Team Profile: VP.Prodigy

It’s pretty strange to cheer for your favorite organization when you don’t know the players, isn’t it? We thought so as well, and as such, we decided to launch a series of articles that will help you get to know the WePlay Academy League participants a little better. Meet the second roster of CIS powerhouse Virtus.pro - VP.Prodigy!

The players

Alexey "RuFire" Burakov, 26: Captain, tactician, leader, emotional, may occasionally smash his desk.

Evgeny "r3salt" Frolov, 16: Rifler and secondary AWPer, loves the AK-47 and the AWP, the youngest member and the lifeblood of the squad.

Ivan "lom1k" Ovsyanik, 18: Primary AWPer, very astute, is occasionally nervous but never tilts.

Nikita "BloodyK" Dobrynin, 20: Rifler, ex-hockey player, always stays calm.

Armen "cheerful" Eksuzyan, 18: Rifler, ex-football player, former right midfielder.

Vladyslav "Flash_1" Bykov, 25: Coach, same age as RuFire, specializes in reading the opponent’s playbook.

Plans for the tournament

Minimum goal: Top four

Maximum goal: Victory!

Training methods

VP.Prodigy have just finished a two week bootcamp. The rigorous training program was developed by RuFire, with 8 hour long days and busy evenings. The team would wake up at 9AM, eat breakfast, jog to a training ground, exercise, and then jog back to the bootcamp. At 10AM, the training begins. The players watch demos, practice individually, scrim as a team, and eat meals together of course! When RuFire catches someone slacking off, he sends them to the coach for “reeducation”. RuFire and Flash_1 also analyze demos together, with the coach focusing on studying the opponents and exposing weaknesses, while the captain develops new strategies. After the long work day is over, VP.Prodigy have team building sessions, playing games together, such as basketball, capture the flag, and even poker. 

Interesting facts

• VP.P consider Young Ninjas to be their strongest opponent.
• The core of the team have played in ESEA Open, Pinnacle Cup II, and Spring Sweet Spring.
• During those tournaments, VP.P have played against quite a few of the other academy teams in WAL.
• RuFire considers his bootcamps to be the harshest in the world, stating "No one in the world has such bootcamps".
• lom1k, when he first heard about WAL, knew immediately that they were going to play against NAVI Junior, Young Ninjas and FURIA Academy.
• r3salt is interested in not only growing as a player, but as a person as well.
• RuFire really respects the organizations that promote academy players into the main rosters.
• r3salt is eager to face mouz NXT, while RuFire is looking forward to facing NAVI Junior.

So there you have it, a glimpse into VP.Prodigy! Which team will we cover next? Keep an eye on our website to find out!