Valorant pros back s0m after NRG’s VCT Masters Tokyo elimination

Several prominent figures in the Valorant community have expressed support for s0m after NRG’s elimination from VCT Masters Tokyo.

NRG’s campaign in Tokyo came to a disappointing end on June 21 after a 2-1 loss to VCT Pacific side Paper Rex in a high-octane elimination match.

The first map of the series, Pearl, went Paper Rex’s way in overtime. With the score 13-13 and mere seconds left on the clock, Sam ‘s0m’ Oh found himself in a 1v1 situation against Patiphan ‘CigaretteS’ Posri, who didn’t have enough time to plant the bomb.

“Run, run, run,” Tarik ‘tarik’ Celik urged s0m as he watched the match on his stream. But rather than fleeing and running down the clock, the NRG player hid behind his Cove ability with a Shorty in hand, only to get himself killed. Paper Rex went on to take the map in the following round.

After the series came to an end, s0m appeared to take the loss hard. “[I] lost us the series,” he wrote on Twitter. “Sorry.”

Valorant pros back NRG’s s0m

In response to the tweet, several pro players have come out and offered their support to the player.

“Absolutely not,” responded his teammate and captain, Pujan ‘FNS’ Mehta.

“You reset on Lotus, brought it back and were inches away from coming back on Bind,” Evil Geniuses’ Ethan ‘Ethan’ Arnold tweeted. “You’re still insane.”

“One round doesn’t cost the whole series,” said 100 Thieves’ Derrek ‘Derrek’ Ha. “Nice try, Sam.”

On his stream, tarik said that s0m shouldn’t blame himself. “It’s not his fault, even though he feels that way. It can’t be one person’s fault.”

Evil Geniuses’ Corbin ‘C0M’ Lee pointed out that s0m “played incredibly” during the entire tournament. The 21-year-old, a former CS:GO pro, was NRG’s top performer at VCT Masters Tokyo with a VLR rating of 1.12.

Paper Rex move on to Saturday’s lower bracket final, where they will face Evil Geniuses. The winner of that series will advance to the grand final against Fnatic.