Virtus Pro, the renowned Dota 2 organization, has successfully qualified for The International 2023 after emerging victorious in the Eastern European last-chance qualifier. They defeated One Move to secure their ticket to Seattle.
After missing out on last year’s tournament, VP is making a comeback to the pinnacle of Dota 2. They fell just short in 2022, losing to Team Liquid in the lower bracket final. However, this time they were determined not to let their peers in EEU get the better of them.
The team breezed through the CIS bracket, defeating Matreshka, NAVI, and One Move twice to secure their eighth appearance at TI. Despite this achievement, expectations for the squad are not as high as in previous years.
VP’s performance this year has been underwhelming. They finished fourth in all three Dota Pro Circuit seasons, missing out on spots in each major. In fact, the team did not attend a single LAN event until the Riyadh Masters in July, where they qualified based on ESL’s rankings.
However, their return to offline play at the Saudi Arabian tournament was not impressive, as they were eliminated in the play-in stage. Their only victories came against Execration and TSM, both of which had little impact on the tournament.
In March, VP brought in veteran support player Artsiom “Fng” Barshak, who had previously played for Gambit and Team Spirit. While his immediate impact on the team’s performance was limited, his experience has undoubtedly contributed to VP’s qualification for TI once again.
With the exception of Fng and offlaner Noticed, the young core of VP has no prior experience on the TI stage. This year, with the new format of the event, they will have fewer matches to make their mark and advance further in the tournament.
VP’s qualification comes at a challenging time for Eastern European Dota, as a whistleblower recently exposed a network of match-fixing within the region. Team Empire, one of the teams implicated, did not participate in the last-chance qualifier due to their struggles in Division Two.
There are only two qualifiers remaining before the team list for TI 12 is finalized. The Western Europe and Southeast Asia qualifiers are currently underway and will conclude this week.
Source: DOTESPORTS
