Like a rollercoaster, the former Counter-Strike professional says there has never been an elite-level team as inconsistent as the Polish side
Virtus.pro boast the longest-tenured roster in CS:GO’s history, having not made a change in two-and-half-or-so years.
Prior to that, if we ignore pionas’ short tenure on the team as kuben’s replacement in the troubled year of 2008, the Polish side only made one roster move between 2006 and 2013.
Some say the roster consistency is a result of the shallow talent pool in Poland, but is that truly the case?
Few abroad had heard of Snax of byali when they joined UniversalSoldiers – the name Virtus.pro used to play under – and there are promising players in CSGL as well.
Furthermore, it seems hardly a stretch to say that giving any youngster a chance with the veterans of Virtus.pro would result in said youngster improving at a much faster pace than they ever should on their own, among a crowd of other up-and-coming players.
Aside from the incredibly consistent year in 2011, the Poles – whose previous roster with LUq was affectionately called the Golden Five – have always been an inconsistent bunch.
They have had incredible highs – winning multiples majors between 2006 and 2012 in Counter-Strike 1.6, as well as EMS One Katowice in 2014 – and also suffered some of the earliest exits of any elite-level teams.
In fact, it would be hard to argue that any elite-level team has ever been as inconsistent as the core of Virtus.pro.
But that is not all bad. Many similar level teams might average out to a quarter-finals team with the occasional semi-final, whereas the Poles occasionally pull off something to win it all.
Last year was not a bad one for Virtus.pro, who made the semi-finals of ESL One Katowice and ESL One Cologne and won certain smaller events such as ESL ESEA Dubai Invitational and ESEA Invite Season 18 Global Finals.
But it wasn’t great, either.
They have started 2016 in a similar fashion as the previous year: by crashing out in the group stage of the first event against teams they should have little trouble overcoming.
To make matters worse, the first 45 days of 2016 have been disastrous to Snax, their near-superstar who finished 4th in the HLTV.org player ranking for 2015.
In an small sample size of eight maps, the Pole has an unfathomable -56 K-D difference, a 0.70 rating and a 0.53 KPR stat-line to his name.
A fitting comparison might be a rollercoaster.
So far, NEO and company have always come back up from the deep valleys of underperformance and scaled great heights at later tournaments.
But how long will that go on? Will there be a point where the lows become more frequent and the team loses its status as an elite team?
Will the music stop in the near future? Or could it have already stopped?
Personally I am not too worried about Virtus.pro. They are one of the rare teams who match up well against practically every elite team, including fnatic.
Given enough chances, they are proven winners who will ultimately prevail and bring home a much-needed championship title.
Their core of NEO, TaZ and pasha are all old by today’s standards – none younger than 27, with TaZ turning 30 this year – but they are all still valuable contributors. And considering the kind of money today’s Counter-Strike professionals make, there are zero financial reasons for any of them to ever consider retiring.
Snax should bounce back and when he does, so will Virtus.pro. They will be back in the semi-finals and the likes of fnatic, EnVyUs or Luminosity will not be happy when drawn in the same part of the bracket.
For them to contend for titles consistently, though, they need a new gear. And considering the age of their trio, it becomes obvious who that someone is who needs to step up their game.
byali broke through at EMS One Katowice 2014 with a +68 K-D difference in nine maps to go with 1.31 rating.
But since then the aimstar has struggled to put up similar numbers, with his rating decreasing year-on-year since 2014.
This year, byali must be given more responsibilities – and he must be up for the task.
Snax cannot carry the team alone and it is not fair to expect the core to play like stars anymore.
I do not see the music stopping – not this year – but the rollercoaster may no longer be able to reach the top.
If it does, expect byali to be in the passenger seat, right next to Snax.
He needs to be handed the keys and then he needs to deliver. Because he is too good to remain the third or fourth option on this team.
