Team Virtus.Pro

Dota Pro Circuit points: 2,697 Estimated total earnings: US$4,586,759 (RM18mil)

Team Virtus.Pro is a Russia-based team that plays under the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region and has been around since 2003.

Despite its stellar early years, the team’s under performance and controversies prompted the owners to temporarily disband the Dota 2 team in mid-2016.

In August 2016, a new line-up made up of Roman “Ramzes666” Kushnarev (Russia, pic), Ilya “Lil” Ilyuk (Ukraine), Vladimir “No[o]ne Minenko (Ukraine), Pavel “9pasha” Khvastunov (Russia), and Alexei “Solo” Berezin (Russia) was formed.

They went on to win several tournaments in 2017, namely the Dota Summit 8, ESL One Hamburg 2017, Dota Summit 7, and Russian e-Sports Cup 2017.

On Feb 1, the team made its first player exchange in two years, releasing Ilyuk for Vladimir “RodjER” Nikogosyan (Russia) of Natus Vincere. In a press release, Virtus.Pro general manager Roman “dvoryrom” Dvoryankin said that the change to the team’s line-up is important to make Team Virtus.Pro stronger for the key half of the current season.

One of Team Virtus.Pro’s superstars is Kushnarev, a teen prodigy who became the first player from the CIS region to hit the 10,000 mark in Dota 2 Matchmaking Rating (MMR), a value that determines the skill level of each player.

“Even when I played Dota 2 as a kid, I already knew that I was one of the best players in the world. I’m good at it because I have been playing it for a long time, for almost 10 years now,” said Kushnarev.

“At first my parents didn’t understand or accept the fact that Dota 2 could be considered a career choice, but when they saw that I started making money and could take care of myself, they knew that I made the right choice. So parents, don’t think that all games are bad for your children, and for those who want to bea Dota 2 player, go ahead.”