Virtus.pro turn to ICY for CS Asia Championships amid roster-rule squeeze

Virtus.pro turn to ICY for CS Asia Championships amid roster-rule squeeze

Virtus.pro turn to ICY for CS Asia Championships amid roster-rule squeeze

Virtus.pro will field Kazakh AWPer Kaisar “ICY” Faiznurov at the CS Asia Championships 2025 (CAC) after tournament operator Perfect World confirmed the lineup to HLTV. The switch ensures VP meet Valve’s invite “core” requirements at the Shanghai event running October 14–19. 

The decision follows VP’s earlier plan to trial academy sniper Vladimir “b1st” Krasikov for CAC in place of ICY—an approach that would have left only two players from VP’s invited lineup eligible under Valve’s rules. By restoring ICY, Virtus.pro preserve the three-player invited core needed to keep their CAC slot and the event’s ranking status.

Valve’s Tournament Operation Requirements stipulate that directly invited teams must play with at least three players from the roster at the time of the invite snapshot. Recent explainer and update pieces have highlighted how these VRS rules affect 2025 invites and wildcards. 

VP’s CAC lineup is set as: fame, FL1T, Perfecto, tO0RO, ICY (coach: F_1N). VP opened Group A versus Legacy on October 14. 

What just happened at CAC

Virtus.pro dropped their opening best-of-one on Mirage, losing 2–13 to Legacy. 

How we got here — recent VP roster timeline

Aug 29: Denis “electroNic” Sharipov moved to the bench after a rough BLAST Open London; Timur “FL4MUS” Marev and David “n0rb3r7” Danielyan were already out of the active five. 

Sep 1: Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy took over IGL duties, with VP describing the captaincy call as “unanimous.” 

Sep 1–2: Academy rifler Vadim “tO0RO” Arkov was promoted from VP.Prodigy to the main roster. 

Oct 1: VP announced b1st would stand in for ICY specifically for CAC; they stressed “ICY has not been benched.” (Plan since superseded by today’s change.) 

Related news & background you may want for context

Perfect World’s CAC invites & exceptions: Articles through the summer documented CAC’s invite list and subsequent rule exceptions affecting 2025 tier-2 events.

ICY’s arrival to VP (Dec 2024): The organization signed ICY from Cloud9 on a deal through 2028 to take over primary AWP duties.

tO0RO’s rise: HLTV’s promotion piece notes the youngster’s strong academy form before joining the main five.

Verified quotes (no fabrication)

Virtus.pro on handing IGL to Perfecto (Sep 1):

“We are confident that his vast professional experience, deep understanding of the game, and leadership qualities will help stabilize the team’s play and results.” 

Virtus.pro statement when naming b1st for CAC (Oct 1):

“The decision was made together with the players and coaching staff: the team wants to test a new AWPer and give the young player an opportunity to prove himself on the international stage.” VP also stated “ICY has not been benched.” (Today’s update supersedes that plan.) 

FL4MUS on being benched & his goals (Sep 27 interview):

“I plan to practice more to show that I’m a f**ing player.”* He added he expected a benching due to form and praised tO0RO’s impact.