Team Vitality Valorant decided that they will not participate in the VCT Last Chance Qualifier EMEA 2023, which will be conducted in July. This decision was taken out as a form of respect for their player, Karel “Twisten” Aenbrener, who passed away earlier this month.
According to the VCT EMEA Twitter account, they have allowed Team Vitality to withdraw from the tournament due to the situation around Twisten. Therefore, VCT LCQ EMEA will only have six teams competing from July 19 to July 23.
Furthermore, Team Vitality explained on social media that they decided to withdraw because all of the team’s players and staff are still overwhelmed by Twisten’s tragic demise, thus making them emotionally unfit for participating in the tournament. They also said that this was decided out of respect for Twisten and his family. In addition, they appreciated the moral support from other professional Valorant teams.
Twisten joined Vitality from BIG when he was still 18 in November 2022. At that age, the young Czech demonstrated his potential as one of the top duelists and was dubbed the “next big thing” in the Valorant tournament in the EMEA region. However, only seven months after joining the Vitality squad, he was found dead the day after his nineteenth birthday. According to a report from Vitality assistant coach Harry “Gorilla” Mepham, Twisten committed suicide.
Twisten’s death is a stark warning to the esports organisation to pay attention to the mental health of its staff, especially their players and coaches. In recent weeks, several professional players have reportedly taken a break from competition to focus on their mental health.
Teams and content creators from around the world have paid tribute to Twisten and the Vitality team. One of them is Tarik “tarik” Cellik who is donating $25 for every Shorty kill in the ongoing Valorant Masters competition in Japan. The money from the Shorty challenge will be donated to mental health organisations around the world.
