NS commented on the quality of Fng's preparation and compared his career achievements to his own

Virtus.pro's captain Artem "fng" Barshak is following in the footsteps of Yaroslav "NS" Kuznetsov, showcasing similar achievements and making the same mistakes.

This statement was made by the well-known Dota 2 streamer and content creator during a personal broadcast on Twitch.

"We even have our birthdays on the same day with Fng. As I've said many times, I don't believe in astrology, but we really are quite similar. We both were captains of Virtus.pro, and he is right now. We both played with Illidan, we both ranked in the top 5-6 in International. Very much alike. It's like Temych is my reincarnation. He's also not skilled in the 'five' position. And he really has the same mistakes as me. I always knew these mistakes, but could never fix them – it's just impossible."

Virtus.pro reached the finals of the upper bracket in ESL One Birmingham 2024 Eastern Europe but lost their spot in the main championship in a match against Team Spirit. Afterward, the team had to play another match in the lower bracket finals. Despite their defeat against Klim Sani4 in the lower bracket finals, Virtus.pro did not qualify for ESL One Birmingham 2024. Despite the losses, both opponents and many analysts noted the high quality of preparation for Artem "fng" Barshak's current team lineup.

It's worth mentioning that Neon Esports bid farewell to one of their members. Coach Wong Hok ChuaN ChuaN left the team earlier.