The International 2019 preview: Virtus.pro

CIS powerhouse is going to The International as one of the favourites again. Meet Virtus.pro!

Profile

Region: CIS

DPC placement: 2

DPC points earned: 13500

Notable Results: 

• The Kuala Lumpur Major  — 1st place
• The DreamLeague Major — 2nd place
• The Chongqing Major — 2nd place

Roster:

1. Roman  "RAMZES666" Kushnarev (Russia)
2. Vladimir "No[o]ne" Minenko (Ukraine)
3. Pavel  "9pasha" Khvastunov (Russia)
4. Vladimir  "RodjER" Nikogosyan  (Russia)
5. Alexei  "Solo" Berezin (Russia)

Path to The International

Virtus.pro was the first team to qualify to The International 2019. They won the Kuala Lumpur Major and the rest of Dota Pro Circuit became the formality and good place for experiments. The Bears finished second in Chongqing and Stockholm, showing their power once again. However, the finish of the season wasn't quite good: they failed to get to grand-finals of last two majors, coming only third in Moscow and 7th-8th in Paris. 

The Bears were really selective during this season: they visited only eight tournaments. If such a calendar doesn't help them in Shanghai, I don't know what would help then.

Strong sides

• Laning. It is no secret that Virtus.pro is extremely strong at the beginning of each game. They like to gain an advantage and then snowball the opponent.
• Team chemistry. These exact five players are competing together for 18 months. The core of this team is three years old. You can see that their inner atmosphere is amiable. The players have gone through many tough challenges, so there would be no surprises (at least in their own booth). 
• Outstanding personal skill. You can find many highlight videos with each Virtus.pro player. Everyone is at least an elite player if not a superstar. They can solely decide the fate of a match.

 Weak sides

• Psychology.  Many people describe Virtus.pro as chokers. Despite huge success in Dota Pro Circuit they've yet to get in top-4 of The International.
• The status of favourites. Virtus.pro, Team Secret, Vici Gaming — these are the three teams that will have little space to surprise. Each other team will play against the Bears like there is no second chance.

The X-factor

No[o]ne. The mid player from Ukraine plays a a significant role on a battlefield. If he is on a roll, there is little chance for opponents. That's why one of the key points to grab a win against VP is to make the game for No[o]ne as hard as possible.

Our expectations

Top-4. The best TI result in the history of Virtus.pro is the 5th-6th place. We believe that this curse will be broken this year. We are not sure whether the Bears are going to claim the Aegis of Champions, but they for sure will be the strong contenders.

The International 2019 will take place in Shanghai on August 15 — 25. The current prize pool has overcome $31.500.000.