Forge of Masters. WePlay! League participant’s Dossier — Vega Squadron

Brief summary

Location: Russia

Total Earnings: $287,511 (via Liquipedia)

Team CEO: Alexey Kondakov

Biggest recent achievements

Bucharest Gaming Week Invitational — runner-up

StarSeries & i-League CS:GO Season 6 — runner-up

FACEIT Major: London 2018 — 12-14th place

StarLadder & ImbaTV Invitational Chongqing 2018 — 5-6th place

ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018 — 9-11th place

ROG Masters 2017 — 3-4th place

Origin Story

Vega Squadron was founded in 2012 by a businessman and gaming enthusiast Alexey Kondakov, who recruited StarCraft 2 players and named his new team Vega. The players attended international LANs and held top ranks in the online ladders. In 2015, Alexey dipped his toes in World of Tanks, HotS and HearthStone, but eventually decided to keep teams only in Dota 2 и CS:GO, having disbanded the rest of the squads.

Current roster

Dmitriy "jR" Chervak

Igor "crush" Shevchenko

Denis "seized" Kostin

Alexander "scoobyxie" Marynych

Artem "Fierce" Ivanov

Team leaders

Dmitriy "jR" Chervak. Brilliant sniper and in-game leader. jR never gets unfazed and he is the most reliable communication link in a team where players talk to each other almost without words.

Team stats

Maps played: 342

Wins/ties/losses: 174/0/ 168

Kill count: 30476

Round count: 8982

Kill/Death ratio: 1.00

The highest map win rate: Mirage (59.4%), Train (55.8%), Overpass (55.8%).

Official WePlay! League partner Parimatch reckons that Vega Squadron will give any team in this tournament a run for their money and might become the champion.

An opinion from the WePlay! talent panel

Our caster Alexey "yXo" Maletsky wants to see Vega Squadron in action:

“What can I say about Vega Squadron? First — I’m glad they are holding on to jR, because he is a great player and very good caller. I’ve never heard their teamspeak and don’t know who is in control of the team, but I like what I see. Judging by the decisions made by Vega during rounds, I am impressed by their style, flexibility and the amount of creative ideas.

I was really surprised by the decision to kick Leonid "chopper" Vishnyakov, we also remember stories involving Nikolay "mir" Bityukov which happened earlier. On the other side of the coin, the team is always trying to reinvent itself to solve the current problems, and it’s a very good thing. Once in a six-month period they break out to Major, but I’d love to see them on the big stage more often. I’m glad that Vega will take advantage of exposure, provided by Forge of Masters. WePlay! League.

In general, I am skeptical about Denis "seized" Kostin, who has changed more than one team after leaving Na’Vi, though I have a good feeling that Vega will allow him play to the best to his ability and realize his potential. jR and seized have different visions about the game and I find communication between them important.

Igor "crush" Shevchenko is an important link in the team. He is a well-rounded player, though not without a flaw — Igor lacks the game sense that would make him an excellent player.

Alexander "scoobyxie" Marynych has been looking very solid since he played for Runtime. He is a stark example of a self-made star.

Vega Squadron is an interesting team that is nice to follow. Going to a Majors is a great milestone for a two-year old team.”

Email us for brand partnership, integration and media rights inquiries: placeme@weplay.tv

Forge of Masters. WePlay! League is starting on April 8. Follow our social media to get live updates.