The esports association, Virtus.pro (VP) was established in Russia. Players compete in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, Rainbow Six Siege, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Fortnite, Apex Legends, Starcraft II, Hearthstone, Paladins, Quake Champions, and Heroes Of The Storm for the organization, which was founded in 2003. Alisher Usmanov’s USM Holdings invested more than $100 million in the squad in November 2015.
Virtus.pro has been a part of the ESforce esports holding since 2015.
Virtus.pro’s Dota 2 squad has competed in many Majors, winning five of them (tied with Team Secret) and claiming the most incredible Dota Pro Circuit first-season team. The LCL Spring 2017 was won by their League of Legends squad.
VP’s previous Polish Counter-Strike: Global Offensive squad is regarded as one of the finest in the game’s history, having won the EMS One Katowice 2014 Major and numerous other prestigious events.
Current divisions
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
History
Virtus.pro signed AGAiN, Jarosaw “pashaBiceps” Jarzbkowski, Janusz “Snax” Pogorzelski, Pawe “byali” Bieliski, and Golden Five players Wiktor “TaZ” Wojtas and Filip “Neo” Kubski on January 25, 2014. In the finals, Virtus.pro defeated Ninjas in Pyjamas to win EMS One Katowice 2014. After that, the squad finished 5–8 at ESL One Cologne 2014. In April 2015, Virtus.pro took first place in ESEA. In July 2014, the team defeated Natus Vincere to win CEVO Season 7.
In October 2015, Virtus. pro and a dozen other esports teams joined an esports team trade union.
In 2016, Virtus.pro advanced to the MLG Columbus quarterfinals after defeating G2 Esports 2–0 in a best-of-three match. The squad then went on to win $390,000 in the inaugural ELeague season. Virtus.pro re-signed the contract for another four years in December 2016. Virtus.pro finished second in the ELEAGUE Atlanta major in 2017, receiving $150,000. They also won the DreamHack Masters – Las Vegas 2017 tournament, collecting $200,000. Virtus.pro came in second place at EPICENTER 2017 and won $100,000.
Due to poor results, Virtus.pro’s CS: GO lineup was suspended on December 13, 2018. Micha “snatchie” Rudzki, Micha “MICHU” Müller, and Mateusz “TOAO” Zawistowski were later added to the roster, with previous members Janusz “Snax” Pogorzelski and Pawe “byali” Bieliski returning to active service.
In 2019, “Vegi” replaced “Toao” in the active squad, while “Snax” took over the IGL role. Pawe “byali” Bieliski opted to quit Virtus.pro. Okoliciouz has replaced Byali as VP. Virtus.pro chose to put certain players through their paces, benching Micha “Okoliciouz” Gowaty, who had a brief stint on the VP roster, and replacing him with Tomasz “phr” Wójcik. In 2019, Virtus.pro won the Polish Esport League Spring, collecting $10,708.
This was the first first-place result since the original lineup won the Adrenaline Cyber League in 2017. Virtus.pro stated in December 2019 that they have completed the signing of the AVANGAR roster, thereby benching the Polish roster
As “buster” steps down from the beginning of the lineup, Virtus.pro acquired “YEKINDAR” from pro100 in May 2020. “Flatra” has also joined the team as an assistant coach. “AdreN” and VP parted ways on August 4.
Following many event organizers banning esports teams suspected of having links to the Russian government, the roster has competed under the moniker Outsiders since early March 2022.
Dota 2
History
Virtus.pro competed in The International 2014 and finished 5th-6th in 2015. After failing to qualify for The International 2016, Virtus.pro disbanded its team but quickly rebuilt. The team defeated The Summit 6 LAN event in November 2016, sweeping OG 3–0 in a best-of-five series. The International 2017 saw Virtus.pro finish 5th-6th. Virtus.pro has won the first major of the 2017-2018 Dota Pro Circuit season, ESL One Hamburg 2017. Virtus.pro won four majors in 2018, including ESL One Katowice 2018, The Bucharest Major, and ESL One Birmingham 2018, becoming the first team to win two ESL One majors. They won the first major of the new Dota Pro Circuit season, the Kuala Lumpur Major, in the 2018-2019 Dota Pro Circuit season.
Despite finishing second in the 2018-2019 Dota Pro Circuit season and being one of the favorites to win The International 2019, Virtus.pro was eliminated from the event by Royal Never Give Up, finishing 9th-12th. The roster was revamped following the poor run, with Ramzes and 9pasha departing after almost three years with the squad. RodjER was also benched, and ArsZeeqq was fired as the coach. Epileptick1d, Resolut1on, and Save- would take their place, with epileptick1d and Save- acting as stand-ins (they officially entered the team on November 23 and October 30, respectively).
Virtus.pro unveiled its second Dota 2 lineup, VP.Prodigy, on April 1, 2020. On November 5, a new lineup of the current VP.Prodigy team was unveiled, resulting in a strong performance in the Dota Pro Circuit regional leagues in 2021. In all of their first two seasons, Virtus Pro was the only team in any area to go 7–0.
To bypass ESL’s ban on Russian esports organizations following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Virtus.pro’s lineup played under the ‘Outsiders’ temporary tag. Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko drew a Z symbol on the minimap during a qualifying match for the ESL One Stockholm Major, which was widely misconstrued as showing support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a charge Moskalenko later refuted.
As a result, Moskalenko’s contract with Virtus.pro was terminated, and tournament organizers Beyond the Summit, in cooperation with Valve, banned the team from the competition, awarding a retroactive forfeit for every match the squad played.
Rainbow Six Siege
Virtus.pro joins the Rainbow Six scene on May 16, 2020, after purchasing the forZe Esports lineup. Pavel “Amision” Chebatkov, Pavel “P4sh4” Kosenko, Alan “Rask” Ali, Artyom “Shockwave” Simakov, Artyom “wTg” Simakov, Kerim “Toda” Musaev as coach, and Andrey “Adreezy” Bavian as analyst made up the initial lineup.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
Virtus.pro will sign the Northern Lights roster in PUBG PC on December 14, 2020. H1RUZEN was promoted to Coach, while Dyrem was promoted to Manager.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Mobile
Virtus.pro declared the blastoff of their PUBG Mobile team in March 2021, signing the NEW ERA roster.
Former divisions
Fortnite
On July 19, 2018, Virtus.pro launched a Fortnite section, with Arthur “7ssk7” Kurshin and Jamal “Jamside” Saydayev as the inaugural players. Dmitry “HURMA” Heins and Seid-Magomed “FiveSkill” Edilgireev joined the group on September 21, 2018. “FiveSkill” and “HURMA” will quit the squad on October 16, 2019. VP declared their decision to depart the discipline for the time being on April 29, 2021.
League of Legends
Virtus.pro acquired the Dragon Team lineup on June 28, 2014. The team disbanded soon after; however, Virtus.pro reopened its LoL division in November 2016 and purchased Vaevictis Syndicate’s LCL Spot. The organization’s League of Legends department was shut down on September 19, 2017.
Starcraft 2
Virtus.pro stated on July 1, 2014, that it would be closing its StarCraft II division and concentrating on League of Legends instead.
Artifact
Virtus.pro confirmed their first player in the discipline, a former Hearthstone player Maria “Harleen” Kobzar, on June 21, 2018, even before the game’s official release. Artem “DrHippi” Kravets, who formerly represented Virtus.pro in Hearthstone, and Olzhas “Naiman” Batyrbekov joined the squad on November 23, 2018. Artifact went on sale on November 29, 2018. “DrHippi” and “Harleen” quit the team on February 27, 2019. “Naiman” quit on September 10, and Virtus.pro departed Artifact.
