Virtus Pro has withdrawn its CS:GO team from the $250,000 rated IEM Rio Major. Virtus Pro made this decision majorly because they failed to qualify for the BLAST Paris Major.
The BLAST Paris Major will be the final tournament to be sponsored by Valve before the first Counter-Strike 2 Major next year. The decision to sit out the IEM Rio Major is against the backdrop of their disastrous outing at the Europe RMR.
The organization announced on Thursday that it would rather stay back and practice rather than go and post another poor display.
“We believe that in the current shape, participation in the tournament [IEM Rio] will not bring satisfaction to either the team or the fans. Therefore, we are committing to enhanced training.” VP said in a statement.
Virtus Pro, the current reigning champions of the Paris Major, are under scrutiny for swapping a player at the last minute. The organization replaced Aleksandr “KaiR0N-” Anashkin with backup player David “n0rb3r7” Daniyelyan, who was flown to Copenhagen, Denmark, in the final series against MOUZ.
Interestingly, Kair0N replaced n0rb3r7 in January as the team wanted a more aggressive rifler. VP has not had it easy since winning the IEM Rio Major in November 2022, failing to go far enough in subsequent tournaments afterward.
It’s still to be seen if n0rb3r7 will return to the active lineup or if Kair0N will all play for VP later on.
The IEM Rio will start on April 17 and run until April 23, just before the BLAST Paris Major commences in May. Meanwhile, the ESL hasn’t made public the replacement for VP, but their replacement is expected to be arranged as soon as possible.
Some of the teams expected to attend the IEM Rio Major include Heroic, Natus Vincere, Cloud9, and FaZe Clan.
Daniel Ademiju Idowu
