Virtus.pro had a heartbreaking end to ESL One Birmingham, tumbling out of the tournament after a last-minute patch threw the final day of the group stage into disarray.
We spoke to VP’s Tal “Fly” Aizik following the team’s exit from the tournament. Amid a disappointing finish, he was optimistic about the team’s development. Fly told Jaxon.gg about how the tournament went, how the current Virtus.pro roster came about, and, of course, the mid-tournament patch drop.
Image Credit: Virtus.pro
You’ve been to ESL One Birmingham a few times, a few different editions and whatnot. What about this edition do you think is different and do prefer this new venue and the format?
Tal “Fly” Aizik: “I like the format. I think it’s good. Obviously it would have been nicer if I got to play on the stage. That’s probably the biggest thing for me that I didn’t get to play in front of the crowd this time. I do like the group stage, I think it’s very fair. The top four teams advanced. And it’s not too many games once you pass the group stage, which I think is cool. So I like it overall.”
So this Virtus.pro roster is one of the first majority non-Eastern European, Western European rosters. How did this roster kind of come together with you guys under Virtus.pro?
Fly: “Yeah, so it sort of came by Bulba and myself wanting to team up together and create a team. And we were looking around which organizations might be interested in, you know, supporting our ideas and team ideology. And Virtus.pro, like obviously a very legendary name in esports.
So we got in contact with them and then things kind of got rolling that and we got some players who were previously on the VP roster like Daxak and Antares who are no longer here but it was kind of like a start and was like hey let’s make this into an interesting project with some flexibility like we ended up making changes. But that’s sort of how it started and it’s been good. Virtus.pro has been really cool and really supportive and you know I think we’re gonna still do great things.”
On that, talking about the project. What are your goals in terms of tournament qualifications and finishes in the future? How far do you feel like VP is from achieving those goals?
Fly: “I think we’ve had some ups and downs. I think we had a good start and then we changed some players like when we changed the Daxak and Antares and brought in Sabre and Hellscream. We were able to get a top-eight finish in DreamLeague, which was our best achievement as a team.
And then we kind of went into a slump. Things have not been so good. We lost in some qualifiers, we have not been playing well realistically. But after having a bit of a break, we’re sort of like a new upwards momentum.
I think our performance here, realistically, probably the best we would have gone in is top-six. Maybe top-eight, that was probably the highest ceiling we could get right now, but it’s still an improvement from where we were before. So VP has just been supporting us through bootcamps and trying to make sure we have whatever we need, so it’s been good and I think we are getting better.”
So obviously you unfortunately dropped out of the tournament just narrowly missing out on the playoffs. Besides the patch, which we’ll talk a little bit more in the moment, do you think there’s anything that could have helped you make that final push that you would have helped you be able to make the final leap towards playoffs?
Fly: “Yeah, for sure. I think we are a little bit inconsistent as a team and it shows where I think we’re not on the same level as some Aurora or Team Spirit or Falcons. Maybe we could sneak a game from them if we’re really performing.
But I do think we could have potentially 2-0’d some of the other teams we lost a game to like Nigma Galaxy or maybe OG. I think they’re closer to our level, but I do feel like we could really 2-0 them if we’re playing our best. So we need to add some consistency to our gameplay for sure.”
Image Credit: Virtus.pro
Inevitably, obviously the patch was a big issue. It dropped right before you needed to make those crucial games to stay in the tournament. First of all just, mid-tournament patches, do you like them or are they just never good? Do you like the kind of chaos it brings? Or not?
Fly: “I wish they would have waited just one day just so we can get through the group stage and then I’m totally down. I’m game to have that patch drop. I don’t mind it just because I like the new patches, I think it’s cool. But yeah, one more day would have been cool, but you know, it is what it is. Everybody is on the same playing field, really. I was about to head to bed and then somebody walks in and like, hey, the new patch has dropped. It’s close to midnight. I’m like, okay, I guess I’m staying up. So at least it was funny.”
With that, how much do you think the patch affected your play on the final day of groups? If there’s no patch, do you think you’d beat Team Falcons and make it to the playoffs, or do you think, like, your performance was your performance on the day?
Fly: “I think we played relatively well on the last day, to be honest. The games were definitely close. So I would have preferred it to not be… to be on the old patch, just because we were in a good, comfortable place. And I do think the Falcons have been struggling a little bit, to be honest.
So I think it was kind of like our chance, but you new patch Nobody really knows you know it’s kind of like Whatever happens, happens type of thing So it was a bit unfortunate, but they were in the same shoes as us.”
Is there anything that jumps out of the patch instantly? It’s broken so you guys want to use it going forward.
Fly: “Yeah I do feel like there’s definitely some OP stuff that we already see and we thought about as well. I think the Alchemist tech is kind of cool where he gets his like GPM when he buffs people’s Aghs which you know means Largo is still good as we saw the other day. We were thinking about it too.
When we played Alchemist [after the patch dropped], we weren’t quite able to replicate it with the same heroes. Like we couldn’t get all the best like Aghs pairings. So I think we had an idea, but we didn’t think it all the way through, if that makes sense.”
Now Facets are gone, is there any specific Facet you’re really gonna miss or you just happy they’re gone in general?
Fly: “I think it’s an interesting progression for Dota, like they keep changing things. There’s definitely going to be some Facets that are missed, some of them are just built into the hero now. Like, Phoenix is one of my favorite heroes and he thankfully gets his dying light facet.
But on the other hand, Chen, I thought was cool where you can kind of choose your creep and that’s gone. So I’m a little sad about that one, for example. From the heroes I play, those are the ones I can think of immediately.”
That’s all the questions I’ve got. Thank you so much and good luck with your next tournament.
Stick with Jaxon.gg for more Dota 2 news and guides and continuing coverage of ESL One Birmingham 2026.
Featured Image Credit: Virtus.pro
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