Valorant pros speak out after dapr gets death threats for “t-bagging”

T-bagging is a custom as old as FPS themselves, so it’s hardly a shock that it’s made its way into Valorant. However, pro players such as dapr, steel and ShahZam have received death threats for doing so. 

T-bagging has been a part of the FPS genre since it’s existence. It’s a fun way of flexing on an opponent you may or may not have just one-tapped in the head.

A lot of people see this as toxic though, and really dislike either being the victim of t-bagging or seeing their allies and enemies alike repeatedly crouching over their recently deceased victim. It’s something that players associate with smurfs, something that Valorant has become notorious for, as well as just bad sportsmanship.

Recent Tweets from a host of different pros, however, have highlighted just how far fans are willing to go to eradicate t-bagging from the Valorant and FPS as a wider genre.

Sentinels criticised for t-bagging during First Strike

The whole discussion about death threats for t-bagging was opened up by Sentinels star Jay ‘Sinatraa’ Won after a tweet from Nicholas ‘nitr0’ Canella about the taunts picked up steam.

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During Sentinels’ semifinals match against 100 Thieves, Sentinels repeatedly t-bagged throughout the match anytime they got a win, despite their performance being particularly lackluster in the long run. Nitr0 jokingly addressed this, claiming that it made the games “more competitive” after his original tweet was met by a collection of angry fans.

One fan responded stating that the entire concept of t-bagging was toxic, receiving almost 200 likes in the process.

https://twitter.com/ItsHyperSZN/status/1335405803403087875

Another fan attacked Sentinels and their fanbase for promoting and condoning this apparent toxicity.

This prompted Sinatraa to quote tweet nitr0’s original tweet and ask whether or not people “actually get bitter over t-bagging.”

Pros speak out about death threats for t-bagging

In a separate thread but one clearly sparked by Sinatraa’s tweet, Sentinels player Michael ‘dapr’ Gulino noted that he had received death threats for t-bagging in the Sentinels v 100T match.

Dapr’s tweet stated that he gotten a death threat because he “t-bagged in a video game”, although he did explain that his tweet wasn’t  an attempt at”100T fan slander”.

A host of other pros responded to Dapr’s tweet, including teammate Shahzeeb ‘ShahZam’ Khan. The player explained that fans had written to him claiming that they were “happy his dad died” a week or so prior to the game.

This situation begs the question as to whether or not pro esports players should ever have to assume that death threats are just a part of being an esports player, especially over something considered relatively minor.

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No one deserves the verbal abuse that dapr, ShahZam and Steel have received, but it begs the question as to whether or not t-bagging should be considered OK in the professional setting. Only time will tell if Riot chooses to implement rules to combat this, not only for professional integrity but for the safety of the game’s players.