Virtus.pro nuked its previous Dota 2 roster following its failure to qualify for The International 11, but its new lineup was slapped out of orbit less than a month after forming when its new carry player was banned by Valve for account sharing and impersonating members of another team. And now the organization has pillaged another team’s carry to fill the void left by that ban.
Alexandr “krylat” Krylatov is best known for his 2021 run with PuckChamp, which put him on the map as a strong carry player within one of the most aggressive regions in Dota 2. He left PuckChamp in July and only recently signed with Team Empire Hope as the org rebuilt its lineup from scratch.
Now, just over two weeks later, he has left what is currently Team Empire’s only Dota roster to join VP. And, while it might look a little shady on paper that a player was “stolen” so close to the 2023 Dota Pro Circuit starting, this move actually won’t impact anyone competing outside of VP.
Team Empire Hope was competing in the open qualifiers for the 2023 DPC—meaning they did not have a spot in either division of Eastern Europe’s competition. They fell well short of claiming entry into Division II, placing fifth in all three of their attempts and ending their run as a group.
As a result, krylat would have likely missed competing in the Winter Tour of the DPC if VP didn’t reach out with an offer.
This is a completely legal move since Valve was allowing the teams impacted by its recent wave of bans to replace their suddenly empty roster spots despite the roster lock for the Winter Tour already being in effect. And, the rules only limit teams in the DPC from signing players who compete in the closed qualifiers for that upcoming tour.
Krylat now replaces Kamil “Koma`” Biktimirov, who recently pleaded with Valve for a lighter sentence after admitting to account sharing in official matches. He was one of 10 players handed a lifetime ban from Valve-sanctioned events on Dec. 18.
“This situation took us by surprise and was really stressful for the team. However, we didn’t waste time and began testing potential replacement candidates as soon as possible, resolving this issue in two days,” VP Dota 2 department head Alexander “StrangeR” Solomonov said.
“We still have a lot of work to do and an interesting season, preparations for which are going on a daily basis. I would also like to thank Valve for the fact that the company went to meet us halfway and made it possible to make an emergency replacement.”
Many of the other impacted teams still need to make their replacements in the coming weeks heading into 2023 as their rosters continue training for the DPC. VP’s newly finalized roster will now gear up for its Division I opener on Jan. 9.
