electroNic: "You can't only play a slow style; we have almost found the balance"

VP have reached the semi-final in the first event of the fall season.

Virtus.pro completed the blockbuster signing of Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov in place of Nikolay "⁠mir⁠" Bityukov after the Copenhagen Major, but a busy schedule meant the team couldn't develop their playbook until the player break.

During their time off, they also added Andrey "⁠Xoma⁠" Mironenko as head coach in place of Dastan "⁠dastan⁠" Akbayev in a move that seemed to signal an even bigger departure from their slow and calculated playstyle.

Early signs of the change are good, as Virtus.pro beat Complexity and Vitality to make the semi-final at the Esports World Cup, where they will face off against G2. After the win against Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire's troops, electroNic sat down with HLTV to discuss the team's campaign in Riyadh, their decision to add Xoma, and the new G2 and Cloud9 rosters.

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Editor's note: electroNic's answers in this interview were translated by Russian-speaking HLTV staff.

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We're at the Esports World Cup with electroNic. Your team just played against Vitality. On map one, you almost got the game to another overtime, but in the 1v2 situation, when planting for connector, mezii managed to get the frag, and you ran out of time. What do you think went wrong in that round? Was this situation just a risky play due to the lack of info, or was a mistake made?

We definitely could have played that round better. If we take that specific 1v2 situation, I think I shouldn't have run to spawn, I should have tried to find him, remain in the connector, and help. I chose the wrong actions, and we lost the round because of that. It is what it is, what can I say?

But in the end, you won the game 2-1. What are your impressions? Did the game go according to your expectations?

Yes, of course, we practiced a lot for this tournament and had good preparation. That is why we did what we planned to do, and it worked out pretty well for us. So I think that they just played into our game.

Recently, you have replaced dastan with Xoma as the coach. dastan worked with Jame for a long time, and that changed after you joined the team. Is it a coincidence?

Probably it's a coincidence, I can't comment on this. The only thing that I can say is that what happened, happened. They worked together for quite a while, and the organization probably wanted to try something new. If people think that I came and did this, they're deeply mistaken. I'm not one of those people who join and [want changes] straight away... I'm just enjoying the team. I'm the new guy, just getting used to it, so it is what it is.

Xoma is your new coach. Were you involved in hiring him? If so, what convinced you to go for this option?

First of all, it probably needs to be said that Xoma deserved to get a chance to be in the tier-one scene. He did quite well and had success with 9 Pandas. He proved to be a person who can build the process quite well, I think this is why they picked him. I don't know, to be honest. It's better to ask the organization or Jame.

When Xoma was coaching 9 Pandas, I noticed that he was very emotional, yelled a lot, and tried to motivate the team. Is it important and needed in your team?

I think so. It's always cool when people cheer for you and you feel their support. So I think it's a plus rather than a minus, no one complains. Everything is okay in that sense, yeah.

Jame recently said that Virtus.pro needs to rebuild their system accounting for your signing. Are you happy with the way this process is going?

I don't want to share details on how it's going, but there are things that I, perhaps, can do better than the previous players of this team in the same roles. So we can change our style, and, consequently, I think we are at the stage where we can easily find the balance. We have almost found it, and everyone is more or less happy about where we're going and how we're getting there.

Speaking of the changes in your play, I noticed that Virtus.pro now has more fast rounds on the Mirage T-side. What can you say about this?

We're probably trying to play like all teams do. You can't only play a slow style, and we're trying to combine it so it's easier to play around the map, let's put it like that.

Your roster is now three months old. Do you think you've had enough time to overcome the starting stage and start progressing?

Let's start with the fact that we had very little practice before the player break. We had little time, we had three or four events in a row. Plus, I was working on some visa things, which is why we could not fully practice. So no, we managed to practice quite well only after the break. We had some time to get to feel our game.

As you said, you had a long series of events indeed. You probably had an opportunity to rest during the break. Did you use it? And how important was that for the team to have some rest?

I will say for myself that I didn't really rest, I had a lot of things that I needed to take care of during the break. But the rest of the team rested, they are fresh, and actually, I'm also fresh. I tried not to play Counter-Strike and to rest mentally. I had a vacation with my family and spent some time with them, and it was a wonderful time. Everybody is rested, fresh, and charged for the new season.

Your next match will be against G2. What are your impressions of their new roster and their game here? What are your expectations from the match?

Honestly, it was quite surprising that they removed HooXi. But they showed yesterday that they're indeed ready to play well. It's hard to say [anything] about the roster, time will show. They're having a honeymoon period, you need to always look in the distance, but we'll see tomorrow when we will play against them. We'll be preparing as usual, nothing special.

The last question I want to ask is about your opinion on another roster. Cloud9 completed their team by signing HeavyGod, ICY, and interz. What do you think of this roster?

The roster is quite competitive, there's no weak link. interz is a good anchor, and if I'm not mistaken, HeavyGod can play lurk roles well. Those were his roles at a certain point. Everything will depend on how they will develop as a team and play individually, and what will be their mood, let's put it like that. But yeah, they've got a competitive roster. ICY is a good sniper, Ax1Le is a strong player, interz is a good anchor, HeavyGod is a good player, and BoombI4 is a great captain, so everything is in their hands.