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Team Vitality announced on 7th June that the youngest member of its Valorant roster Karel "Twisten" Ašenbrener passed away aged 19 years. The Valorant community, including Riot Games, players, fans, organizations, and others, poured in tributes and condolences and sent love toward Twisten’s family, friends, and teammates soon after. Following this tragic news, members of the Valorant community stressed the importance of mental health, urging people to check up on their loved ones. Additionally, the community is also discussing ways to honor Twisten.
Remembering Twisten: Shorty kills for charity
At the start of the year, during the VCT LOCK//IN tournament, Twisten vowed to donate €25 Euros to charity every time someone landed a kill with the Shorty at the event. He stated that it was not just his kills but he would donate for Shorty kills secured by any player from the 32 teams that attended the tournament in São Paulo, Brazil. Following this, numerous players used the weapon in LOCK//IN and there were a total of 58 kills with the Shorty.
Notably, during the VCT LOCK//IN tournament, Twisten opened up about his mental health struggles and that he had been dealing with depression for over two years. As a result, members of the Valorant community are discussing ways to honor Twisten by including the sidearm weapon that he popularized during the tournament.
VCT Analyst Jakub “Lothar” Szygulski suggested, “Please @PlayVALORANT @ValorantEsports consider creating a Twisten Shorty skin with Cat Ears as sights and donating the profits to charity and mental health institutions.”
Likewise, VCT EMEA broadcast member Ryan "RyanCentral" Horton said, “I've seen some great ideas for honoring Twisten. We could also continue Twisten's '€25 for a Shorty kill for charity' at international events as a community. Even if people donate like €1 per kill (or just a set amount). Is there a donation website that could do this?”
Replying to RyanCentral, former Team Liquid coach Connor “Sliggy” Blomfield promised to donate €25 Euros for every Shorty kill at VCT Masters 2023 Tokyo and also at Valorant Champions 2023. Following this, pro players Anthony “vanity” Malaspina, Elias “Jamppi” Olkkonen, Alex “aproto” Protopapas, and Nathan “leaf” Orf have all agreed to match Sliggy’s donations for the cause.
The CEO of M80 Marco Mereu vowed that M80 will also donate for every Shorty kill but noted that the organization will be donating $100 USD for every kill at the upcoming Ascension tournaments, VCT Masters Tokyo, and Valorant Champions.
Already working on these ideas, The Guard pro player Michael "neT" Bernet vowed to donate $24 USD to a mental health charity for every Shorty kill he gets in the Challengers League: North America tournament.
After the first series against G2 Esports, neT has already donated $100 USD to a non-profit called Rise Above the Disorder which covers the cost of mental health care for people all over the world.
All-Shorty Rounds at Global Esports vs Velocity Gaming Showmatch
On 8th June, Global Esports (GE) aka GE Fighting took on Velocity Gaming one last time in a LAN setup. This was held as part of the ongoing Valorant Challengers League (VCL) 2023 South Asia Split 2 in the form of a showmatch that GE Fighting won.
This matchup also called as Val'Clásico in the community is one of the fiercest and most legendary rivalries within the South Asian scene.
In the opening pistol round of the two matches that were played on Haven and Bind, all ten players opted for the Shorty in an all-Shorty round in memory of Twisten.
With VCT Masters Tokyo kicking off very soon on 11th June, the community will surely be keeping close tabs on the number of Shorty kills at the tournament.
