Why does RAMZES appear in the pick phase? Virtus.pro's new season features

After their defeat from Team Empire in the PGL Open Bucharest's 2017 qualifiers, guys from Virtus.pro showed such a flawless level of play in qualifications for ESL One Hamburg 2017 Major and AMD SAPPHIRE DOTA PIT League Season 6 Minor, that they hailed by V1lat.

"Dear tournament organizers! Surely every single one of you reads and watches my Russian channel. Either invite Virtus.pro to tournaments directly or don't bother inviting them to qualifiers. Everybody's sick of them beating everyone so easily. That's hecking boring!" - said V1lat.

Answering that, Virtus.pro's general manager Roman Dvoryakin remarked that everyone struggled hard for CIS to have their own qualifications so that the region's teams don't have to compete with Europe, and that VP isn't planning on taking part in every upcoming qualifier. It's true that last four matches turned out to be complete stomps – team hasn't lost a single map. All while Virtus.pro isn't afraid of experimenting, playing with style and updating their draft.

Why does RAMZES666 appear during the pick phase instead of Solo?

It's not a new story – nearing the end of a previous year, Alexei was already giving this position to Roman time to time. Ramzes has a unique (and a great one) understanding of the game, which lets his team switch up their play-style and further confuse their opponents. Besides that, draft pick gives Ramzes more freedom of choice in-game and puts a special responsibility on him – Roman makes more calls and directs his teammates.

ESL One Hamburg 2017

In the quarterfinals, Virtus.pro were challenged by the Team Effect. This game brought us a few beautiful highlights. For instance – a great highground push on the first map. Or a well-timed Chronosphere followed by a decisive teamfight, a killing spree and a stylish game closure.

Qualifier's semifinals were one of the most anticipated matches of September: Virtus.pro against Natus Vincere. The moment on the first map where Virtus.pro completely turned the game around is simply meant to be re-watched. It's just perfect: four Na'Vi's heroes are sent respawning, and the difference in gold reaches 5k in favor for our team.

A ticket to Hamburg was at stake during the match against Team Spirit. In the first game, guys from Virtus.pro were close to defeat, but a few smart highground defenses allowed our team to switch the pace, turn to counter-attack and beat their opponent.

During the ESL One Hamburg 2017 qualifications, Virtus.pro only dropped one game in the series – second map of the match against Natus Vincere.

What else made VP so special in the first Major's qualifiers?

 

Pick specifics:

During Major's qualifier Virtus.pro picked 23 unique heroes. The most picked hero was Lich (5 picks), the least picked were Enchantress, Earth Spirit, Batrider and Venomancer (3 picks). Clinkz and Oracle appeared as innovations in VP's draft.

Ancient Apparition and Io became the most banned heroes – they were banned 5 times. Queen of Pain got banned 4 times by our team.

VP's pick list for ESL One Hamburg 2017 qualifier:

  1. Night Stalker
  2. Enchantress (3 picks)
  3. Oracle
  4. Death Prophet (2 picks)
  5. Faceless Void
  6. Lich (5 picks)
  7. Batrider (3 picks)
  8. Earth Spirit (3 picks)
  9. Lina (2 picks)
  10. Ursa
  11. Earthshaker
  12. Venomancer (3 picks)
  13. Omniknight
  14. Necrophos
  15. Kunkka (2 picks)
  16. Sven (2 picks)
  17. Dark Seer
  18. Disruptor
  19. Weaver
  20. Alchemist
  21. Ancient Apparition
  22. Clinkz
  23. Bloodseeker

Dota PIT League Season 6

Minor qualifier's semifinals took place with the participation of Major qualifier's grand-final opponents – Virtus.pro and Team Spirit.

In the first game, TS were significantly ahead in terms of kills and gold, but VP obliterated their lead in a single teamfight in the enemy jungle. Failed initiation led to the loss of two TS heroes and was followed by the final highground push.

The grand-final's second map against team Empire was in total control of Virtus.pro from the very beginning. But even despite that, the game brought us many great moments. For instance – these 4 kills from VP in under 30 seconds.

Pick specifics:

During the Minor's qualifiers Virtus.pro picked 22 unique heroes. VP's favorites were Doom and Batrider (4 picks both). The second most drafted hero was Venomancer (3 picks).

VP's most banned hero was Io (8 bans). The list of VP's least favorite heroes was also marked with Enchantress' (5 times) and Disruptor's (4 times) bans.

VP's pick list for Dota PIT League S6 qualifier:

  1. Night Stalker
  2. Oracle
  3. Venomancer (3 picks)
  4. Lina (2 picks)
  5. Ursa
  6. Lion
  7. Doom (4 picks)
  8. Monkey King (2 picks)
  9. Ancient Apparition (2 picks)
  10. Sven
  11. Spirit Breaker
  12. Batrider (4 picks)
  13. Mirana
  14. Lich (2 picks)
  15. Phantom Lancer
  16. Earthshaker (2 picks)
  17. Disruptor
  18. Queen of Pain
  19. Faceless Void
  20. Gyrocopter
  21. Wraith King
  22. Legion Commander

Three helpful facts for last

In the Dota Pit League S6 qualifier, Virtus.pro went undefeated, finishing their run 7:0.

VP's longest game was the first map of the best-of-5 grand-final of the ESL One Hamburg 2017 – Team Spirit battled for a whole hour (1:00:29)

VP's fastest game was in the match against Effect. The first map was finished in just 21 minute (21:08).

Authors: Anton Kozlov, Gleb Chernyavskiy

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