Jame benched after 5 years at VP in post-season reshuffle

Almost five years to the day since he joined Virtus.pro's CS2 squad, AWPer and captain Dzhami "Jame" Ali has been benched by the Russian organization following lackluster results through 2024 and the team's early exit at the Shanghai Major.

The 26-year-old sniper's exit from VP kicks off what is sure to be an action-packed off-season of roster shuffles as top squads adjust before the new year. The biggest moves are yet to come, however, with the Shanghai Major wrapping up this weekend.

Jame was officially benched on December 11, with VP CEO Nikolai Petrossian thanking the AWPer for his service. "Jame is a legend of VP and CS in general," he said, adding that it was time for a change among the VP ranks.

VP's announcement also included a quote from Jame himself. "I want to express my deepest gratitude to Virtus.рro, where I spent so many unforgettable years," he said. "This was the most successful period of my career, during which I learned a lot, met amazing people, and won significant trophies."

Jame moved over to VP in 2019 after a successful stint with AVANGAR that concluded with a major final appearance in Berlin. Together with his AVANGAR teammates, Jame donned the black-and-orange first at EPICENTER 2019. However, there were definite growing pains as the squad adjusted to life at VP.

VP slowly built up a resume of results during the COVID era before hitting the ground running in 2022. Jame just missed out on a playoffs spot at the Antwerp Major in May, but the squad kept at it. For this, they were rewarded in Rio, claiming the title 2-0 (as Outsiders) over Heroic. Jame was named the MVP of the Rio Major, recording a 1.30 HLTV rating for the tournament.

Shockingly, VP went on to miss out on qualifying for the BLAST Paris Major in 2023, and it's here where the wheels began falling off. VP controversially benched their fifth Aleksandr "KaiR0N-" Anashkin midway through the RMR, for which the team was universally panned.

From then on, the squad struggled to leave a mark. Many anticipated a revival of Jame and VP with the acquisition of Denis "electronic" Sharipov from Cloud9 in April but outside of spotty and almost-immediate playoff exits, it was believed the squad's time was up.

The exit in Shanghai to Wildcard was the death blow. Jame's individual numbers have fallen sharply since his early days on VP. Coupled with the team's failings and his position as captain, something had to give.

Jame's benching kicks off what is sure to be a hot off-season for roster changes among the top CS2 squads.

We've already seen many teams who fell short of qualifying for the Shanghai Major pull the plug on their projects. The likes of Astralis, SAW, Aurora, 9Pandas, and 9INE have seen off members of their rosters already.

That's not to mention that the Shanghai Major is ongoing, with teams awaiting the conclusion of the event. We've also already heard of multiple changes coming at the tier one level, with Nikolai "NiKo" Kovac all but confirmed off to Falcons after the season wraps.

That's all for now — stay tuned to esports.gg for the latest CS2 news and coverage.