Virtus.pro make n0rb3r7 inactive

n0rb3r7 joins Jame on the VP bench.

David "⁠n0rb3r7⁠" Danielyan has been benched by Virtus.pro, the Russian organization announced on Saturday.

The move puts VP down to three after long-time captain Dzhami "⁠Jame⁠" Ali was also removed; any more changes, and the squad will lose their Valve Ranking points.

With that prospect unlikely, the team now looks to a rebuild around Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov, Evgenii "⁠FL1T⁠" Lebedev, and Petr "⁠fame⁠" Bolyshev with space to sign an AWPer and in-game leader (or, should electroNic take the captaincy, a specialist anchor to take over from n0rb3r7).

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Virtus.pro bench Jame

It's the second time n0rb3r7 has found himself benched in the team, the first coming after the ill-fated decision to replace him with Aleksandr "⁠KaiR0N-⁠" Anashkin just a few months after n0rb3r7 had become a Major winner at IEM Rio in late 2022.

n0rb3r7 was brought back onto the team in spectacular fashion halfway through the Paris Major RMR five months later, and he remained on the team for the last 18 months.

"Virtus.pro has always been more than just a club to me," n0rb3r7 told VP's website. "Here, I had the opportunity to grow both as a player and as a person, and I’ve experienced many moments that will stay with me for a long time."

In a difficult supportive role, n0rb3r7 averaged a 1.02 rating in his time with VP's core and placed first at the aforementioned Rio Major and three ESL Challenger events.

Virtus.pro are now:

Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov
Petr "⁠fame⁠" Bolyshev
Evgenii "⁠FL1T⁠" Lebedev

Pavel "⁠PASHANOJ⁠" Legostaev (coach)

Dzhami "⁠Jame⁠" Ali (benched)
David "⁠n0rb3r7⁠" Danielyan (benched)