Virtus.pro has benched Denis ‘electroNic’ Sharipov following its elimination from the BLAST Open Fall 2025: Closed Qualifier over the weekend.
The Russian player had been competing for the organisation’s Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) roster since April last year.
ElectroNic has represented various esports organisations throughout his ten-year-long career in CS2 esports.
His arguably most successful run was with NAVI, for which he competed between 2017 and 2023. Together with the Ukrainian organisation, ElectroNic won several BLAST Premier and IEM events as well as the PGL Major Stockholm in 2021.
“Denis is one of the most experienced and decorated players in the world. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to build a team together that could consistently fight for top positions at the biggest tournament,” shared Virtus.pro CEO, Nikolai Petrossian, in today’s announcement.
“I’d like to thank him for the journey we shared, no matter how difficult it was at times. Big thanks to Denis for his genuine motivation and his readiness to take on the responsibility of being the team’s captain.”
Virtus.pro Struggles Throughout 2025 CS2 Season
While Virtus.pro has been a veteran in the competitive Counter-Strike scene across several iterations of the franchise, the Russian team has struggled to keep up with its rivals for some time. Its latest tier-one trophy was won at the Roobet Cup 2023.
This year, Virtus.pro remains in the middle of the global CS2 pack, currently ranking 18th on the VRS leaderboard. Although the team has previously made several changes to its roster, including the replacement of Timur ‘FL4MUS’ Marev with Ilya ‘Perfecto’ Zalutskiy, Virtus.pro has yet to reach the top four at a tier-one tournament in 2025.
Furthermore, the organisation failed to qualify for September’s BLAST Open Fall after losing its first two games in the qualifier. ElectroNic’s move to the inactive roster followed soon after.
This leaves Virtus.pro searching for a fifth player to represent the team at its next tournament, FISSURE Playground #2, from September 12th-21st. However, the organisation has assured that ElectroNic’s replacement will be announced soon.
