8 months of turmoil cannot cease Virtus Professional from lastly returning to Dota 2’s greatest stage

Virtus Professional is returning to Dota 2’s The Worldwide after a profitable run by means of the Japanese European last-chance qualifier, defeating One Transfer to ebook their ticket to Seattle.

The traditional group returns to the top of Dota 2 after lacking 2022’s iteration in Singapore. VP fell one sport quick final 12 months, shedding to Workforce Liquid within the decrease bracket remaining, however this time they wouldn’t be letting their friends in EEU get the higher of them.

The squad swept their method by means of the CIS bracket with ease, dispatching Matreshka, NAVI, and One Transfer twice to make their eighth TI look. Nonetheless, expectations for the squad aren’t sky-high in comparison with earlier variations.

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VP’s 12 months has been lackluster thus far, to say the least. In all three Dota Professional Circuit seasons the squad completed fourth, shedding out on spots to every main in every circumstance. In actual fact, the squad hadn’t attended a single LAN in 2023 till Riyadh Masters arrived in July, with VP qualifying due to ESL’s rankings.

Associated: The biggest winners and losers from Dota 2’s Riyadh Masters 2023

They didn’t gentle the world on hearth of their offline return on the Saudi Arabian event, exiting within the play-in with their solely wins coming in opposition to Execration and TSM, each of which didn’t go away a mark on the event both.

VP turned to veteran support Artsiom “Fng” Barshak in March, who returned to the org after seven years at a few of the largest squads within the CIS sphere, together with Gambit and Workforce Spirit. Whereas his quick return did little to change VP’s efficiency within the quick time period, his expertise has helped see the squad fly the VP flag at TI as soon as extra.

Apart from Fng and offlaner Seen, the younger VP core has no expertise on the TI stage, and with the event’s new format kicking on this 12 months, they’ll have fewer matches to depart their mark and push additional into the tourney.

Their qualification comes amidst a darkish second for Japanese European Dota after a whistleblower came forward revealing a web of match-fixing on the area’s core. Workforce Empire, one such crew in query, was absent from the last-chance qualifier after struggles in Division Two.

Simply two qualifiers remain earlier than the crew record for TI 12 is ready, with Western Europe and Southeast Asia resuming at the moment and wrapping up this week.

Concerning the creator

Nicholas Taifalos

Aussie Editor for Dot Esports. Nick, higher often called Taffy, started his esports profession as a commentator, switching to journalism with a deal with Oceanic esports, significantly CS:GO and Dota. E mail: [email protected]

Author: Ronnie Neal