The Virtus.pro organization has announced creating a second CS:GO roster, to be known as Virtus.academy. This is intended as a step towards helping the development of the professional scene in the CIS region.

The squad has been formed from players on the Dota 2 roster, who for some months have been combining practicing their regular discipline with studying the intricacies and team strategies of CS:GO. The suggestion came from Ilya “Lil” Ilyuk, who has recently spoken quite frankly about the level of competitive Dota 2 in the region:

Translation: “This is what you get when the internet happens :) From now on, please refrain from putting ‘CIS Dota’ and ‘Virtus.pro’ in the same sentence”

The Virtus.pro.academy roster:

Ilya “Lil” Ilyuk — captain

Alexey “Solo” Berezin

Roman “RAMZES666” Kushnarev

Vladimir “No[o]ne” Minenko

Pavel “9pasha” Khvastunov

The new roster will enjoy full support from the organization, and will at first take part in online tournaments. Additionally, the team will hold a bootcamp to prepare for the PGL Minor.