There are always high expectations when it comes to the Esports World Cup, and for Virtus.pro to lose out in the way they did is quite disappointing than most people think. For a team such as the Russian squad to lose out and drop out of the prestigious tournament is such a tough break and a very unfortunate timing for one of the best teams in the game.

As it happened, the squad could not even budge a single win in the Elimination Phase, losing to Team Falcons with a 0:2 score and finishing 13th-16th in the tournament. No one expected that from a winning team such as Virtus.pro, and now their tough exit is roaring in the Dota 2 world.

For Nikita “Daxak” Kuzmin, this loss was a very rough finish that will definitely be a massive stain in their reputation for the years to come. If it wasn’t enough, the discussion on various social media platforms and even Dota 2 forums is going to echo as an insult to injury with the way they are being trolled by critics and fans all around.

Bowing Out on the Biggest Stage

While some may say that it is unexpected, Virtus.pro losing out at this point did not come as a shock. For starters, the team has not won any tournament in the last few months, only finishing first in qualifiers, but never putting the nail in the coffin in the succeeding runs. The last time they won a major tournament? The Kuala Lumpur Major in 2018.

If you are not convinced, Virtus.pro has not found a way to win at an impressive pace. In the last 10 matchups, they have only won once – against MOUZ in the Western Europe Closed Qualifier of The International 2025. After that, they’ve only won one game and have lost nine straight series.

That includes four in a row in the Esports World Cup 2025, which proved to be the points of Daxak’s whims that definitely sent a strong message to many fans at this point.

"As I said in an English-language interview, the most disappointing thing is not that we lost. There are losses when you prepared, did everything together, but something didn't work out for someone, someone got sick, something didn't work out for someone, even though everyone tried, and so on,” said Daxak.

Early Exit in the EWC 2025

Virtus.pro faced Tundra, Yandex, Aurora, and Team Falcons in the elimination phase – with not a single win in each of these series. They went 0-8 in that stretch, including that massive drop to the Falcons, which hammered them to the end of the tournament for good. Not that it matters a lot, but they were one of the teams pegged to at least make a deep run in the contest.

"It was hard for the coach. Imagine, every day they say that the problem is in the peak. But it wasn't. Even considering that the atmosphere for the last games had recovered a little, the lack of preparation decided the outcome. Alas, it was simply a failure on all fronts."

Considering that there are a lot of promising tournaments left to play in the 2025 campaign, one can say that Virtus.pro has very ample time to at least avenge their loss and come up with a bounce-back game now more than ever.