Virtus Pro Look Unstoppable In Dota Bucharest Major Finals

Just making the grand finals ensured Virtus.Pro would punch a ticket to this year’s Dota 2 International. But in the grand finals of today’s Bucharest Major, VP reminded everyone why they’re at the top of the Dota pro circuit, in a 3-0 sweep of Vici Gaming J Thunder.

Analysis for a win like this is tough because the story is pretty straightforward. Despite the Thunder being one of the breakout teams of the Major, overcoming a higher-ranked Newbee to make the grand finals, Virtus.Pro made it very clear that they played on two different levels.

Game 1 was the breeziest affair of the three. While the lane phase was roughly even, Virtus.Pro hit its stride quick off the back of a beefed-up Juggernaut. For over ten minutes, no one on Virtus.Pro died while they tallied up 16 kills on the Thunder. Vladimir “No[o]ne” Minenko of Virtus.Pro summed it up best on the post-game player cam.

The roll continued and Virtus.Pro continued to showcase the strengths that brought them to the grand finals. This is a team with incredible versatility, making them a constant threat in the draft stage. Its players are both mechanically gifted and clever, able to adapt on the spot like when Roman “Ramzes666” Kushnarev made quick use of the recent upgrade to Morphling’s hero-morphing ultimate.

It culminated in a game 3 where, at the tail-end of a draft, Virtus.Pro picked a Broodmother. The spider hero excels in the right situations, but can get easily countered by the right heroes, making her a double-edged sword that most teams only draft under ideal situations. Virtus.Pro not only found the right situation to slide in a surprise Broodmother for Minenko, but were knocking on the door of VGJ Thunder’s base at six minutes into the game.

It isn’t all thorns for Vici Gaming J Thunder; the team still had a solid run with a few upsets to be proud of, and their grand finals appearance helped bump the team up to a solid no. 6 spot in the Dota pro circuit standings.

But through a brisk three-game sweep, Virtus.Pro reminded every team why it had earned the first spot at The International 2018. While others, like Team Liquid and Team Secret, are certainly of the same calibre, this is now VP’s second major win in a row and third of the year overall. With only a handful of months left until it’s International season again, teams will need to find a way to cool this squad down.