Virtus.pro sign electroNic

The four-time top 10 player in the world joins the Russian side in a shocking move to replace mir.

Virtus.pro have signed former Cloud9 player Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov in a blockbuster move to replace Nikolay "⁠mir⁠" Bityukov on their Counter-Strike 2 roster, the organization has announced.

"Virtus.pro is a top team. The core of the roster has won a Major not long ago, and all the players are in their prime and ready for victories right now," electroNic said in a statement on the organization's website.

"I'm also excited about the idea of playing with Jame, as he's one of the most unique IGLs in the game. Can't wait to adapt to my new team and start doing what I came here for — winning trophies."

The surprise move follows a difficult year 2024 for Virtus.pro so far. They failed to make it out of the IEM Katowice Play-in and placed just outside of the playoffs at PGL Major Copenhagen.

With the arrival of electroNic, VP are undoubtedly looking to bolster their firepower, as mir had been their lowest-rated player with a 0.97 rating against top 30 opposition in CS2. On the face, it looks like a good fit in terms of roles, with electroNic filling in many of the same positions on each map, though he is a much more aggressive player overall than mir.

Virtus.pro's next outing will be at ESL Pro League Season 19, where they have been placed alongside the likes of FaZe and Cloud9 in Group A, though it's not clear they will be using electroNic at the tournament in Malta. "Denis' joining will give a powerful boost to the team in the upcoming challenges in Dallas, London, and beyond," a statement from VP CEO Nikolai Petrossian said.

electroNic previously spent less than a year on the Cloud9 roster, which he joined along with Ilya "⁠Perfecto⁠" Zalutskiy from Natus Vincere last July to create a team widely expected to dominate the competition.

Expectations didn't meet reality, however, as Cloud9 failed to get past quarter-finals at several events before Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov decided to bench himself. This left them without an AWPer in a widely criticized role issue that remained unresolved for the past six months.

With the departure of electroNic, Cloud9 now have an opportunity to sign an AWPer, but have not yet made their plans clear. "It was an honor to play alongside a legendary player. From sh1roNic to making top 8 at the first CS2 Major, you will be missed," a Tweet from the organization said.

Virtus.pro now have:

Dzhami "⁠Jame⁠" Ali
Evgenii "⁠FL1T⁠" Lebedev
David "⁠n0rb3r7⁠" Danielyan
Petr "⁠fame⁠" Bolyshev
Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov

Dastan "⁠dastan⁠" Akbayev (coach)

Nikolay "⁠mir⁠" Bityukov (substitute)