This article is brought to you by StatBanana, the best Dota 2 strategy tool.
Dominant CIS organization Virtus Pro is expanding its reach. VP announced the addition of a second Dota 2 squad, named VP.Prodigy, consisting of some of the youngest pub stars the CIS region has to offer in hopes of cultivating the next generation of Dota 2 talent.
Sergey Glamazda, VP’s general manager, wrote that “the second lineup allows young players to attain professional scene experience and knowledge without the enormous pressure” of attaining instant results. He added that the club will keep its eye on the prodigies, and have recruited members of such caliber that they “might join the main roster later – or even replace it completely in the long run.”
VP’s former first-team members, Egor “epileptick1d” Grigorenko and Vitaly “Save-” Melnik, who were replaced in February by Zaur “Cooman” Shakhmurzaev and Bakyt “Zayac” Emilzhanov in a controversial string of events, now have slots in the new Prodigy team.
The two inexperienced pub stars, 17 and 19 years old respectively, showed glimpses of potential in their brief stint with the main team, but VP did not manage to achieve any significant results in the 2019-20 Dota Pro Circuit season. Hopefully, having less pressure placed on them in an academy squad could allow them to properly develop before being thrust into the spotlight once again.
They are joined by Rostislav “fn” Lozovoi, Dmitry “DM” Dorokhin and, Albert “yume” Garayev.
DM has racked up some impressive performances in a short career, most recently standing-in for Chaos Esports Club and achieving a third place at the Dota Summit 11 and attending the DreamLeague Leipzig Major, where Chaos, unfortunately, fell in the first round of the tournament. He will be the new offlaner for the team.
Similarly, yume has bounced around the tier-two scene for a while, playing for teams such as Gambit Esports and Team Empire. The player was most recently a member of Team Singularity, which has since been disbanded.
Last but not least, fn is the most accomplished member of the new squad. The volatile mid laner has attitude and skill in spades, initially making his name in Vega Squadron before moving on to teams like Team Empire. He’s stood in for organizations such as Gambit Esports and even VP’s main squad.
The mid player will be a temporary stand-in again, however, likely while the team is still searching for an up and coming pubstar considering the statuses of the rest of the team.
VP.Prodigy will make its debut in the GGBET StayHome Challenge, featuring other European and CIS teams such as OG.Seed and Dendi’s B8.
