Streaming star Jeremy ‘Disguised Toast’ Wang has responded to the backlash around him signing a team of female streamers to play in VCT Game Changers, rather than an all-pro squad.
Over the last few months, a handful of content creators have started making moves into backing teams in different esports, with Valorant being a popular choice for them.
Disguised Toast has been at the forefront of that, stumping up big money to put together his DSG squad for the NA Challengers scene. He’s even gotten involved with the upcoming round of VCT Game Changers, backing an all-female squad that includes Kyedae, QuaterJade, Sydeon, and TrulyTenzin.
Given that these four have made their names through streaming, rather than pro play, Toast has caught a bit of flak for signing them up – despite their obvious talent. However, he’s laid out his reasoning for making that decision.
Disguised Toast addresses backlash over VCT Gamer Changers streamer squad
The OfflineTV founder responded to a tweet that claimed his move to use streamers was “disrespectful” to the Game Changers scene, noting that he’d been pretty active in reaching out to agents and players around building the team. While he wanted the “best unsigned” players, he felt he didn’t have the time to “responsibly” put a team together.
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“I assure all the girls on the team are taking this event very seriously and they all meet the criteria set out by Riot to participate,” Toast said, noting this his team are “grinding” like everyone else. “You do not get to gatekeep them from this event just because they are streamers.”
He continued: “I still wanted to do something cool for GC1 because I really believe that it is an under-served market that other orgs and even Riot themselves haven’t fully realized yet.”
A month ago I asked who the best unsigned GC player was – I received a lot of great recommendation but ultimately felt like there was not enough time to put together a team responsibly in just under a month.The structure would just not be in place to support a new team.
— DSG Toast (@DisguisedToast) March 28, 2023
"it feels disrespectful that dsg asks for actual players to build a roster for gamechangers and then builds a team w 4 streamers"I assure all the girls on the team are taking this event very seriously and they all meet the criteria set out by Riot to participate.
— DSG Toast (@DisguisedToast) March 28, 2023
I still wanted to do something cool for GC1 because I really believe that it is an under-serve market that other orgs and even Riot themselves haven't fully realized yet.And my hope is the added attention show the world that there is a demand for valo content such as this.
— DSG Toast (@DisguisedToast) March 28, 2023
So I went with the content approach, I was very upfront with Tupperware and Ruin about my intentions.They would be joining for the experience and novelty of it, as well as showcasing the world their incredible set of skills and knowledge. pic.twitter.com/0WKBswtvqi
— DSG Toast (@DisguisedToast) March 28, 2023
Toast noted that it would have cost him around $300,000 for a team, and he wasn’t ready to commit to that “off a whim” and ultimately wanted more time. This pushed him to a “content approach” for the team.
Despite the backlash, he’s drawn plenty of praise for helping the squad. We’ll just have to wait and see how they get on once the action kicks off on April 4.