With a new all-star roster which was formed after The International 3, on paper Virtus.Pro looked stronger than any squad to assemble under the banner since the days of Wc3 DotA. Nevertheless, results failed to materialize as the different big name players were unable to find the common ground inside the game that they would have needed, which meant that just shy of two weeks ago VP released Artur 'Goblak' Kostenko and Roman 'Resolut1on' Fominok and proceeded to re-acquire their former player – Sergey 'Ars-Art' Revin (a.k.a. Smile), who had been let go during the final stages of the formation of the post-TI3 roster.
With the recent changes in the Virtus.Pro line up we are left to wonder who will be the final player for the old-school Russian e-Sports organisation. In this article we will examine the potential agents available for hire in the CIS DOTA 2 scene.
Virtus.Pro roster:
Yaroslav 'NS' Kuznetsov
Dmitriy 'LighTofHeaveN' Kupriyanov
Sergey 'Ars-Art' Revin
Sergey 'GoD' Bragin
Understanding the predicament
For a lot of people, it may seem obvious what Virtus.Pro is lacking, but as you look into the past of the players on the team and see the diverse backgrounds of certain individuals, it becomes clear that some more thought should go into figuring out which position the bears will be looking to fill before we move on to the candidates.
The most obvious signal received as part of the most recent playerchange was that VP let Resolut1on go even as they did not have a replacement yet. This indicates that GoD will be keeping to his solo mid role rather than looking to change things up and go to the carry role which he had originally been intended to take when Resolut1on was brought in to the roster. For a pure solo mid, outside of GoD and Danil 'Dendi' Ishutin, Resolut1on was the best the CIS had to offer right now, and no other possible solo mid player is likely to be able to convince GoD to change his role now.
Now when it comes to LighTofHeaveN, his time in Na`Vi slowly meant that he became synonymous with the offlane position, but this does not do him justice as a player. Once considered the most versatile player in Western DotA, Virtus.Pro has so far seen him try out the carry role as well, a return to his very roots as one of the original carry players who transformed the role back in the day. The choice between the carry and offlane position for Big Brother Light seems the most likely swing decision for VP as they look for a new player, but there is one other factor at play.
While NS is a very straight forward support player, his partner in crime of the past six months, Ars-Art, is not quite as clear. It's easy to look at the past two years and conclude that Smile is your average roaming support player, but you only have to go back to the first International and Moscow 5 to find him playing a core role, spending most of his time rotating between solo mid and safelane carry together with GoD. Further more, when the rebuilding process was going on post-TI3, the intent was to have Ars-Art play a core role as Goblak joined the team, but this was scrapped because some of the others did not want to wait for him to be acclimatized into this position again. More to the point, during his brief stint in The Retry, Ars-Art was playing a carry role while since returning to VP in their match against Team Empire, he took up the offlane position while LighTofHeaveN played the hard carry role.
And what if Ars-Art does take up the offlane role? At this point it seems only right to remind people that LighTofHeaveN played the support role for Na`Vi during the first International, and it's not out of the question that he may swap roles with Ars-Art down the line. In fact, when Light first joined Empire after his contract with Na`Vi expired, he offered to return to the support role. Now this is likely a long shot since if it indeed was the move they were looking to make they would probably have been playing with this composition in their recent matches, but this doesn't seem to be the case.
Eliminating suspects
Since we now have a rough idea what Virtus.Pro might be looking for, we can look over some of the players who's names have come up in this discussion, starting with those who we likely can cross off the list. These players are for various reasons unlikely to be a part of the future Virtus.Pro roster:
DreadiSbaCk
Even though Andrey 'Dread' Golubev announced his departure from the professional DOTA 2 scene as a player, he is still considered by some to be able to seize the opportunity if it comes by, in the form of a solid team with a recognised sponsor. He wouldn't be the first to be lured back, as other current players such as Goblak and ZSMJ have forged careers post retirement, while players like Artystyle and M. Admiration have come and gone again, proving the fluidity of the boundary between retirement and active play.
Dread might be an interesting player for the team as he has played together on teams with each of the current roster in the past, most notably spending a long time from The International and Moscow 5 until Darer on the same team with NS and GoD. Dread is also versatile and can fit both the offlane or the support role which VP might look to fill, and can deliver in both roles. He can also provide the squad with leadership and direction, as in fact he was the captain of Garaj Gaming back when it consisted of these four players now under VP's banner, before Light was bought by Na`Vi. There's a lot to like about Dread, which is why he is always one to be considered when a team is lacking a strong player. He has even joked about nostalgia regarding his playing days in a recent interview with Na`Vi during StarLadder.
