Virtus.pro benches FL4MUS to sign major-winning rifler

PM and Editor

Publish Date: June 26, 2025

Virtus.pro has benched Timur “FL4MUS” Maryev to make space for Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy, who recently reiterated his free agency on social media.

Virtus.pro has gone through enough changes to its starting roster over the past two years, but the December 29 overhaul was supposed to be the turning point. The CIS organization signed FL4MUS and Kaisar “ICY” Faiznurov on four-year contracts, hoping to build some stability. But with the team’s struggles at the BLAST Austin Major, it looks like FL4MUS’ time might be cut short before he even gets fully settled in.

The organization has now confirmed that FL4MUS will be moved to the bench, with Perfecto stepping in to take over rifler duties.

Why Perfecto is joining Virtus.pro

Virtus.pro will be hoping that proven veteran Perfecto can bring both a stabilizing force and a new rush of talent to the organization’s CS2 roster. VP came into the BLAST.tv Austin Major with high hopes, but their early promise quickly fell through. In Stage 3, the team started strong with wins over MOUZ and Legacy, putting them one win away from playoffs.

But the team’s momentum collapsed after a brutal 0–2 loss to FURIA, followed by another clean sweep at the hands of eventual champion Team Vitality. In the elimination match, the team fell 1–2 to paiN Gaming in another upset loss to a Brazilian side, and ironically to the same team VP had just beaten in Stage 2.

Now the organization is looking to bench FL4MUS, who posted a 0.88 rating during his time with Virtus.pro, which may have been a result of the role changes he had to adapt to after joining. The team has officially sidelined the player and plans to transfer him elsewhere in time. CEO Nikolai Petrossian described FL4MUS as a “talented player,” but admitted that “the circumstances didn’t allow” the team to meet the goals they had set out with.

Perfecto will join the roster as a far more experienced replacement, although he has been out of action for over a year since being benched by Cloud9. His time with Cloud9 didn’t leave much of a mark, but it’s hard to overlook the fact that he was part of NAVI’s Major-winning roster in 2021.

FL4MUS’ benching comes as a surprise to many fans, especially given that his contract was expected to last four years. It just goes to show that contract lengths don’t mean much if player performance isn’t there in Counter-Strike 2.

Meanwhile, Perfecto had been a free agent since April, but he publicly reaffirmed his desire to compete on June 23, suggesting this move came together quickly behind the scenes.

VP’s roster after perfecto’s addition: