VP plowed their way to a trophy in their first event of the season ahead of IEM Katowice.

Virtus.pro fulfilled expectations and secured the ESL Challengers February trophy after winning four matches, two best-of-ones in the group stage and two best-of-threes in the playoffs, without dropping a single map in the process and only giving up more than 10 rounds once, in their opening 16-14 victory over 9z.

Prospects were looking positive for the Americas region as their three teams at the event advanced to the playoffs after two days of play, leaving behind the likes HEET or Movistar Riders, but they ultimately weren’t able to challenge the CIS squad in Dzhami "⁠Jame⁠" Ali and company’s tour de force.

YEKINDAR topped the tournament with a 1.61 rating

FURIA and 9z kicked off the day in a Latin American brawl, and although the newly-formed squad led by Maximiliano "⁠max⁠" Gonzalez continued to show promise and took their Brazilian rivals to three maps, it was finally Rafael "⁠saffee⁠" Costa and company who crossed the finish line on Nuke 16-11 to secure a spot in the grand final.

On the other side of the bracket proceedings were expedited, as Complexity and Virtus.pro faced off in the second semi-final, but here things were nowhere as competitive as in the first series of the day as Mareks "⁠YEKINDAR⁠" Gaļinskis led the way for his team's 2-0 with a 1.82 rating in his team’s 2-0 thrashing of the North Americans.

Read more ESL Challenger February group stage concludes

The grand final was as it should be on paper, with the two most prestigious teams in the server, but it was the top 5 team in the world and the bookie favorites, Virtus.pro, who not only came out on top but ran away with yet another dominant performance.

The championship series started on FURIA’s map pick of Inferno, but a poor attacking side in which the Brazilians were only able to win four rounds ended in a quick end to the map when the CIS squad won five out of six on the terrorist side to make it 16-5.

Now on their map pick of Overpass, Virtus.pro continued to dismantle FURIA, starting off with an imposing terrorist side that went 11-4 before shutting the Brazilians down on the defense. It was YEKINDAR who went for the knockout punch when up 15-7, with two opening frags that Alexey "⁠Qikert⁠" Golubev followed up with a double of his own claim the series and win the title.

ESL Challenger February 2022Best of 3 FURIAMatchpage 0 2 13th February 2022 Virtus.pro 5Inferno 16 7Overpass 16

FURIA	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Andrei 'arT' PiovezanarT	21 - 34	-13	67.0	0.78
Yuri 'yuurih' Santosyuurih	23 - 33	-10	64.4	0.75
Rafael 'saffee' Costasaffee	23 - 34	-11	58.4	0.71
Kaike 'KSCERATO' CeratoKSCERATO	18 - 33	-15	54.4	0.68
André 'drop' Abreudrop	17 - 30	-13	52.5	0.60

Virtus.pro	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Mareks 'YEKINDAR' GaļinskisYEKINDAR	39 - 28	+11	103.7	1.51
Alexey 'Qikert' GolubevQikert	40 - 18	+22	89.5	1.50
Dzhami 'Jame' AliJame	26 - 17	+9	54.4	1.22
Timur 'buster' Tulepovbuster	27 - 19	+8	64.4	1.21
Evgenii 'FL1T' LebedevFL1T	31 - 23	+8	81.2	1.16

The final ESL Challenger February standings are:

1. Virtus.pro - $50,000
2. FURIA - $20,000
3-4. Complexity - $10,000
3-4. 9z - $10,000
5-6. HEET - $3,000
5-6. Movistar Riders - $3,000
7-8. ORDER - $2,000
7-8. Dignitas - $2,000

Dzhami 'Jame' Ali Age: 23 Team: Virtus.pro Rating 1.0: 1.14 Maps played: 1122 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.55 Movistar Riders #23 Alejandro 'alex' MasanetAlejandro 'mopoz' Fernández-Quejo CanoRaúl 'DeathZz' Jordán NietoÁlvaro 'SunPayus' GarcíaDavid 'dav1g' Granado Bermudo Rafael 'saffee' Costa Age: 27 Team: FURIA Rating 1.0: 1.23 Maps played: 326 KPR: 0.82 DPR: 0.60 Dignitas #28 Patrik 'f0rest' LindbergAdam 'friberg' FribergJonas 'Lekr0' OlofssonHåkon 'hallzerk' FjærliLudvig 'HEAP' Alonso 9z #46 Maximiliano 'max' GonzalezFranco 'dgt' GarciaLuca 'Luken' NadottiMartin 'rox' MolinaDavid 'dav1deuS' Tapia Maldonado Alexey 'Qikert' Golubev Age: 23 Team: Virtus.pro Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 1202 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.64 Mareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis Age: 22 Team: Virtus.pro Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 1046 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.70 Virtus.pro #5 Timur 'buster' TulepovEvgenii 'FL1T' LebedevAlexey 'Qikert' GolubevDzhami 'Jame' AliMareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis Complexity #29 Johnny 'JT' TheodosiouRicky 'floppy' KemeryMichael 'Grim' WincePaytyn 'junior' JohnsonJustin 'FaNg' Coakley Maximiliano 'max' Gonzalez Age: 22 Team: 9z Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 503 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.66 HEET #18 Alexandre 'bodyy' PianaroLucas 'Lucky' ChastangThomas 'Djoko' PavoniPierre 'Ex3rcice' BulingeAurélien 'afro' Drapier ORDER #80 Karlo 'USTILO' PivacJireh 'J1rah' YouakimLuke 'ekul' BlakeyMatthew 'Valiance' HartrickDeclan 'Vexite' Portelli FURIA #27 Andrei 'arT' PiovezanYuri 'yuurih' SantosKaike 'KSCERATO' CeratoRafael 'saffee' CostaAndré 'drop' Abreu