If you've been online today and are a follower of professional Counter-Strike, there's been a tiny bit of controversy that everyone with a pulse apparently feels the need to weigh in on. This article aims to outline precisely what happened, as well as the context from both teams, that has resulted in even more death threats being lobbed about over a video game tournament. Corrupt politicians and police-states result in dead silence; pixels, however, incites rage the like has never been seen. First, some context. This incident encompasses Brazil and their historic nemesis: Brazil. Both MIBR (GS #18) and FURIA (GS #4) hail from the South American country, and the MIBR fanbase is known in esports as arguably being one of the most toxic fanbases in the world. MIBR knows this, as does the rest of the esport world; it's simply an aspect of the team at this point. MIBR is well-known for their toxicity as well; their player Vito 'KNG' Giuseppe notoriously threatened to murder a rival team member (two years ago) for implying that they showed up to a final match late due to partying. KNG had to be restrained as he was searching for player Pujan 'FNS' Mehta and the cops were called; what the member is still doing in professional Counter-Strike after that incident is beyond understanding. https://twitter.com/Razzamuffinz/status/907017587577413632 KNG was defended, for threatening to murder another player due to the implication that they were partying the night before a match, by the MIBR fan base. Feel free to re-read that sentence as often as necessary. https://twitter.com/shok017/status/907020572990869504 Fernando 'Fer' Alvarenga was fined by MIBR on June 2, 2020, for making racist comments against Blacks on stream. https://twitter.com/DotEsports/status/1268192305128845314 Even Gabriel 'FalleN' Sguario has had controversies where he shifts blame for poor performance onto young talent. They aren't exactly a clean team full of bright and upstanding members of society, although their performance within Counter-Strike shouldn't necessarily be viewed through the lens of personal turmoil that the team has experienced. Further, COVID-19 has resulted in all matches being played online instead of the standard LAN format. While this may make some players feel a bit better about having to play against MIBR, as it's difficult to actually murder someone over the internet, it has resulted in multiple tourney organizers struggling to offer stable servers with decent ping to all teams; Overwatch League split teams into regions to circumnavigate this issue, as has Counter-Strike tourneys and DOTA 2. All of this is what is the context for what happened yesterday on June 16, 2020, in a match that pitted two Brazilian teams against each other, FURIA versus MIBR. The server was struggling to maintain connectivity for all players throughout the match, with multiple freezes occurring for the majority of players. It was un-ideal at best, and obnoxiously stupid to continue playing on the server at worst. Even the webcams were freezing constantly, which made for amusing viewing. https://twitter.com/FalleNCS/status/1273030797486886913 On the 25th round of Inferno, the match was locked at 12/12 with both teams having a middling economy; 'fer' pushed into Banana where he froze, and was successfully engaged and eliminated by 'KSCERATO' with an AWP 31 seconds into the round. After the successful engagement, MIBR called 'NL' which means Not Live, and a technical pause began. The purpose of the technical pause was to discern whether or not the round should be restarted, and it was ultimately FURIA's decision; MIBR had inflicted 13 damage (from FalleN's tweeted video) onto 'KSCERATO' at the moment that 'fer' was downed, but not having 'fer' for the rest of the round guarding B (leaving B completely open for a plant and retake, which would tilt the rest of the map's economy in favor of FURIA). The teams took to the match Discord server (a standard practice) to discuss precisely what occurred and what should happen. It's worth noting that this isn't the first crash that has happened in a crucial moment: FaZe versus C9 in Katowice 2018 had Guardian crashing, and both teams opted to favor a round restart to ensure even ground. C9 voluntarily gave up the advantage they had on the round and ended up losing due to it. It was sportsmanship, and what many would consider being standard fare regarding the example that professional Counter-Strike players should exude while in the public eye. https://twitter.com/launders/status/1273064790320189440 While the teams were discussing it with the admins in the Discord server, FalleN opted to use Twitter to show everyone precisely what the freeze looked like, which sent fans into a frenzy. FURIA's CEO then opted to make the call for the players, opting to reset the round in its entirety. There are allegations that the decision to restart the round was only made after FURIA's CEO was pressured on Twitter, although it's rather difficult to prove beyond a doubt. Within the Discord