Sentinels’ star VALORANT player Michael “dapr” Gulino commented on stream earlier this week about his experience with receiving toxic messages and even death threats from people in the community. Dapr went into detail describing the harsh messages he’s been sent as a pro player.
“I got shit talked for such a long time now, I’m indifferent dude,” dapr said. “If I showed you guys my DMs, I could show you like 20 screenshots I took of people saying they’ll like fucking dismember my mother because I knifed Mixwell and shit. I’m so used to it now, it’s nothing to me.”
Dapr went on to describe the unfortunate frequency of these toxic and threatening messages, saying “that’s just life on the internet, dude, they’re anonymous but it’s just a thing that happens.” Dapr cited his knife kill onto a G2 player during a VCT Masters Berlin group stage match as a specific moment in which he received threats.
VCT Masters Berlin sparked a larger conversation over the prevalence of death threats in the VALORANT community. Several players across multiple different regions and teams all shared their encounters with threats from viewers.
100 Thieves duelist player Peter “Asuna” Mazuryk notably decried the act amid the international competition. After only his first game at Masters Berlin against Havan Liberty, Asuna received a flood of death threats.
Media figures in the VALORANT esports scene have similarly condemned the actions and regularity of death threats both throughout and after Masters Berlin. It’s been a particular point of contention that players bantering or trash-talking either on stage or on social media is not an excuse for fans to retaliate or send harmful messages.
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