Fly about Virtus.pro at EWC 2026: “We know that we are no match for the local tier-1 teams”

Virtus.pro support Tal 'Fly' Aizik, in an interview at the Esports World Cup 2026, spoke about the victory over OG, reaching the Survival stage, and also assessed the transformation of the roster throughout the season.

It was a crazy episode. We knew this would be a do or die day for us. Of course, we were a little shaky, Virtus.pro is not very stable now, but I’m glad that we managed to show ourselves today. The enemy was also good, especially on the second map. They made the game very difficult for us. I think it was a good episode.

To be honest, we started without any expectations. Unfortunately, we lost the qualifications for The International 2026. Of course, this is a sad moment for us. We were sad for a couple of days, and then we sat down and talked. We decided that we want to come here and show everything we are capable of. And come what may. We know that we are no match for the local tier-1 teams. But if we play our game without pressure, we can take away cards. And we showed this a couple of times. Today was just such a day. But there are no expectations as such.

At the start of the season we had slightly different players, we changed the lineup halfway through. We grew as a team. I think we've gotten better, but we haven't reached the level we wanted to. It was like a roller coaster. Then we were like, “Oh my God, we can carry games.” There was a lot of trust within the team. Sometimes we were “not here”, this trust was lost, and it had to be built again. The team is difficult. There are a lot of different processes, different dynamics. It was a difficult but interesting year. I hope we do well in this tournament. Getting out of the group is already a big victory for us. I think the band was really tough.

Virtus.pro beat OG on the last day of the group stage, thanks to which they advanced to the Survival stage of the Esports World Cup 2026. In the first round, the team will meet with Rune Eaters Esports, and if they win, they will play for a ticket to the playoffs with Aurora Gaming.