Virtus.pro bench Jame after Shanghai Major fiasco
Following the team's early exit from the Perfect World Shanghai Major, Virtus.pro have made the decision to bench Dzhami "Jame" Ali moving forward.
While the future may look uncertain for the seasoned in-game leader and AWPer, it appears both Jame and Virtus.pro agreed it was high time for a change in direction after a long string of disappointing results for the team in 2024.
Benching a VP legend
Jame's and the rest of the AVANGAR line-up's addition to the Virtus.pro roster back in 2019 would signify a turn of the tides for the historic CS organization at the time.
Just three years later, Jame had already made everyone forget about the days of Polish VP by leading the team to a Major win at the Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2022, nearly a decade after the organization's last Major trophy, earning Jame the Major MVP medal in the process. The team, though, was forced to operate under the Outsiders banner at the time.
Jame led Virtus.Pro, then Outsiders, to a Major trophy at Rio in 2022, though that is all in the past now. (Credit: ESL Gaming)Under Jame's leadership, Virtus.pro had a good run of showing in the later years of CS:GO's history. More recently, however, CS2 hasn't quite been the same experience for the team.
After failing to win anything of relevance in recent times, coupled with a surprising early exit for the Perfect World Shanghai Major just weeks ago, it became increasingly apparent that changes were in order for Virus.pro.
As for Jame, the Russian player's move to the bench will represent as much disappointment as it will a world of possibilities. Though nothing is certain at the time, a player of Jame's caliber, experience and work ethic may have loads of great CS left to offer yet.
Virtus.pro look to the future
While Jame's leadership was able to flood VP fans with joy after a period of drought, the time has come for the team to head for open waters once more.
VP's signing of Denis "electroNic" Sharipov earlier this year was meant to represent the addition of a star rifler who would click heads and put up numbers. Though that did not end up being the case, perhaps new leadership will manage to bring out the best in a player who was one of the finest riflers in the world not too long ago.
Jame's benching, however, means that team is now missing both an in-game leader and an a dedicated AWPer. With such a big hole left to fill, Virtus.pro will want to take their time scouring all levels of professional Counter-Strike in search of the right player to lead the new project back towards the gold.
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Image source: ESL Gaming
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