there are very few teams in the world capable of stopping them.

Photo: Michal Konkol

Their style of play and their fragging potential are just too great when both are working in tandem. When they have truly integrated electroNic, they may also unlock the secret to making those two factors combine more consistently.

Virtus.pro may come into Spring Final as Hugo predicts, a vast underdog amidst the power of the FaZe, Spirit, and Astralis’ of the world. But there is also a scenario where Virtus.pro comes into the event as a force of nature, a team capable of sweeping all others aside like they are the greatest to ever do it.

The rest of us mere mortals are just going to have to wait and see which version we get.