Sentinels defeated LOUD in the VCT Americas Kickoff Grand Final, and one of the Valorant team’s loudest players, Jordan ‘Zellsis’ Montemurro, was targetted by fans with death threats afterward.
Sentinels has had an up-and-down relationship with Brazilian fans. The organization was targeted by fans in 2021 after one of its players called Brazil a “sh** region” on social media. However, Sentinels signed two Brazilian fan favorites in 2023, Bryan ‘pANcada’ Luna and Gustavo ‘Sacy’ Rossi, bringing in some goodwill.
The team did receive some flack from the regional fan base following pANcada’s benching for Zellsis. Still, it didn’t last long with Sentinels returning to its winning ways in the off-season and claiming the VCT Americas Kickoff crown.
Following the team’s win over LOUD, Brazil’s most popular esports organization, Sentinels and specifically Zellsis is in the fanbase’s crosshair again.
Zellsis claims Brazilian fans sent him death threats
On a live stream following the championship win, Zellsis said that he received multiple threats from Brazilan fans after taunting LOUD during the Grand Final match.
“You know what’s crazy? After that map, I went to my Instagram and I opened up my DMs. Bro wholly sh**. I am not safe in Brazil anymore let’s just say that… The amount of messages I got that were like about how people were either going to kill me or my family. Wholly sh**,” he said.
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This is not the first time Zellsis has been on the receiving end of community backlash, as the player has talked about dealing with toxic and loving fans after losing to LOUD in Sentinels’ first match of the VCT Americas event.
Zellsis later addressed his comments in a statement in Portuguese on social media.
“I know I said I received a lot of hate from Brazilian fans, but I also received 100x more love too. I have no hatred for anyone, and everything I do is to compete and create good memories for myself, my team, my organization, and the fans,” he said via machine translation.
Eu sei que eu disse que recebi muito hate dos fãs brasileiros, mas também recebi 100x mais amor tambpem. Não tenho ódio de ninguém, e tudo o que faço é para competir e criar boas lembranças para mim, minha equipe, minha organização e os fãs. ❤️🇧🇷BUY THE SENTINELS BUNDLE.
— Jordan Montemurro (@Zellsis) March 5, 2024
Sentinels and Zellsis, will now get to potentially feel the ire of the entire global Valorant esports fan base and the team and LOUD represent VCT Americas and Masters Madrid later this month.