Valorant community in disbelief over report that meL denied Tier 1 trials
Adela Sznajder/Riot GamesThe Valorant community has responded with disbelief and shock over a report that Version1 player Melanie ‘meL’ Capone has been denied trial opportunities for Tier 1 teams due to her gender.
Veteran esports reporter Rod “Slasher” Breslau claimed in a recent live stream with Sean Gares that Version1 IGL meL has been denied trials by Tier 1 teams due to players not wanting to practice with a female.
Slasher has since clarified his comments, saying that this was not true for every instance that meL was denied a trial or practice with a prospective team.
“In some scenarios that meL was unable to trial for teams, it was due to her buyout or other reasons that had zero to do with sexism,” he said.
However, the community has been in shock over the news with some outright saying the report is false, and others calling for meL and Slasher to name the teams that used this rationale to not try out the player.
Valorant community comes to meL’s defense
Turtle Troop player Daniel ‘Rossy’ Abedrabbo was one of the more prominent voices that did not believe the report was true, saying that both meL and her teammate Ava ‘florescent’ Eugene are able to compete at a Challengers League level.
“No signed pro player let alone multiple would just go in front of their teammates or org owner and be like, ‘ye she’s a girl f*** that don’t want to play,'” he said on social media.
Fnatic content creator Megan ‘meg’ Garner called for those involved to be named so the community can deal with them.
“Name and shame these bozos,” she said.
Former The Guard player Jonah ‘JonahP’ Pulice addressed the controversy by saying that any player who says that about female players should be let go from their squad.
“All I’m saying is that if a player on a SIGNED PROFESSIONAL team (or not signed) says no to even trying out a female player should be dropped instantly,” he said.
meL has not addressed the situation directly since the news dropped. Her partner, Roy ‘StrongLegs’ Ahad posted a vague statement about the situation and, when asked why he wouldn’t address it head-on, said it was a “lose-lose for everyone sadly.”
The VCT off-season is still ongoing at the moment, and teams are still actively looking to sign players for the 2024 season. meL, and Version1, are gearing up for the Game Changers World Championship which is set to take place in November.
