Virtus.pro coach Kanishka 'Sam' Sosail summed up the team's performance after their elimination from ESL One Birmingham 2026 in Dota 2. He assessed the squad's current level and outlined what needs to change for them to compete with the event's top contenders, noting that the team is currently more comfortable against tier-2 rosters than against the strongest opponents in the field.
Sosail called the loss to Team Falcons very disappointing. He said the team arrived at the event after a solid bootcamp and showed good form early on, sitting inside the group’s top four during the first two days. The coach stressed that it was crucial for Virtus.pro to secure convincing 2:0 wins over teams such as Nigma, OG or Xtreme, because in the later stage of the group they had to face elite squads like Team Spirit, Falcons and Aurora. Against those tier-1 teams, he felt the matches were significantly more difficult and highlighted the need to learn from those games to close the gap.
He added that the squad must recover, stay unified and keep trying, since there are many tournaments ahead. While losing is painful, Sosail emphasized that everyone in the organisation is working hard and investing effort into improvement. At the moment, he believes Virtus.pro can compete with tier-2 teams—sometimes winning, sometimes losing—and that the primary objective is to continue working and progressing.
In the decisive group-stage matchup at ESL One Birmingham 2026, Virtus.pro fell to Team Falcons 0:2. The defeat eliminated the team from the tournament; the roster featuring BuLba finished in 9th–10th place and earned a $20,000 prize.