After Valorant fans attacked Demon1 with “washed” comments, the former VCT Champion’s fiancee took to social media to defend his current performance.
The topic of a Valorant “G.O.A.T.” is always controversial and seems as temporary as each VCT season goes. We had TenZ in 2021, Yay in 2022, and most recently, Demon1 in the last season – who now all had their fair share of criticisms amid their supposed fall from grace.
Demon1, the duelist who easily led Evil Geniuses to an underdog victory tale last year, has had difficulty replicating his greatness. Most controversially, Max “Demon1” Mazanov promised to “handle” Aspas, another duelist at his peak, in the face-off between Leviatán and NRG.
In a social media post before the game, Demon1 stayed true to his “evil” persona and remarked that he’d “take care” of Aspas. Notably, Aspas has been exceptionally dominant in recent games, even making a record of 47 kills in one map.
However, the game results were far from favoring NRG, resulting in a total decimation of Leviatán, taking two maps to none, and with Demon1 at the bottom of the frag table. The results caught the attention of Valorant fans worldwide, with some resorting to calling out Demon1’s performance.
Amid all the issues and backlash against the fallen duelist, his fiancee and fellow streamer, KatarinaFPS, took to social media to defend Mazanov’s current state. On the post, Katarina details that Demon1 was dealing with personal issues outside of Valorant that absolutely took a toll on his performance.
The fact that a star player’s performance has been affected by conditions outside the game isn’t new to VCT fans. Only over a year ago, TenZ faced likewise criticism while his fiancee and fellow Valorant streamer, Kydae, underwent cancer treatments.
Many Valorant personalities and pro players expressed support for Demon1 and KatarinaFPS, with some detailing that the negative backlash happens to ones in the spotlight.
Despite the backlash, NRG’s overall team standing remains stellar, with a 3-1 record. The team also recently secured a slot in VCT Americas Split 1 play-offs, advancing their bid to the upcoming Masters Shanghai in May.