If you know about Montreal you've probably heard about a few things.
It's known for its European architecture and cobblestone streets.
It's the origin of the world-famous Cirque de Soleil. And it's home to the best poutine in the world
But it's also known for its nightlife.
"Now wait a minute now, are strippers paid hourly here? Is that right?"
"It's not a tip system?"
"Uh yeah it's considered an art — a performance art."
And esports fans associate Montreal with one thing: controversy.
Montreal is the only Canadian city where DreamHack runs tournaments
and one particular tournament was the beginning of the end for
Immortals' former CS:GO roster. DreamHack Montreal 2017 was a pretty unimportant tournament despite
Its $100,000 prize pool. It was just too soon after the Krakow Major to draw any notable teams.
Krakow was the first Major that Immortals qualified for after a string of failures
(Casting)
They perpetually played little brother to their Brazilian countrymen in Luminosity Gaming and later, SK Gaming.
Partially because of their age but also because of their worse results.
At Krakow, their inexperience shown in the groups.
But they were in their element come playoffs. They fed off the energy of the crowd and achieved a breakthrough
performance.
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After that event, they were no longer the team that failed to make the majors again
and again. They were no longer SK's little brothers
There were a team that demanded respect.
In the offseason, multiple reports came out that IMT were going through internal issues
and might face roster changes.
Immortals’ roster remained unchanged.
But they headed into their first event post-Krakow,
DreamHack Masters Malmo with a cloud hanging over their heads.
They had a decent showing in Malmo and advanced to the playoffs over Fnatic.
But fell to North after a tight quarterfinal.
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It was a disappointing finish the Major grand finalists,
but some fans brushed it off as growing pains for a young roster.
But there were plenty of questions for Immortals heading into DreamHack Montreal.
Aside from North, Montreal featured a lower tier of competition than the Major.
A majority of the teams were from the Americas
so expectations were high for Immortals.
And they didn't disappoint.
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Immortals earned a spot in the Grand Finals against North,
the team that eliminated them from Malmo just a week prior.
So Immortals went into the series with a chip on their shoulders.
Well... Two of them did.
Boltz and steel showed up on time,
but the rest of the team didn't.
"But what we are waiting on is the Immortals who are well, they're not quite seated just yet
but any moment hopefully, it will be Immortals freshened up and sitting down after that performance earlier that
landed them here."
In fact, they took so long to arrive at the venue that
Immortals were handed a default map loss.
"Well guess what guys I have an easter egg for you.
And it is that we will not be seeing the first map of Mirage, it does
look like the Immortals have forfeited it. Due to being late.
To the stage and to playing and that's just, the way the cookie crumbled I suppose.
I don't really know what else to say about that other than the process needs to be respected.
And rules by tournament organizers need to be respected.
And the right thing, is certainly I believe right here."
With the Brazilian side already down a map,
team morale was undoubtedly low.
And the rest of the series went about the way you'd expect.
"Yeah well, if North wanted to win before they sure are now."
"It's over."
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Some time during the series then-CLG coach Steve "Ryu" Rattacasa
tweeted that the team had been late for their series earlier that day,
and that he had heard that some of the players had been out the night before partying.
Fifteen minutes after that, CLG player FNS tweeted that
he was disappointed to have been eliminated by hungover players.
It didn’t take long for the Immortals players to notice.
FNS and LUCAS1 had a back and forth, that ended relatively peacefully.
But kNg’s response was less reserved.
And it didn't end there.
According to FNS, he was told to leave the hotel he was staying at
because kNg was going through the halls looking for him.
"I was in our hotel room whatever chilling, and then I'm like, "I'm hungry as sh*t let's go to Moxie's or something."
And I go downstairs and,
A person that I'm not going to name, walks up to me and says, "Hey man like
you really really just like, you gotta go.
You gotta go. You really just gotta leave."
And I'm like, "What's going on?"
He's like, "Dude. Like you tweeted this, and I understand that it was a joke, but kNg like
is not happy with you right now and he's looking for you."
And I'm like, "I don't know what to say to that."
Can we just pause for a second and talk about how insane this is?
Here’s FNS, a guy from Canada who makes a living playing video games,
what more could you ask for?
He just lost a set and was feeling cheeky,
so he spat out a tweet that was edgy and self-deprecating
and as he was getting ready to head out, someone stopped him and told him he had to leave the hotel
because there was somebody stalking the hall looking for him.
