Esports News: The fans who flocked to Hamburg witnessed Virtus.pro deservedly claim their first trophy of the season.
The annual ESL One German event was classified as a Major this time and alongside the solid $500,000 prize money, Virtus.pro added 750 Dota Pro Circuit points to their tally.
Making their way to the Finals
Virtus.pro started off with a comfortable best-of-one win against the Chinese qualifier Keen Gaming, who did not really trouble the more established CIS outfit.
The second test was a lot tougher though as Virtus.pro met TI 7 champions Team Liquid. In a close best-of-three series, they managed to edge them out 2-1. They did this even though Liquid were granted their favourite heroes and it proved to be a sign of things to come.
In the semifinals, Virtus.pro had to overcome the Chinese powerhouse Newbee, who had improved significantly on their Group Stage performances after finishing second in Group A. However, they were still no real match for the Russian team as they fell to a 2-1 defeat.
The Finals
It was another team who had beaten Team Liquid waiting in the Finals, Team Secret. Despite this impressive result, Virtus.pro cruised to a 2-0 victory over the European outfit to claim the tournament trophy. Indeed, they were in control in both games and even though Team Secret gave them a scare on a few occasions, an upset against the Russian powerhouse always seemed unlikely.
Virtus.pro dominated the laning stage at the start of the first game, with early rotations from Lil’s Enchantress in particular. This enabled them to gain a significant kill advantage. Team Secret got themselves in the mid game by winning a big team fight, but then Virtus.pro switched things around and started making successful ganks around the map, catching Team Secret out of position. No[o]ne’s Sniper was getting bigger and bigger and in the later stages of the game, Virtus.pro simply overwhelmed their opponents.
In game two, Team Secret decided to go with a split-pushing but greedy draft as counter to Virtus.pro’s gank heavy, high damage line-up. However, the Russian team put their opponents under significant pressure from the start and gained an early advantage. Team Secret were holding on desperately, and were struggling to make their line-up of Ember Spirit and Phantom Lancer competitive. Eventually, Team Secret held themselves long enough for their carries to get more powerful, but still could not win a decisive clash and were often found out of position by the prowling 9pasha and RAMZES666. A fight around Roshan proved to be the culmination point of the series and with Virtus.pro coming out on top, Team Secret did not have enough to defend their base and called the “gg” right after.
The Russian terminators
Virtus.pro stay true to the spirit of CIS Dota and profess an aggressive style, relying on support rotations in the laning phase to gain an early advantage. Not a comeback team, they prefer to control the tempo of the game and don’t like playing on the defensive. Their aggressive line-ups are complemented by wide hero pools and feature strong physical damage compositions, a lot of survivability, and heroes who can fight at every stage of the game if needed.
The current Virtus.pro line-up has been kept intact since it was formed in August 2016. Here are the players:
9pasha is an aggressive offlaner who shines best when playing on initiator heroes. Often at the forefront of the attack, he is usually the one who dives into the enemy ranks first and as such can act as the sacrificial lamb – a role he gladly accepts as long as it’s for the benefit of the team. Composed and precise, he almost always finds the right time to use his ultimate and thus to give his team the edge in a team fight. His Sand King in the Finals was particularly impressive and key to Virtus.pro winning the second game.
Solo – the Dota 2 veteran has bags of experience and when it comes to drafting, few can match his knowledge and ability to pick winning line-ups. His hero choices are often cohesive and work well in synergy. Even though he is one of the best drafters, Solo’s skills and contribution is not limited to this and he equally delivers on the battle field. As a support player, Solo is quite good at making an offensive rotation, but he truly shines in team fights, most vividly demonstrated in this tournament by making crucial disables with heroes such as Bane.
RAMZES666 is a carry player who perfectly fits the team’s playstyle with his preference for fighting rather than farming. He has great map awareness and is rarely ganked alone or unprepared. His farming skills are not to be underestimated though because when given the space, he will amass solid portions of gold. RAMZES666 played a high variety of heroes throughout the tournament, but his strength is definitely in high damage dealers – performances with Lifestealer, Sven and Bloodseeker were the ones to watch.
Lil – the position 4 support plays a slightly more reserved role than is typical nowadays, often defined by fewer rotations. While he makes successful ganks through early game rotations, Lil naturally likes farming and, as such, he does not like to roam around the map aimlessly but prefers to target opportunities when they present themselves. Lil is unique in the sense that due to his natural tendency to farm, he can effectively be a fourth core. Junglers were the hero picks with which Lil made the most impact in this tournament.
No[o]ne is the mid player and so he does have a certain amount of flashiness, but it is not his defining trait. He has a strong ability to win his lanes and loves to engage in 1 vs 1 fights in the mid lane. Tempo controlling heroes with high damage potential that can easily kill enemies in a single engagement are the ones with which he feels most comfortable. While Virtus.pro love fighting, it is often No[o]ne’s heroes that they try to prevent from dying, as his heroes can be crucial in their strategy. No[o]ne is also one of the most versatile players around and he played a different hero in each game throughout the tournament.
A leap towards The International 8
October marked the beginning of the road to TI 8 and at ESL One Hamburg, Virtus.pro picked up a solid number of points which puts them ahead of everyone else. They are arguably the best CIS side since the days of Na’Vi’s domination and have been in top form for a year now. With this confidence boosting trophy, the future is looking bright for the Russian side and they could be the ones to dominate this season.
