K23 players David “n0rb3r7” Danielyan and Petr “fame” Bolyshev have joined Virtus Pro’s CS:GO lineup. The Russian duo will effectively replace Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis and Timur “buster” Tulepov, who were benched following the conclusion of the PGL Antwerp Major earlier this month.
With the additions of fame and n0rb3r7, VP now has a full lineup for the remainder of the CS:GO season. These two helped K23 peak at No. 14 in HLTV’s world rankings at the start of the year after K23 enjoyed success in online tournaments like Malta Vibes Knockout Series five and Pinnacle Winter Series one.
K23, however, did not secure a spot in the PGL Antwerp Major via the European Regional Major Ranking (RMR) tournament and ended up missing the first Valve-sponsored event of the year. Before moving to VP, fade and n0rb3r7 also couldn’t help K23 qualify for IEM Dallas and ESL Challenger Valencia.
The Russian riflers join VP in a slump. The organization was sanctioned by multiple tournament organizers following the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 due to apparent ties with the Russian government and the players had to play recent events under the neutral name Outsiders. Dzhami “Jame” Ali and crew were one of the best teams in the Challengers Stage of the PGL Antwerp Major but had a short run in the Legends Stage, where they were eliminated with a 1-3 record.
VP must be hoping that the additions of fame and n0rb3r7 will be enough to get the team out of its current slump and fill the void left by the departure of YEKINDAR, who is one of the best players in the scene at the moment. N0rb3r7 and fame are both riflers and averaged a 1.09 rating in 2022, according to HLTV’s statistics.
