Valorant Episode 7 Act 1: NRG Crashies’ Ace vs Boom Esports Gets Featured in Player Card

Riot Games is gearing up for the launch of Episode 7 Act 1 on 27th June 2023 and this new Episode is all set to introduce Agent 23 Deadlock, a brand new battle pass along with other changes to progression and agent contracts. Episode 7 will also see the release of the much-anticipated Team Deathmatch mode. However, just like any other new Episode launch, players are eagerly waiting to get their hands on the battle pass filled with cute sprays, gun buddies, player cards and titles, and weapon cosmetics. 

The contents of Valorant’s Battle Passes usually refer to some iconic event that happened in Valorant or Valorant esports or even draw inspiration from pop culture and other current happenings. One such player card in the new battle pass throws it back to an iconic play that NRG esports pro player Austin “crashies” Roberts pulled off against Boom Esports.

Here’s the back story of the “Mind the Drop” player card that is featured in Valorant Episode 7 Battle Pass and how Riot Games honored crashies with it.

Mind the Drop Player Card in Episode 7 Act 1 Battle Pass Explained

Getting aces in Valorant is always memorable and it fills you up with adrenaline and excitement and pro players are no exception. While last year during the Valorant Champions 2022, we witnessed many aces, Austin “crashies” Roberts’ ace was one of the most bizarre and funniest aces we’ve seen in Valorant esports history. During Valorant Champions 2022, crashies was a part of OpTic Gaming. 

On 1st September 2022, crashies collected an ace in the decider map in the best-of-three (BO3) series against Boom Esports (BME). 

On Fracture which was the decider map, in Round 11 OpTic had a 7-3 score and looked to end the half with a steady lead. Having only half buys and fearing an A-main push from OpTic, BME decided to take the ropes in the middle of Fracture to get to the opposite side to enter the sites. Unfortunately for them, crashies was stationed at the other end of the ropes and he hit headshots at all the five members of Boom Esports one after the other as they simply accepted their fate. Notably, once on the zipline, players will have to complete the ride before getting off it. However, they can still shoot while on the zipline. 

As iconic as it was, it prompted one of the casters to say, “No way! I don’t think we will ever witness anything like that again.” Following this ace, the members of OpTic Gaming were ecstatic and laughing as crashies collected a free ace near the zipline.

Now, Riot Games has forever etched this iconic play within its game by offering it as a player card (Mind the Drop card) to players. 

Boom Esports took this reference within the game in good spirits. It tweeted, “The last time we were in an international valorant event, we made history. what’s next? :^)” Whereas, crashies simply tweeted, “If you know, you know.”

This is not the first time Riot Games has included an Easter Egg within Valorant referencing this iconic crashies’ ace. On Fracture last year, the publisher included a cheeky email message that was found near the defender spawn. It was interactable during the Buy Phase. The easter egg referenced the death of the five Boom Esports players at the hands of crashies.

It read: “After a recent tragedy resulting in the fatality of five of our Everett-Linde personnel, we are taking a moment to remind everyone that ziplines are for single riders only. Your safety is our top priority, but in order to ensure it, safety regulations must be adhered to.”

This battle pass will consist of two different tiers, the free tier having a lesser number of rewards, while the paid tier will offer a whole lot more to the player. It will be available for purchase from 27th June onwards for 1000 VP, approximately $10 USD (INR 820). Even those not looking to purchase the battle pass can still grind it to earn some free rewards.