Virtus Pro is returning to Dota 2’s The International after a successful run through the Eastern European last-chance qualifier, defeating One Move to book their ticket to Seattle.
The ancient organization returns to the pinnacle of Dota 2 after missing 2022’s iteration in Singapore. VP fell one game short last year, losing to Team Liquid in the lower bracket final, but this time they wouldn’t be letting their peers in EEU get the better of them.
The squad swept their way through the CIS bracket with ease, dispatching Matreshka, NAVI, and One Move twice to make their eighth TI appearance. Still, expectations for the squad aren’t sky-high compared to previous versions.
VP’s year has been lackluster so far, to say the least. In all three Dota Pro Circuit seasons the squad finished fourth, losing out on spots to each major in each circumstance. In fact, the squad hadn’t attended a single LAN in 2023 until Riyadh Masters arrived in July, with VP qualifying thanks to ESL’s rankings.
Related: The biggest winners and losers from Dota 2’s Riyadh Masters 2023
They didn’t light the world on fire in their offline return at the Saudi Arabian tournament, exiting in the play-in with their only wins coming against Execration and TSM, both of which failed to leave a mark on the tournament either.
VP turned to veteran support Artsiom “Fng” Barshak in March, who returned to the org after seven years at some of the largest squads in the CIS sphere, including Gambit and Team Spirit. While his immediate return did little to alter VP’s performance in the short term, his experience has helped see the squad fly the VP flag at TI once more.
Other than Fng and offlaner Noticed, the young VP core has no experience on the TI stage, and with the event’s new format kicking in this year, they’ll have fewer matches to leave their mark and push further into the tourney.
Their qualification comes amidst a dark moment for Eastern European Dota after a whistleblower came forward revealing a web of match-fixing at the region’s core. Team Empire, one such team in question, was absent from the last-chance qualifier after struggles in Division Two.
Just two qualifiers remain before the team list for TI 12 is set, with Western Europe and Southeast Asia resuming today and wrapping up this week.