However, there are several reasons why it is unlikely that Dread would join Virtus.Pro. For one, he was already on the team, as the captain of the Virtus.Pro squad which brought the organization into Dota 2 with NS, Kuroky, Azen and Santa on the roster. Dreads removal before the TI 2 Qualifiers was a slap in the face and lead to his exit from the scene for while, until returning with Netolic and then RoX.KIS, which lead to his official retirement. NS is well known for burning bridges and this is one bridge that likely has not been repaired in the time since, making it a central point of conflict that needs to be overcome if Dread were to rejoin his old teammates under the VP banner.
And of course Dread is now a successful streamer, who has also started co-casting for StarLadder and SLTV. Many organizations will ask for a percent of the streaming revenue of players, which is why big name streamers often think twice about deals offered to them. At the same time, financially Dread is likely better off now than if he were to return to playing even with a fairly good salary, which means that it would have to be motivated by a belief that the team can achieve great results. In his recent interview, given during the IGROMIR expo in Moscow (which he attended along with V1lat, Casperrr), he stated that at the moment he was completely satisfied with his casting career. The final nail in the coffin is that he has been streaming during a recent game in which the new VP played with an unknown stand-in, indicating that if he is a candidate, he at least is not the only candidate to fill the spot.
ArtStyle
The legendary Ivan 'ArtStyle' Antonov a.k.a. 'Ivan-Balanar' is another name that crops up with regular intervals. He has at various times played with all of the members of the current VP lineup except Ars-Art and is said to have been one of the few to ever truly command the respect of LighTofHeaveN as a captain. He is an experienced player and was once considered a strategic genius. His primary role is that of the hard carry, but is also famous for playing heroes such as Enchantress and Doom, which currently are both popular jungling heroes, and might make him open to taking on a supporting role in the team.
On the other hand, Artstyle's form when he has made stints into Dota 2 has been all over the place. His attempts at supporting during the second Darer roster quickly caused him to move back to the carry position, which speaks against the likelihood of him as VP's recent mystery stand-in. And speaking of Darer, the first version of that roster in fact included NS, who left it alongside Dread after a fairly successful early run, due to disagreements with Artstyle.
Specifically, Artstyle was unhappy with the level of play of Dread and partially NS, and NS and Dread were unhappy with how Artstyle was playing after such a long retirement. Yet again, this is a bridge which by all accounts has never been repaired, and for all that Light might be willing to play with Artstyle, it's highly unlikely that the rest of the team would agree to it.
BzzIsPerfect
Even though Stanislav 'BzzIsPerfect' Glushan is not a free agent, as he is currently playing for Rox.Kis, the fact that he stood in for VP during a slew of games before Goblak's ultimate departure from the team does indicate that the team might have at one time had an interest in the promising young carry player and captain. The CIS is unstable, and a team such as RoX.KIS which lacks an official five man roster can provide easy pickings when a team such as VP comes calling. If it's a carry player VP wants, Bzz is certainly one of the top candidates.
However, as noted earlier, recently it seems as if VP has been looking for a support player instead of a carry. RoX.KIS is also looking more like a stable team again with Solo returning as support and having the sanctions against him lifted. More than anything in this case it is a buyers market and it might be that Bzz just isn't what VP has in mind. If we start to see games with Ars-Art or LighTofHeaveN moving back to support duties, it will be time to look closer at Bzz again. Until then, Bzz might be perfect, but for this job his status has to be downgraded to unlikely.
Everyone from old Virtus.Pro
Sergey 'kSi' Kuzin. Oleg 'Crazy' Kolesnichenko. Ilya 'Illidan' Pevcaev. All of these players are more than likely out of the question, even if some such as kSi were to fit the role to some extent. As many realized, there was something not quite right about the old Virtus.Pro. They would function at times fairly well online, but each time when they needed to prove themselves on LAN, something didn't seem to work out as it should. Something just never seemed to click.
The truth is that while outside of the game the players got along well enough, inside the game and especially during LAN events where they were inclined to interact to a greater degree, they would start arguing with each other about various actions within the game. While NS and Ars-Art were of one mind and saw the game in a certain way, the rest of the team collided badly with them, which was at the root of why these three players were let go soon after TI 3. These issues are too fresh in mind for Virtus.Pro to be likely to welcome any of these players back into the fold.
The list of candidates
These players all have something going for them which makes them part of the discussion as we consider who might be the likely fifth that Virtus.Pro is looking for. Each of these players yet have some detracting qualities which means it's near impossible to say that any given person is a favourite, but if VP is to go for an established name, these are some of the most likely candidates.
