Sentinels’ Valorant player Zachary ‘zekken’ Patrone criticized VCT EMEA analyst Jakub ‘Lothar’ Szygulski on social media after Lothar labeled G2’s strategy on the Abyss map as “incredibly disrespectful to the sport.”
During Valorant Champions 2024, G2 Esports employed an unconventional tactic against Leviatán. By jumping off the side of the map at the start of Round 14, denying their opponents money and ultimate points. While the strategy offered an economic advantage for G2, Lothar criticized it as disrespectful and poorly thought out.
“This is incredibly disrespectful to the sport, the viewers, the opponents, and the tournament organizers, and RIOT should not allow such tactics,” Lothar posted on social media. He added that if G2 wanted to troll the round, they should have done so after the spike was planted, wasting more time and resources.
In response, Zekken joined the chorus of voices disagreeing with Lothar’s take, questioning if dying to the spike is also “disrespectful to the sport.”
Intentionally dying to the spike explosion is a common strategy in Valorant. To ensure players receive money in the next round while denying the enemy team money from kills. Lothar argued that this wasn’t comparable to G2’s actions, as a planted spike signifies a round played as intended.
I don’t see the problem
Zekken countered by noting that G2’s strategy also denied Leviatán money and ultimate orbs, accomplishing the goal in just five seconds. He added, “I don’t see the problem.”
Many on social media sided with G2’s tactic, despite the North American team losing that map and the series. The debate over tactical deaths and whether such strategies should be allowed has been ongoing in FPS esports since NAVI’s similar tactic in a 2017 Counter-Strike match. ESL banned the strategy in 2019 to prevent players from intentionally falling off maps.
Riot Games has not yet commented on whether G2 violated any rules, nor have G2’s players confirmed if they faced any penalties for their actions during the world championships.
