electroNic Loses Debut Match In Virtus.Pro

Last week, star rifler electroNic made the most shocking roster move of 2024, joining forces with Jame and Virtus.Pro. Though the roster seems like a top-five team on paper, Virtus.Pro was defeated by Fnatic in their debut match.

Virtus. Pro’s first gig with their newest recruit was the ESL Pro League Season 19 tournament, which boasts 32 participating teams and a prize pool of $750,000. Not only are teams fighting for a share of the massive prize money, but the winner of the event will also receive a direct invitation to IEM Cologne 2024. 

The tournament’s opening match featured Fnatic taking on the newest iteration of Virtus.Pro. Fans thought the series would be an easy sweep for the Eastern European organization, but electroNic’s debut was spoiled by his opposition.

Map 1 – Overpass 

The first map of the series was Virtus. Pro’s map pick of Overpass, known to be one of best maps for the team. The veteran, electroNic, showed early struggles in the first half, only managing four kills on the Terrorist-side campaign to put his team down 4-8 before swapping sides.

Fortunately for Virtus.Pro fans, electroNic, FL1T, and n0rb3r7 proved to be an iron wall on the defense, securing eight rounds in a row to take a 12-8 lead. Fnatic made fans sweat by winning three in a row, but Virtus.Pro closed the map in the 24th round, 13-11.

Map 2 – Vertigo

In the second map, Vertigo, we were greeted with the expected performance of the Virtus.Pro roster in the first half. Despite losing the first two rounds of the game, the Russian-powered lineup demolished Fnatic in the first half 8-4.

However, Virtus.Pro showed a lack of team chemistry on the offense, only posting one Terrorist-side round, while Fnatic swept the second half with nine rounds to win the map 13-9. After such an underwhelming performance throughout the end of Vertigo, alarms were ringing that the Virtus.Pro squad needed more time. 

Map 3 – Ancient

The decisive map was Ancient. Again, Virtus.Pro displayed issues on their Terrorist side, showing a lack of strategy depth. Fortunately, the experienced electroNic could power the team to salvage the half 5-7. 

The following half was incredibly back-and-forth between the two teams, constantly exchanging rounds. However, taking turns trading points favored Fnatic, as they had a two-round lead. This meant the game ended 13-11 in favor of the international roster, spoiling Virtus.Pro’s debut. 

Fnatic doesn’t leave us any chance for a comeback.

We fall down to the Mid Bracket. We’ll be waiting for you tomorrow evening on the stream. pic.twitter.com/o7NSfcuk82

— Virtus.pro (@virtuspro) April 23, 2024

How Did electroNic Perform?

The four-time Top 10 player did not do too badly, as he was the second-highest-rated player on the Virtus.Pro squad behind Jame. 

It has to be considered that this team has one of the most unique play styles in the current professional Counter-Strike scene. Virtus.Pro has a very slow and ratty strategy book, with lots of saving and last-second decisions.

Naturally, it would be tough for any player to adjust to the team’s style in a few months’ time. ElectroNic has only been on the team for a little over a week, so let’s give him some more room to get comfortable. 

That being said, the potential of the current iteration of Virtus.Pro is through the roof. We might see this team become a serious Top 3 contender in the coming months.