Admiration
Moments after this article was published Virtus.Pro announced that they'd have some news about their coming fifth player, and within the hour, Igor 'M.Admiration' Kalnysh was announced as their stand-in for now. While the final decision is set to be made by November 1st, his initial omission from this list merits some explaining.
Up until their game on Tuesday against Empire, Admir would have gone on the list, but only as a long shot. He is a top notch carry player, an alumni of the legendary Virtus.Pro of yonder days, he was the most consistent of the TI 2 Moscow 5 squad when he returned to Dota 2 and he was such a hard working player that he, along with Vigoss, was the core that M5 management wanted to rebuild the team around after PGG was let go.
But Admir walked away from that offer, just as he walked away from an at the time considerable offer from Absolute Legends to form a team together with Vigoss and GoD. He has since then disappeared entirely off the radar of the Dota community. No small time teams for fun, no stand-in appearances, nothing. It seemed as if Admir had retired for a second time, having lost hope of making a proper living from playing the game.
Still, Virtus.Pro have now shown that they have the resources and the lineup to coax him out of retirement once more, and it is a highly exciting choice. He has a past with all the players on the team and should be able to find common ground easily. He has the work ethic as said, and even though his heropool slightly overlaps with GoD given his propensity to play either carry or mid, it's something they'll be able to work around. The addition of Admir to the list likely makes all other carry players obsolete.
If negotiations do pan out and the team is happy with their results in scrims, this could be just what they are looking for in creating a true powerhouse for the upcoming year.
Vigoss
Not much is known about the current plans of the old-school DotA legend Ivan 'Vigoss' Shinkarev. Since his release from Team Empire in order to make way for LighTofHeaveN, he has been spotted only sporadically, although on occasion when he has surfaced, he has shown that he is still very capable of taking over games from the mid position, regardless of what his performance in Empire might have implied. With the game moving more and more towards ganking, what better time for the legendary ganker to return home to Virtus.Pro, his first major organization which he represented from 2006 until 2008?
Speaking against Vigoss as the person likely to join the squad is the fact that he is primarily known as a solo mid player, a role which we've earlier concluded is almost certainly not up for grabs in this team. The only other role which he may fit into is that of support, which he played mostly excellently for Moscow 5 up until TI 2, even as the team crumbled around him. The inclusion of a Vigoss at his very best would perhaps be just the kind of catalyst which might cause VP to move Ars-Art to the offlane in order to free up the only other spot he is comfortable with for the V-god.
However, there are some notable detractions concerning Vigoss as a player. He is oldschool, coming from days when voice communications were far from standard, and this marks his interactions within the game. Vigoss does not speak, he believes that using pings should be sufficient for most cases. Whether this is enough in modern Dota 2 is hard to say, but it is clear that he would need players around him who know him well, something which is only half fulfilled with the new VP squad. Vigoss is also famous for being flakey, with stories abounding of his disappearance during LAN events or for stretches of time in between events. Given the goals of this team, it is unclear if they would be willing to take a risk on such a problematic player, even if he is a titular god.
Blowyourbrain
Vladislav 'blowyourbrain' Morozyuk was officially released from Team Empire at the beginning of September, moving on to play for PGG's The Retry, same as Ars-Art. Given the nature of The Retry as a farm team of the CIS, he can be considered freely available if Virtus.Pro were to call on him. He is best known as a carry player for his time with Empire, but before the iconic late 2012 Empire lineup, he was also seen making some big players on support, playing heroes such as Crystal Maiden, although this was his one and only outing as a support player to date. blowa is also a former Virtus.Pro player, having played with NS and LighTofHeaveN under their banner back in the day.
There aren't many clear detracting factors for blowyourbrain joining the roster, although it does seem odd that he would switch to the role of a support player, especially as he hasn't been seen playing this role for The Retry either. There are also mixed opinions regarding his skills as a carry player, as while he is famous for playing certain heroes such as Undying, he's generally considered good but not great on most heroes he plays. In many ways he fit well with Empire's tendency to run him as a aggressive trilane carry, leaving more space for Funn1k to do the actual heavy lifting in most games. Either way, blowa can't be ruled out at this time.
VANSKOR
Ivan 'VANSKOR' Skorokhod is without a doubt the rising star among CIS supports. Since his first LAN appearance with RoX.KIS back at EMS One, he's been impressing people left and right playing a spectacular Chen and Rubick as well as some less common heroes such as the support Silencer. An ambitious young gamer, Vanskor is known for his serious attitude towards training and discipline, which meant that it was no surprise when Team Empire picked him up for their rebuilt roster.
