LOUD loses opening Valorant Champions match as team reports VCT star aspas is “not healthy”

LOUD’s players have revealed that the ever-popular aspas is “not healthy”, sharing the news shortly after they lost their opening match in Valorant Champions against DRX. 

The first day of Valorant Champions 2023 is now in the books and it saw DRX and NAVI taking the first wins in Group D. With DRX’s win, reigning Champions LOUD have been knocked down to an elimination match.

The Brazilian powerhouse was favored to win their match against DRX with an unstable lineup, however, the closely fought series which ended in a 2-1 scoreline for DRX. 

In the post-match press conference after their shock loss, the team, now on their longest losing streak to date, was missing a member. Star player Erick “aspas” Santos was not present, and the remaining lineup explained why, revealing he’s ‘unhealthy’ at the moment.

Clip starts at the 3:30 mark below.

When asked by reporters, Matias “Saadhak” Delipetro and Felipe “Less” Basso explained briefly that aspas was “not healthy” but that it was “nothing serious”.

Despite being unwell according to his teammates, aspas was still the top fragger in the server for their opening match, with a higher ACS and better KDA than DRX’s best-performing player, MaKo. 

This loss comes after suggestions of turmoil building in the roster in the lead-up to Valorant Champions. It was reported by Slasher that aspas may be leaving the team as their situation has worsened. Although Saadhak quickly refuted the report. 

Following this back and forth, there were further reports of NRG and Sentinels being keen on picking up aspas for the 2024 VCT season. 

LOUD had said in their press conference after their elimination from VCT Masters Tokyo that the team had been dealing with “outside of the server issues” but did not want to elaborate further. 

And Less and former LOUD player Gustavo “Sacy” Rossi had also admitted that in the past, leading up to 2022’s Valorant Champions, the team’s environment was tumultuous. 

LOUD star aspas assures fans he has recovered

Ontem após o jogo tive um problema de saúde que me impossibilitou de ir na coletiva de imprensa. Durante a partida foquei em dar o meu melhor e to passando pra tranquilizar a todos que já estou bem e completamente recuperado.Esse contratempo foi algo pontual e cuidarei para não…

— LOUD aspas 🌪️ (@loud_aspas) August 7, 2023

Aspas gave an update to his fans on his health condition the following day, saying, “Yesterday after the game I had a health problem that prevented me from going to the press conference.”

“During the match I focused on doing my best and I’m passing by to reassure everyone that I’m well and completely recovered,” aspas said.

LOUD’s next match will be against Team Liquid on August 10. The match will decide who will be eliminated in groups in last place.