In what must be the ultimate move of respect, a Dota 2 one-versus-one tiebreaker at BetBoom Dacha Dubai this week had to be decided by a coin toss as both participants refused to play, citing a win meant meeting ultimate boss Team Spirit in the playoffs.
Gaimin Gladiators’ Quinn Callahan and Team Falcons’ Stanislav “Malr1ne” Potorak were supposed to line up in a one-vs-one Shadow Fiend mid-matchup as part of the BetBoom Dacha Dubai tiebreakers on Feb. 9. With Gaimin and Falcons finishing equal third in Group A, exact positions needed to be determined for playoff matchups. The winner of the one-on-one would take on Group B’s runner-up in the first round of the playoffs. That team? Dota’s reigning The International champions Team Spirit, of course.
However, this one-on-one never took place, with a coin toss instead determining the final placement. The reasoning for this wasn’t made clear at the time; however, a statement from tournament organizer FISSURE via Escorenews on Feb. 9, reveals neither Quinn nor Malr1ne wanted to participate as neither wished to win and be drawn against Spirit first up.
Unfortunately for Quinn, Gaimin won the toss and thus finished third, meaning the three-time 2023 Major champs will have their work cut out for them when the upper bracket of BetBoom Dacha Dubai resumes on Sunday. It’s hardly a sigh of relief for Malr1ne and Falcons, though: fourth place in the group gets them a series against Xtreme Gaming who topped the stage with an 8-2 record.
It wasn’t the only drama to unfold from the tiebreakers, with Team Liquid’s Michał “Nisha” Jankowski failing to show up in time for his one-on-one against LGD’s Gao “Setsu” Zhenxiong. As Nisha didn’t join the server, Setsu and LGD were handed the top spot in Group A and will face BetBoom in the playoffs, while Liquid will take on Azure Ray.
The debacle has caused concern in the community regarding the format of the tiebreakers at such events and how easily it seems teams can avoid partaking, thus having extra power to manipulate future matchups. One fan said the issue could have been solved by simply allowing the winner to choose their opponent from the two options, while others believe refusing to play is a cop-out and could even be considered to be match-fixing.
BetBoom Dacha Dubai resumes on Sunday, Feb. 11 at midnight.
