Steven R. February 13, 2019
Virtus.pro’s Counter-Strike division is now a little less swole.
During the opening rounds of the Katowice Major 2019, the organization quietly announced the release of fan favorite veteran Jaroslaw "pashaBiceps" Jarzabkowski on its website. The player has been benched from the team’s active roster since December.
PashaBiceps has been a rock for VP for years. Joining in 2014 following a split from ESC Gaming, he helped the Polish team become one of the most dominant forces in Counter-Strike through 2016. That run included wins at a number of top events including first-place finishes at ELEAGUE Season 1 and the 2014 Katowice Major.
In 2017, top placements became increasingly elusive. The team remained near the podium at premiere tournaments, but that changed in 2018 as Virtus.pro went into a tailspin that culminated in a last-place showing at the London Major, a flop which saw VP shake up its roster in the fall by deactivating PashaBiceps, as well as longtime teammates Paweł "byali" Bieliński and Filip "NEO" Kubski.
The sole survivor of VP’s heyday is Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski, who returned to the team in December following a brief run with mousesports.
Though Virtus.pro built a new roster by Christmas, its new team has not looked much better than the previous roster to this point. It washed out of both European open qualifiers for Intel Extreme Masters XIV Sydney and struggled en route to a fifth-place finish at WePlay! Lock and Load.
While this marks the end of an era for PashaBiceps, the Polish veteran made it clear that he isn’t done yet.
“I will take a small break, but Papito will be back like Terminator. Better and stronger,” Pasha said.