Valorant pro receives death threats for teabagging at event

Controversy has erupted around Valorant’s North American First Strike event. 

Michael “dapr” Gulino of Sentinels says he was slammed with harsh criticism for fans due to his teabagging of Joshua “steel” Nissan. dapr states that this was harsh enough that he received death threats for the move:

dapr’s teammate Shahzeeb “ShahZaM” Khan said something similar, suggesting that he had received vile comments regarding the death of his father.

In the semifinals of First Strike North America, 100 Thieves faced Sentinels in a best-of-three series. The match opened with an early lead for Sentinels, which left the team feeling confident enough to taunt 100 Thieves. After winning the fourth round of the map, dapr stopped and teabagged steel as his teammates scrounged for guns.

Teabagging is a method of mocking an opponent and is most commonly seen in first-person shooters. After securing a kill, a player will stand over the dead opponent and repeatedly crouch in order to simulate performing a sexual act. Teabagging is generally seen as disrespectful in a professional setting and there has been a push in some corners to end its practice in gaming as a whole.

Though it likely didn’t play a factor in the outcome of the match, things did not go according to plan for Sentinels. The team lost the lead, the map, and eventually the series to 100 Thieves. 100 Thieves went on to win the entire tournament. 

A follow-up tweet from dapr suggested that it came from 100 Thieves fans who were frustrated over the incident. Neither Sentinels nor 100 Thieves issued a statement on the matter, but 100 Thieves star Nicholas “nitr0” Cannella touched upon it by snarking over how dapr’s taunting was followed by a decisive loss:

dapr noted that he did not want the matter to become an indictment of 100 Thieves or its fans. This is still an ugly incident that may or may not spiral into something official on Riot Games’ part.

Do esports pros often receive death threats?

Death threats in esports aren’t necessarily common, but they’re far from rare. Over the last several years, pro players from a variety of esports titles have stepped forward and discussed receiving death threats from fans on social media.

These incidents can happen for a variety of reasons. Though dapr’s case stems from a specific disrespectful moment, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro Nathan “leaf” Orf recently received death threats over unsubstantiated allegations of cheating during a match against MIBR. It isn’t just winning that can get pro players into trouble, as Dota 2 players stated they sometimes receive death threats for losing games. Even beloved figures such as Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund have such violent toxicity in the past.