Given Empire's great recent results, it's not exactly obvious why anyone would want to leave the team for the trainwreck that has been Virtus.Pro since their reformation. Empire are already the second best team in the CIS region and look poised to hold this position. They might even have it in them to challenge for third best team in the West in the long run. Why would any player give this up? Well, because if all the players of Virtus.Pro were to come together and find themselves back to their former peak levels of play, it's a team that could and should compete for the best team in the world. It's a gamble, and so the question becomes, how much of a gambler is VANSKOR?
As it turns out, likely not much of a gambler. During a recent interview during the StarLadder LAN Finals VANSKOR emphasised that he is happy that the current Team Empire roster does not have any so called "star players", as "with great fame, often comes a great ego". Bearing those words in mind, it is quite unlikely that he would want to move from a successful Team Empire which has a bright future ahead of them to a "super star" roster of Virtus.Pro. Still, it would be surprising if VP had not made him an offer, if they indeed are looking for a support player.
Fallback positions
While it is likely that Virtus.Pro will try to make things work with one of the bigger names on the list, there's a good chance that if those negotiations fall through or if they don't see satisfactory results in scrims with a given player, that these are the players they would look to as secondary choices. These are somewhat established, young support players, who may have in them what it takes to be molded into what VP is looking for. It might even be a positive choice to which the VP players are well disposed, as LighTofHeaveN has spoken on a number of occasions about the worth of young talented players and as NS took a chance on three talented "unknowns" with the previous VP roster, even if that did not work out entirely towards the end. Oh and one veteran offlaner, for good measure.
Vladimir 'yol' Basov
Currently playing for RoX.KIS since January of 2013, he is by far the most accomplished of these players and would be both a capable lane support as well as jungler, with Enchantress and Chen both being part of his repertoire. He may also be the least available of the fallback choices, as RoX.KIS is showing some form of late and looks to be close to solving their roster instabilities.
However, during a recent streaming session Nexus was playing with RoX.KIS player Solo, who unaware of the fact that Nexus was streaming spoke out against yol, saying that he was "unskilled" and always had bad ideas, if he had any ideas at all. yol fired back during a later interview streamed by Dread aiming some choice words of his own at Solo. This conflict might cause yol to be more likely to leave if given the option, even if Solo has since made broad stroke apologies for all his past actions in other interviews.
Oleg 'wejustzik' Zinovenko
Along with BzzIsPerfect, wejustzik was one of the players who stood in for Virtus.Pro during their final gasps with Goblak in the ESWC qualifiers. He has previously shown off his abilities with iCCup and since the dissolution of the team has been playing with Terrible Terrible Damage along with some of the former iCCup players. He is a straight forward support player with no other great obligations, which makes him a decent replacement if Virtus.Pro needs another support player. It is also likely that he was in fact the stand-in for VP against Empire in at least one of the games.
Kirill 'Sunlight' Kachinsky
Former Power Rangers and Devil Mice support player who for a long time was a stand-in for Team Empire while LighTofHeaveN was still with them. He was expected to be confirmed as part of the new Team Empire all the while until at the last minute they instead added Andrey 'alwayswannafly' Bondarenko. He has also played as a stand-in for Virtus.Pro in a match against RoX.KIS almost a month ago, playing the Bane, one of the heroes played by VP's mystery stand-in earlier this week.
Alexander 'Santa' Koltan
Santa is a veteran offlane player who has at various points in time played with all of the players on the current Virtus.Pro roster, most notably being another part of Garaj Gaming and Moscow 5, sticking with NS through Darer and into Virtus.Pro. Their co-operation ended during early 2013 when he was removed from VP in order to make room for Ars-Art, with NS citing poor performance as the reason behind his removal.
Santa is well known for being a fairly limited player, an offlaner who only plays a handful of heroes at a competitive level. His performances have also fluctuated greatly from time to time, in part due to issues pertaining to the party lifestyle which isn't uncommon among CIS players, although he has made efforts to kick these habits in more recent times. He is generally considered a jovial guy, but the detracting circumstances are quite damning.
So why is he on the list then, if he's such a bad fit? He doesn't even play support! Well, as it happens he has been stacking with members of Virtus.Pro during the past few weeks, which has lead to speculation that more might be going on. It could be the team has decided to give him a chance as a support player and he is the mystery player we've seen, or it could be he is one of a number of people trying out, in which case Ars-Art would likely move back to the support role if Santa were chosen. Either way, while it would be an odd choice, it would not be surprising to see Santa return to Virtus.Pro.
Loading poll...
