- Russian player Shockwave announced he would be taking a break
- Virtus Pro, Shockwave’s team, used to perform well, but the player says he needs a break to evaluate his future
- Virtus Pro will soon announce who will step in Shockwave’s shoes
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege team Virtus Pro will be saying their goodbyes with Shockwave, one of their top players.
Shockwave Announces He Will Be Taking a Break
Artem Simakov, known as “Shockwave,” is a Russian player who played Rainbow Six Siege for various teams over the course of the last five years.
He was a part of Team Empire, where he got second place at the Six Invitational in 2019 but left the team just before they scored a major victory against G2 at the Raleigh Major.
Virtus Pro, the last team he played with, recently announced Simarkov would be taking his leave from the professional esports scene at least for a while. While many of his fans are disappointed, Shockwave comments that recently he has lacked the motivation to play. Now the player wants to reevaluate his life and think a little bit about his future. Shockwave said a heartfelt “thank you” to his team for the time they spent together.
The player promised he would see the guys from Virtus Pro again soon, which may signify his break won’t be permanent, but it’s too early to speculate on that. Either way, Shockwave was among the upper ranks for the last two years and played with two competent Russian teams – should he decide to ever return, he will have no problem finding a new team.
Virtus Pro and the Future of the Team
Virtus Pro performed well as a team in the first season of the European League. They got fourth place in the first two stages and third place in the autumn mini-majors. They even came close to second place in the European League Finals but were ultimately outmatched by G2.
The team still has a promising future. Their current players are “Pavel “p4sh4” Kosenko, Andrey “m1loN” Mironov, Alan “Rask” Ali, and Artem “wTg” Morozov.
Soon Virtus Pro will be announcing who will be taking the vacant place left by Shockwave. Team Liquid recently dropped R6 coach “mav” following a probe into domestic abuse allegations.