Virtus.pro is open to offers for n0rb3r7.
Virtus.pro benched David "n0rb3r7" Danielyan ahead of 2025, the organization announced on Dec. 28.
This move leaves the Virtus.pro lineup down to just three players — Denis "electroNic" Sharipov, Petr "fame" Bolyshev, and Evgenii "FL1T" Lebedev — as the organization had already benched the in-game leader and AWPer Dzhami "Jame" Ali on Dec. 11 after a disappointing run at the Shanghai Major.
It's highly unlikely that Virtus.pro will remove any more players as they'd lose their Valve Ranking points by doing so. This is the second time that n0rb3r7 is benched as he was already sidelined after Virtus.pro won the IEM Rio Major in November 2022. He's been a part of the team since March 2022.
"Virtus.pro has always been more than just a club to me," n0rb3r7 said. "Here, I had the opportunity to grow both as a player and as a person, and I’ve experienced many moments that will stay with me for a long time."
From now on, Virtus.pro will entertain offers for n0rb3r7 and will announce further changes in the near future.
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Virtus.pro is facing a scary rebuild
With the removals of Jame and n0rb3r7, Virtus.pro needs a new in-game leader, AWPer, and anchor. Given that there aren't many Russian-speaking players who can be both the IGL and AWPer like Jame, it makes things tricky for Virtus.pro.
It's more likely that they'll get an AWPer and a rifling IGL to play alongside electroNic, fame, and FL1T. Virtus.pro could also give the IGL role to electroNic, who already did it in Natus Vincere and Cloud9 to some extent, and sign an AWPer and a pure rifler.
Either way Virtus.pro take will radically change the team's way of playing as Jame and n0rb3r7 were an integral part of the team's system.
Virtus.pro are set to play at the BLAST Bounty 2025 Season 1, which kicks off on January 13.
