Virtus.pro bench electroNic after BLAST Open Fall exit

Virtus.pro announced the benching of in-game leader Denis “electroNic” Sharipov on Friday, August 29.

The announcement was made just hours after Virtus.pro ended their BLAST Open Fall closed qualifiers campaign in last place, with two defeats against GamerLegion and M80.

The 26-year-old joined Virtus.pro in April 2024 from Cloud9 as a replacement for Nikolay “mir” Bityukov. However, despite
acquiring one of the most recognizable IGLs in the scene, Cloud9 have failed to live up to the hype.

The recent closed qualifiers exit marked another in a long list of disappointing placements, which, more notably, include early exits from Intel Extreme Masters Cologne (17th-20th), the Esports World Cup (ninth-16th), and FISSURE Playground #1 (13th-16th).

The ex-Natus Vincere captain has led Virtus.pro through 24 tournaments, without winning a single trophy.

They came close to achieving that feat only three times in 2024, with semifinal appearances at the BLAST Premier Spring Final, the Esports World Cup, and the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown.

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This season, VP’s most notable tournament placements were top-six at IEM Katowice and top-eight at PGL Bucharest 2025. By moving to the bench, electroNic joins David “n0rb3r7” Danielyan and Timur “FL4MUS” Marev as the second inactive player on Virtus.pro’s roster.

Virtus.pro have just under two weeks to find a replacement for electroNic, ahead of their next competitive endeavor, at FISSURE Playground #2.

The second edition of the Serbian CS2 tournament is scheduled to start on September 12, when VP will play their first match of the Swiss Stage.

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