YESTERDAY night, ONIC PH prevailed over Omega Esports, 2-1, using an Aulus-centered lineup that saw the little-used hero take center stage.
But it was Aulus who also figured in a “technical pause” that led to a two-hour delay between Games 2 and 3 — one that Omega Esports has now deplored in a statement explaining to fans what happened during the lengthy interim.
According to Omega Esports head of player development Tony “Ynot” Senedrin, ONIC PH supposedly encountered a bug during the draft phase, “which resulted in a mix-up.”
“[ONIC] bared that they initially picked Aulus, an up-and-coming jungler in the new patch which they used in Game One, but was surprised when Bane appeared on the screen,” said Omega Esports in a statement.
The team immediately alerted its marshal. Unfortunately, the Omega Esports counterpart was not immediately informed, and the team, who had ruled the MSC under the Execration banner, proceeded to do a full draft.
“So, with that being said, nalaman lang nila Pakbet na nagkaroon ng bug nung tapos na, nung full na yung draft. [...] Siyempre sa case namin hindi acceptable kasi ‘di namin alam e. Wala kaming idea e,” said Ynot in a statement.
“Ngayon ang naging problem non, hindi kami in-inform ng mga marshals. So ang thought process ng ONIC nung nag da-draft sila is alam na ng Omega na Aulus yung Bane pick. So tinuloy nila yung draft nila considering na Aulus na yung third pick nila at hindi Bane while kami sa side namin tinutuloy nila yung draft as is na walang hitch, walang problem akala nila smooth. Bane yung alam nila.”
League offered teams three choices
Under league rules, a remake can be called if MPL officials determine that a bug is “critical and verifiable.”
The bug must be conclusively present and not possibly attributable to the player’s error.
In its statement, Omega Esports surmised that ONIC’s bug could be attributed to player error, “since Bane and Aulus have very similar icons.”
“There is also no possible way to verify the said bug, which is why Omega Esports questioned the league’s decision to do a full remake when in fact, they offered three solutions in the first place,” the team’s statement continued.
The first solution was to replace Bane with Aulus, which Smart Omega immediately denied, as their draft strategy had relied on shutting down the apparent Bane pick.
The second option was to restart during Omega’s final pick in the first phase, retaining all bans and picks prior to the second phase but replacing Aulus with Bane anew.
The third option was a full remake of the draft.
The numerous back-and-forths between the teams and the officials stretched into a two hour delay.
“Kami ang pinakapinu-push namin is matuloy yung game as is, same picks. Matuloy yung game na Bane sila tapos pabalik balik, sinasabi nila sa amin na kakausapin nila yung ONIC tapos tatagal siya mga 20 to 30 minutes tapos babalikan nila kami tapos same ulit, ganun ulit yung pinag-uusapan,” shared Ynot.
He added: “Na-reach na sa point na naisip namin ng team, kasi ang tagal na e, sinabi ko sa kanila na what if ganito yung scenario na ito na yung pinaka-best na ibigay sa atin ng Moonton, ng Gariath na kasi yun yung pinakaunang pinu-push nila e yung first three papalitan lang ng Bane yung Aulus, tapos kami maintain two heroes, tapos sabi ko what if ganun na lang at least tayo puwede pa nating makakita ng mga puwedeng i-counter.”
Omega hopes episode would become learning experience for league
Omega Esports chose the second option, and began making preparations accordingly. But after another half-hour discussion, MPL-PH officials returned to Smart Omega and told them that they had decided to go for a full redraft.
With what went down during the two hours, Omega Esports felt that “was unfair that they were the ones who have to suffer from something that they didn’t do.”
Said Ynot: “We can say na nagkamali yung ONIC, we can say na nag bug lang talaga, we don’t really know. We don’t have the facts. Pero ang pinakamali is yung marshals talaga e. Buti nga nagkaroon pa ng magandang game though unfortunately we came up short.”
To end their statement, Omega hopes that the episode would become a “learning experience” for the league.
“It’s something na hopefully ‘wag nang mangyari sa future,” Ynot said.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
