Virtus.pro Signs boolk as Dota 2 Coach

Virtus.pro has finally revealed the new Dota 2 coach for its young team. Anatoly "boolk" Ivanov, who has already previously coached Virtus.pro, has once again been entrusted with mentoring the current Virtus.pro squad. “In my personal opinion Tolya (boolk) has grown immensely over the last 18 months, both as a person and a coach. The players backed the idea of recruiting him, which only makes me more confident in this decision,” said Sergey Glamazda, the CEO of the organization. Virtus.pro is currently competing in the ESL One Fall 2021, which is boolk's first tournament with the team.

boolk returns to Virtus.pro as a Dota 2 coach

Virtus.pro’s members had mentioned in interviews over the past months that they were actively looking for a Dota 2 coach. Sergey mentioned that the search had been a really tough process, but they finally found their coach in boolk.

Additionally, Sergey explained that the team initially examined its weaknesses to determine what they really needed. Besides hiring a Dota 2 coach, Virtus.pro recently hired Ivan Lazarev to serve as their Sports Director and handle morale, discipline, and health matters.

Boolk stood out after the criteria for the coach were established. “We chose him not for his past achievements, but rather because of what he can give the team in the present,” explained Sergey.

Boolk has coached renowned CIS organizations since 2015. Prior to this change, he coached AS Monaco Gambit and EXTREMUM. He also coached Virtus.pro in 2019-20. Most notably, he led Gambit Esports to second place finishes at The Bucharest Minor, the ESL One Katowice 2019, and the StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor Season 1 in 2018-19.

Since its reformation in November 2020, Virtus.pro has been a force to be reckoned with in online events. Nevertheless, the team significantly faltered in the two offline Majors of the previous Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) season, and as a result, many in the community called for a Dota 2 coach to prepare the team for LAN events.

With boolk, Virtus.pro has gotten off to a great start in the group stage of the ESL One Fall 2021, winning both of its initial two series. ESL One Fall 2021 will run until 29th August, 2021.

Virtus.pro has also qualified for the biggest Dota 2 event of the year, The International 10 (TI10). TI10 will take place from 7th-17th October 2021.