Virtus.pro Re-Add n0rb3r7 To Active Lineup

21 Aug 2023

Tit Krajnik 21 Aug 2023

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David "n0rb3r7" Danielyan returns to VP's roster
n0rb3r7 will replace Alexey "Qikert" Gloubev, who left the team over the weekend
The 22-year-old has been inactive since June due to an injury

As revealed by Virtus.pro, David "n0rb3r7" Danielyan has re-joined the team's active Counter-Strike: Global Offensive lineup. The 22-year-old's return coincides with the departure of Alexey "Qikert" Gloubev, who left the team over the weekend.

N0rb3r7 has been an inactive member of Virtus.pro since June 2023, when he stepped down from the active CS:GO roster with an injury. During that time, he missed several tournaments, including Gamers8, and was replaced by Qikert, who, despite revealing that he is nearing the exit doors, stood in for the Russian rifler during his absence.

"We made it clear from the beginning that David remains a part of the main CS:GO roster. As soon as he recovered from the injury, we immediately returned him to the team.I would like to thank Aleksey "Qikert" Golubev for his professionalism and dedication. His performance in Riyadh once again has proven that he is a high caliber player. But now we are going back to the variation of the roster with which we plan to work in the long term."

Qikert revealed his intentions to leave the team in June, with Virtus.pro initially planning to replace Qikert with Nikolay "mir" Bityukov, but the plans fell through after n0rb3r7's injury. As a result, Qikert extended his stay with VP until this weekend, when n0rb3r7 became fit to return to the competitive scene.

"Following the results of BLAST Premier last year, we were at a crossroads. Initially, the club's management and the coaching staff (which at that time included Jame and dastan, and now PASHANOJ joined them) planned to replace Qikert, but at the last moment the coaching staff managed to convince the management that replacing David would be more effective. It turned out to be an unfortunate decision, the one that caused us to lose more than six months."

N0rb3r7's return doesn't change the look of Virtus.pro's roster much, which begs the question of whether VP will manage to recover from their slump. The Russian squad hasn't found much success in their competitive endeavours since the team won Intel Extreme Masters Rio Major 2022 (as Outsiders).

In 2023, Virtus.pro have won just two CS:GO events, including ESL Challenger Katowice 2023 and CCT Online Finals #2, but haven't accomplished much in bigger tournaments. Most recently, Virtus.pro crashed out of Intel Extreme Masters Sydney 2023: European Open Qualifier #2 in fifth-eighth place and concluded their run through Gamers8 2023 in the second round, where VP lost against G2 Esports.

Virtus.pro's journey through the 2023 season continues on Thursday, August 24, when they'll play their first game of Dunav Party LAN. A week later, Virtus.pro will also attend ESL Pro League Season 18, one of the final Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Big Events, before we transition to Counter-Strike 2.