This was no longer just a joke for FNS.
"All the other information I got is I need to leave, this guy's temper is out of control,
I gotta go.
And I'm like... So in my head I'm thinking like why is he looking for me.
Because the way normally. The way people have confronted me usually is like
they message me or they come up to me say, "Hey what you did was messed up."
It's understandable for things to get heated in a competitive space.
And it's easy to brush things like this off.
Especially when the medium is as distant and impotent as a tweet.
But a death threat, no matter where it comes from, should never be taken lightly.
"I've been thinking about killing you in real life lately." That's not nice homie.
Jesus all I do is play video games man. Actually, I'm gonna report that guy to the police.
I'm also gonna report this to Twitch, get his info.
"I love you calm down bro I was kidding, chat was boring had to get it lit."
"I've donated 1K check your PayPal donations damn I feel bad now."
What the f*** dude that's not something you joke about man.
And I only saw one donation from you and it was that one.
Don't threaten someone's life bro like joke or not it's ridiculous."
Despite all the commotion and hearsay,
no one ever actually provided proof that kNg was stalking the halls looking for FNS.
But it kind of didn't matter.
If you put aside everything that was “he said, she said,”
regardless of whether the source was trustworthy or reputable.
the facts remain.
Immortals were late for a Grand Final.
Something unheard of in top tier competition, esports or otherwise.
And kNg went on to make a very public death threat on Twitter.
All eyes were on those moments. There was nothing to prove.
So yeah, things were bad.
Should Immortals have been late for their match? No.
Should FNS have made that joke? Probably not.
Should kNg have made those death threats? Absolutely not.
But the aftermath had even more of a lasting effect.
Several of the Immortals players apologized for the lackluster Grand Finals,
regardless of how it happened.
Including kNg.
But two months after the incident, there still wasn’t any closure between FNS and kNg.
"No there's not been any contact with kNg, as far as like any of that stuff.
I'm pretty sure he still hates me, but as far as like everybody else I think I'm chill with the team.
When it happened, I was ready to talk to him but he was like kind of upset. Obviously.
And so he didn't want to have any conversations with me.
Or rather his coach just told me just not to bother.
But yeah I did try at first but now it's like kind of, water under the bridge."
And even if he did apologize,
it would do little to erase his threat from the public record.
Thanks in part to the CS:GO community, who immediately turned it into a meme.
"We should not push kNg he seems to be sober."
"Let's do pistol armor."
But the death threat itself
had a lasting negative impact on kNg's career.
"But he also needs to chill. Like he's applying for a Visa right now.
If they google his name, if they look at any of the stuff, it's not good for him."
"You know what I mean? Like he needs to — he should be in damage control mode."
kNg was put on the chopping block,
but his four teammates and coach convinced Immortals’ CEO Noah Whinston to let him stay.
But then he violated his internal suspension
and his contract was immediately terminated.
"And is not a part of Immortals and will never again be a part of Immortals."
Noah ran the risk of pissing off his players for the sake of principle.
And that’s exactly what happened.
The Teles twins quickly requested a transfer once they heard the news that kNg was gone.
But it was a decision that was almost universally praised by the esports community.
"Ultimately though I don't want this to be the conclusion of this sordid saga.
I was not left with many options if we wanted to preserve the philosophies and the ideals
that Immortals as a brand stands for.
Though it is unfortunate that Valve rules means that the three players no longer with us,
have control over our Major slot,
playing in a Major is not worth more than everything that we stand for as an organization."
Later, the ex-Immortals trio (and the Major spot that they held) were bought by 100 Thieves.
"We're permanently moving into the CS:GO community, and we are teaming up with
kNg, LUCAS, HEN1, fnx, and Bit."
However, 100 Thieves' players, perhaps unsurprisingly,
Couldn't secure visas in time, and weren't able to attend the Major.
The team never played a single match.
"Maybe it's karma, maybe it's justice for them that the 100 Theives guys didn't make it.
And I'm not gonna lie I'm kinda conflicted. Like I kind of feel like you good, serves you right. But at the same
time you know you don't want to see that happen to a team that's trying to make a living and get to a Major."
It's hard to say exactly how much of a part Montreal played in kNg's downfall.
But it's obvious that Montreal is where that downfall began.
A handful of tweets, four months and however many alleged encounters behind the scenes,
were all it took to destroy the career of a truly promising player.