Virtus.pro Head of Dota 2 Explains the Departure of gpk & DM

Virtus.pro’s (VP) newly appointed head of the Dota 2 department Alexander "StrangeR" Solomonov recently talked about the organization’s newest roster, while also providing the stories behind the departure of its former players. Following its recent change in ownership, Virtus.pro has made major changes within its management as it recruited new staff members to its Dota 2 team on top of a new roster.

Virtus.pro has had an unlucky competitive season, as it failed to qualify for The International 2022 (TI11) on multiple occasions.

StrangeR noted that gpk & DM left VP of their own accord 

Following its recent announcement of a new Dota 2 roster, VP’s head of Dota 2 Alexander "StrangeR" Solomonov talked about the departure of the team’s former players in an interview on Youtube. He started off by talking about the former support duo of Daniyal "yamich" Lazebnyy & Egor "Xakoda" Lipartiya, as he gave his reasoning behind the duo’s departure from the roster.

“Let's start with Xakoda and yamich, two young promising players. We picked sayuw instead of yamich because he fits this lineup better. Also, me and Timur [coach] were working with sayuw for quite a while. We knew exactly what to expect from him, and it looked like the best option. As for Xakoda, he was just unlucky. Xakoda is a young player but not captain-material yet.”

He then spoke about the departure of Danil "gpk" Skutin & Dmitry "DM" Dorokhin. He first pointed out that he wanted both gpk & DM to stay with the team for the upcoming season. However, both players decided that it was best to pursue other opportunities in different teams.

“And in this reshuffle, many clubs were fighting over prospective players, including DM and gpk. Of course, we would like to work with gpk? Who wouldn't like to work with him? No doubt - he is a mid laner of the prodigy generation, as it is called. He was in VP for a long time, and we respect his decision. As for DM, he is a great guy. I would work gladly with him, too. But he got that European [OG] offer. It's an important factor these days; many leave for Europe to play in multilanguage teams. That was when we realized we have to assemble a new roster.``

Virtus.pro will play in Division 1 of the first regional league of the EEU DPC (Eastern European Dota Pro Circuit) 2022-23. However, can its young roster become Eastern Europe's best team in the upcoming season?