Valorant pro Asuna sent death threats over “taunting” Havan Liberty at VCT Masters
Colin Young-Wolff / Riot GamesAfter 100 Thieves’ convincing 2-0 victory over Havan Liberty, star play Peter ‘Asuna’ Mazuryk has received death threats over “cocky taunting” in-game.
While players are playing their hearts out at Masters: Berlin for the trophy, as well as a ticket to Valorant Champions, it doesn’t stop the players from having some fun on stage and enjoying the experience.
Consisting of four veteran Counter-Strike players, alongside the young prodigy Asuna, who takes the role as the aggressive duelist entry-fragger, 100 Thieves dominated their first game of the tournament against Havan Liberty, with a convincing and dominating 2-0 sweep.
While 100 Thieves was focused on winning, that didn’t stop prodigy Peter ‘Asuna’ Mazuryk from making some jokes towards the Brazillian’s Havan Liberty in between rounds.
Colin Young-Wolff / Riot GamesWe’ve seen various clips including voice comms from players on stage at Masters: Berlin, and it was no different with Asuna. The young player having the time of his life during his first-ever LAN event, taunting the Brazilian team for “wasting his time” during a tech pause.
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The clip was posted on Twitter by Valorant host and analyst Yinsu Collins, but was later deleted. Collins explained that Asuna had received death threats.
“Deleted a tweet about 100 Thieves’ banter on Stage because I saw Asuna was getting death threats. Can’t believe I have to say this but for the love of God don’t send death threats to players for having fun,” Yinsu tweeted.
I’m going to limit revealing too much of what the players are saying now because we can’t have nice things and a large group of individuals will resort to ridiculous measures for no reason. If you’re someone who did this just know that you’re a disappointment and a bad person.
— Yinsu (@YinsuCollins) September 11, 2021
Members of the Valorant community were critical of those behind the death threats, likely a small number of the otherwise respectful fans. Asuna was shown support across the community, with many saying he’s the nicest kid in Valorant, who was just trying to have fun.
Asuna is literally one of the nicest players I've ever met in esports. The dude likes going to events so he can make new friends and meet people from other countries. It's fucked up and has no place in the industry
— The Esports Writer (@FionnOnFire) September 11, 2021
asuna is literally one of the nicest kids in the pro scene man he would never seriously bm or be toxic to someone else at pro level, people need to grow tf up i swear these fans always take it too far
— Lexi 𓆩♡𓆪 (@LexiSZN_77) September 11, 2021
Esports fans can be very passionate about their favorite teams, especially when there is a sense of national pride on the line. Most infamously, Korean T1 fans in League of Legends have sent death threats to players on the team – which led T1 to take legal action. In CS:GO, Brazilian fans sent death threats to a semi-pro player some had unfairly accused of cheating against Made in Brazil.