dastan leaves Virtus.pro

The Kazakhstani coach is open to a fresh challenge after five months on the bench.

Virtus.pro have announced that they have bid farewell to benched coach Dastan "⁠dastan⁠" Akbayev, ending a nearly five-year association with the Kazakhstani veteran.

dastan was moved to the bench at the end of May after a string of underwhelming results. He was replaced by Andrey "⁠Xoma⁠" Mironenko, who lasted only three months on the job before making way for the team's analyst, Pavel "⁠PASHANOJ⁠" Legostaev.

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A former Counter-Strike pro with spells on teams like K23 and Tengri, dastan joined Virtus.pro in December 2019 along with the rest of the AVANGAR roster.

Consistent success was hard to come by under Virtus.pro, with the team's biggest achievement being the first-place finish at the 2022 IEM Rio Major, where they played under the name Outsiders.

"We tried to find a suitable position for Dastan within the club's structure, but couldn't come to a mutually beneficial arrangement that would allow us to work effectively together," Virtus.pro CEO Nikolai Petrossian said in a statement. "Therefore, the best decision was to end our professional relationship.

"On behalf of the club, I would like to express immense gratitude to Dastan for all the years he worked with our team. He has always been passionate about the game and cared about the results like no one else. Dastan, thank you, and good luck in your future endeavors!"

In his statement, dastan opened the door to a return to coaching. "I am preparing for the new season and open to collaboration!" he said. "Until we meet again!"