Virtus Pro is keeping its star in-game leader and AWPer around long-term. The organization announced today that it has signed Counter-Strike captain Dzhami “Jame” Ali to a four-year extension.
VP CEO Nikolai Petrossian, who took over leadership of the organization this past December, referred to Jame as “an exceptional player” and “the backbone of our roster” in an official press release. “There are very few captains with his understanding of the game, tactical thinking and level of individual skill in the professional scene,” Petrossian said, adding that renewing Jame’s contract was “one of the most important tasks” for VP.
Jame himself described VP as “a second home” and said the decision to extend “was quite a simple one.”
While the free agency period following the Paris Major, the end of the CS:GO year, and ahead of the launch of CS2 is set to be a massive one in terms of player moves, it would be unlikely for VP to make any more significant moves. The team in its current state just fought its way back into ESL Pro League via the ESL Challenger Katowice event with a win over ENCE.
This recent victory for the VP roster is the biggest win they’ve had since taking on the VP banner again. In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the VP players were forced to play under the neutral tag Outsiders due to the previous owner’s ties to sanctioned Russian organizations and individuals. Despite that, Outsiders still managed an improbable all-time achievement when they won the IEM Rio Major, propelled by an MVP performance by the now-re-signed Jame. The VP brand was reinstated earlier this year.
Related: Jame confident one of his teammates is shaping up to be next CS superstar
Jame is among a rare breed of CS player who provides both valuable in-game shotcalling and AWPing proficiency. And at the age of only 24 still, VP is hoping to see that skillset lead to more success when CS2 launches later this year.
Published: Jun 21, 2023 11:20 am