Virtus Pro Secures Spot at The International 2023
Virtus Pro has qualified for Dota 2’s The International after a successful run in the Eastern European last-chance qualifier. They defeated One Move to secure their ticket to Seattle.
The ancient organization is making a comeback to the pinnacle of Dota 2 after missing out on last year’s iteration in Singapore. VP fell just one game short in the lower bracket final against Team Liquid. However, this time, they refused to let their Eastern European peers get the best of them.
The squad effortlessly swept through the CIS bracket, defeating Matreshka, NAVI, and One Move twice, to secure their eighth appearance at The International. However, expectations for the team aren’t as high as in previous years.
VP’s performance this year has been underwhelming, to say the least. They finished fourth in all three Dota Pro Circuit seasons, missing out on spots for each major tournament. In fact, the team didn’t attend a single LAN event in 2023 until the Riyadh Masters in July, where they qualified based on ESL’s rankings.
Related: The biggest winners and losers from Dota 2’s Riyadh Masters 2023
Their offline return at the Saudi Arabian tournament didn’t impress, as they were eliminated in the play-in stage. They only managed to secure wins against Execration and TSM, both of which didn’t make a significant impact in the tournament.
In March, VP brought in veteran support player Artsiom “Fng” Barshak, who had previously played for large CIS teams like Gambit and Team Spirit. While his immediate impact didn’t change VP’s overall performance in the short term, his experience has helped the team secure a spot at TI once again.
Apart from Fng and offlaner Noticed, the young VP core has no previous experience on the TI stage. With the new format of the event this year, they will have fewer matches to leave their mark and advance further in the tournament.
This qualification comes at a challenging time for the Eastern European Dota community, as a whistleblower recently exposed a web of match-fixing in the region. Team Empire, one of the teams involved, did not participate in the last-chance qualifier due to struggles in Division Two.
Only two qualifiers are left before the final team list for TI 12 is determined. The Western Europe and Southeast Asia qualifiers will resume today and conclude this week.
Virtus Pro, Dota 2, The International, Eastern European, qualifier, Seattle, VP, CIS bracket, TI, LAN event, Riyadh Masters, veteran support, Fng, TI stage, match-fixing, Eastern European Dota, whistleblower, Team Empire, Western Europe, Southeast Asia.