Demon1 stakes his claim as Valorant’s best player: “Respect my f***ing name”
Colin Young-Wolff/Riot GamesEvil Geniuses picked up Max ‘Demon1’ Mazanov as a late addition to their roster, and the relatively unknown player has quickly risen the ranks and proven himself as one of the best players in the game after winning Valorant Champions 2023.
Demon1 came into Valorant Champions 2023 with something to prove. The 20-year-old player didn’t have the best international debut at VCT Masters Tokyo, but had a chance to prove his doubters wrong in Los Angeles.
The Evil Geniuses player made the most of his second international showing and put up some insane numbers. Demon1 seemed to embrace the community’s branding of EG as the villains of the tournament on account of their habit of showboating before and after matches.
“Honestly I don’t give a f*** what you say about me,” he said after being asked about the villain moniker. “You can call me whatever you want.”
His bravado even caught the ire of some of the other tournament attendees, who said they wanted to knock him down a peg.
Demon1 finished the tournament with the top VLR rating, Kill/ Death ratio, Kills Per Round, and headshot percentage. The young gun put up those numbers while playing Jett, Chamber and Astra. While some players rely on Jett and other Duelists to put up big numbers, Demon1 doesn’t care what he’s put on, because all he has to do is rack up headshots.
“I don’t really look at patch notes. I’ll play whatever Agent I’m put on, I’m comfortable on most Agents, ” he said when asked about the nerfs coming to Jett in the near future.
In the lower bracket final against LOUD, Demon1 became the first player in Valorant history to get over 100 kills in an international tournament. He played three different agents (Jett, Astra and Chamber) in that series.
Demon1 and his toxic antics propelled EG to a Valorant title
Throughout the tournament, Demon1 shot his opponents’ dead bodies after one-tapping them, and when he had time, he went over and squatted on their heads. The team reportedly received warnings all tournament long for this behavior but continued to stay true to their ways.
The former Unreal Tournament player isn’t one to mince words, inside or outside of the game. In press conferences and interviews, Demon1 usually gives short, one-word or one-sentence answers. In the game, the player doesn’t say much outside of calling for supportive utility or basic communication with his teammates.
“He has loads of confidence, and he always knows what he wants,” Ethan ‘Ethan’ Arnold said about his teammate.
His mechanics are seemingly second to none, and he has no trouble re-peeking angles or landing potshots on peeking enemies. The player revealed in a press conference that the EG coaching staff helped him gain that confidence on stage and mold him into the player he has become.
“It’s mostly just like taking your timings, playing with confidence, playmaking, ideas, and all that stuff I was lacking back then. The more you play, the more ideas and stuff you have to do, and now I’m implementing that into my game,” he said about the coaching staff’s help.
Before EG got their hands on Demon1, he was still a great aimer, but he didn’t have the ability to take over matches like he does now.
Demon1 lets the world know who he is
In the Grand Final match against Paper Rex, Demon1 continued his incredible form and put in another mechanical master class. From dodging Raze ults to hitting pixel-perfect heat shots, there was no stopping the EG sniper.
He finished with the top Average Combat Score in the server at 230 and the best headshot percentage at 41%.
After the series was over, and EG had lifted the trophy, Demon1 was asked what fueled his unreal performance at the tournament. He let the crowd, and the rest of the world, know.
“F*** the haters, respect my f***ing name, I’m the best player in the game,” he said.
