​Although Virtus.pro is not one of the eight teams ​to qualify for the playoffs of the ELEAGUE Major: Boston, the Polish legends were still among the topics of conversation during Wednesday's media news conference ahead of the Major.





One representative of each of the eight playoff teams (SK Gaming, FaZe Clan, Mousesports, Fnatic, Natus Vincere, Quantum Bellator Fire, Cloud9 and G2 Esports) took part in the conference, and some of the players were asked about Virtus.pro, which finished a stunning 0-3 in the New Legends Stage of the event.





This is the first time since DreamHack Winter 2013 that Virtus.pro did not manage to reach the top eight ​to maintain its Legend status, and SK Gaming's Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo spoke to the overall structure in Counter-Strike rosters.





"Just to point something out, that’s funny how esports, because in soccer or football or basketball you can change a player, you can change a piece and it’s easy; it’s not working well or you had a fight with someone, or he suddenly doesn’t want to play for that team anymore, you just change a piece and that team can keep working," FalleN said. "In Counter-Strike, if you have a fight with someone it’s very difficult to find another replacement and there’s a lot of things to change to really bring [them] into the team, so when you start thinking to change the lineup there’s a lot of things to consider, it’s not easy to replace someone, and in the Virtus.Pro case in my opinion they are the team that everyone looks for because they have been together for five years, which is the longest anyone has been [together] in Counter-Strike, in my opinion. I think it is."

What’s wrong with VP right now? How can they fix their bad form?



FalleN: Roster changes aren’t as easy as everyone perceives. They have issues deeper than changing a player.



ChrisJ: The VP players can still compete on a high level. It’s hard to talk about a fix. — betway esports (@betwayesports) January 24, 2018

"And I think it’s the case, I think they just lost the joy of playing and playing together, and Counter-Strike is a very mental game. If you don’t have the desire to be at the side of someone, I think it will go to your game as well. You don’t want to be playing [with] someone so in-game, you don’t really go incorporating, communicating too much, and it’s definitely that. That’s why I think Virtus.Pro is being damaged right now."





Mousesports' Chris "chrisJ" de Jong also gave his take on Virtus.pro, a team that has played with the same five players for more than four years. It's unheard of to go that long in Counter-Strike without a roster change, but there is more speculation than ever that one could be imminent.





"I think the problem with Virtus.Pro is not really any of the individual players," he said. "I think they can all still play at a good level, but there is something wrong in the team. They have some, I don’t know the issue, or people are really angry at each other for some reason that makes them not be able to work together. They’re not able to perform at their usual level anymore, so I don’t know if it means you have to change the lineup, but sometimes it’s the only solution. Maybe they can also somehow reconcile and be like a happy family again. But it’s really hard to judge from the outside what their problem is, I think."

​​Photo courtesy of Turner Sports/ELEAGUE