During a group stage match, the professional players for Valorant who were participating in the EMEA Ascension tournament paid tribute to the late player Karel ‘Twisten’ Aenbrener. On June 7, Team Vitality told the Valorant community that Twisten had died. His passing has been felt throughout the whole community. Following the news of his death, several community members have published memorials, and one TV commentator has begun a charitable drive in his honor.
The campaign that Twisten ran for VCT LOCK//IN, in which he donated a certain amount of money for every kill with a Shorty (a shotgun sidearm), inspired the charity drive he organized. During the campaign, which was held in support of the VCT Masters Tokyo, community members pledged a certain amount of money for each Shorty kill that occurred at the international competition. This campaign has earned over $6,000 for Rise Above the Disorder, an organization that works to improve access to mental health care.
A recent patch released by Riot Games added Twisten’s name as a Player Title to the Battle Pass, ensuring his legacy will live on in Valorant.
EMEA Ascension A fight between shorties was held in honor of Twisten
Since then, the sidearm known as “The Shorty” has become synonymous with “Twisted,” and Valorant professionals now employ it in official matches to pay honor to the deceased player. In the first round of the first map of their series at the EMEA Ascension competition, Apeks and Team Falcons used the sidearm in a series of one-on-one confrontations in the Attacker’s spawn. These fights took place in the Attacker’s spawn.
A message and a photo of Twisten were shown throughout the broadcast as part of the homage, including the program itself. The graphic had the words “In loving memory of Twisten” written. The two teams then fought each other with the weapon, with Apeks emerging victorious in this particular round. The final score of the series was 2-0 in favor of Apeks, who thus earned the top seed in the promotion tournament. Although Apeks may have emerged victorious in the end, the town of Valorant accorded equal respect to each competing team.
Comments are closed.