Olivia R. July 3, 2019
After just a few weeks, Virtus.pro is benching Michal "OKOLICIOUZ" Glowaty.
The Polish team has announced that Tomasz "phr" Wojcik will be the stand-in for OKOLICIOUZ, who joined the roster in May. At the time, OKOLICIOUZ was serving as Pawel "byali" Bienlinski's replacement. byali had left Virtus.pro after playing on the team for five years, stating he couldn't agree with Virtus.pro's "general principles."
The team's fans were skeptical of OKOLICIOUZ even though he'd acted as a stand-in for Virtus.pro before. But it looked like the fans were right to worry, as OKOLICIOUZ was quickly benched after not being able to secure a spot in the lineup.
During his time on the team, OKOLICIOUZ attended two live events. Virtus.pro finished in second place at the ESL Polish Championship Spring 2019 Finals and third at Moche XL.
Despite fans' hesitation with OKOLICIOUZ, they seem equally upset at the team's decision to bench him.
"VP - taking players with potential from lesser teams, promising them a good salary, only to ruin their careers months later," one user said on HLTV.org.
Still, others were pleased with the addition of phr. While a part of AGO Esports, phr secured second place at the World Electronic Sports Games 2018 and third at the StarLadder & IMbaTV Invitational Chongqing 2018. The team also placed first in a number of lower tier tournaments throughout 2018.
With OKOLICIOUZ on the bench, Virtus.pro's main roster now includes Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski, Michael "snatchi" Rudzki, Michael "MICHU" Muller, Arek "Vegi" Nawojski, and phr as a stand-in. The entire roster is from Poland, including coach Jakub "kubn" Gurczynski.