chat-logs, the FURIA players stated that they didn't want to get involved with the decision whatsoever, likely attempting to avoid whatever crap-cyclone would inevitably surface, and requested their coach and CEO to decide. Without animosity or attempting to sway the decision (despite it clearly being in their favor to continue the round), the offered the decision to whatever powers may be. Whether or not the round should have been reset is a bit clearer; it's clear 'fer' did not have control over his avatar in the game which cost him his life; he wasn't outplayed, merely disconnected. FURIA did not have to, however, as they had a player take damage before the freeze. MIBR came back and beat FURIA in a clean-sweep (2-0). Now, you would presume that this would be the absolute end of it, as MIBR received a ruling that was in their favor and fair, and beyond that came up with a massive victory that moves them into the upper bracket of BLAST Premier Spring. Unfortunately, it isn't; it's brought on many questions about the admin roles within Counter-Strike, and MIBR players have once again taken to Twitter to throw shade at everyone while their fans threaten anyone who call them out. https://twitter.com/Thorin/status/1273141422108086274 First, it needs to be asked why admins and officials of the tourneys aren't making decisions for the team regarding if and when a round reset should happen. It's baffling that the impetus is placed on players to decide when there should be clear-cut rules to guide gameplay; there is simply very little room for 'who knows' when it comes to regulated tournaments. Second, MIBR continues to show that they are one of the most toxic teams in the Counter-Strike realm, and it needs to be addressed eventually. After the match, 'fer' tweeted out a fascinatingly complex message towards FURIA, calling them 'shit' after they reset the round and MIBR won. Jake 'Stewie2K' Yip responded almost instantly. https://twitter.com/Stewie/status/1273073700221317121 Even more baffling is that the ruling actually goes directly against the rule book, segment 10/6/3: If the issue takes place during a round after damage has occurred and the outcome of the round can still be determined (e.g. a single player has dropped but others remain) the round will continue to be played and count. With this in mind, it appears that the admins themselves were attempting to dodge MIBR's fury (and that of their fans) by placing the decision entirely in the hands of the players and removing themselves from their one job. After yet another incident coming from MIBR's consistent misconduct and unprofessionalism within play, some are requesting that MIBR simply be removed from future Counter-Strike tournaments, and that other teams should opt-out when MIBR are included. It's a difficult mandate, as the teams need to play in order to receive an income, and backing out of matches isn't financially viable (as shown by Astralis continuing to play with a gimped roster), but it's a strong suggestion that shows precisely how over everyone is of MIBR's antics. https://twitter.com/kngvito/status/1273323467803418631 MIBR is using their internet influence right now as one of the most dominant esport leagues in Brazil to attack and harass FURIA, and no one is saying anything about it. Likely because MIBR looks crazy every time they step into the spotlight, and there's no telling what they will do, or attempt, next. With the tenuous grasp (at best) that Valve now has over Counter-Strike tourneys, however, it seems that MIBR will continue to do literally anything they want in the near future. It's simply a shame that a large representative of Brazil is such a disastrous representation of the country.
If you've been online today and are a follower of professional Counter-Strike, there's been a tiny bit of controversy that everyone with a pulse apparently feels the need to weigh in on. This article aims to outline precisely what happened, as well as the context from both teams, that has resulted in even more death threats being lobbed about over a video game tournament. Corrupt politicians and police-states result in dead silence; pixels, however, incites rage the like has never been seen. First, some context. This incident encompasses Brazil and their historic nemesis: Brazil. Both MIBR (GS #18) and FURIA (GS #4) hail from the South American country, and the MIBR fanbase is known in esports as arguably being one of the most toxic fanbases in the world. MIBR knows this, as does the rest of the esport world; it's simply an aspect of the team at this point. MIBR is well-known for their toxicity as well; their player Vito 'KNG' Giuseppe notoriously threatened to murder a rival team member (two years ago) for implying that they showed up to a final match late due to partying. KNG had to be restrained as he was searching for player Pujan 'FNS' Mehta and the cops were called; what the member is still doing in professional Counter-Strike after that incident is beyond understanding. https://twitter.com/Razzamuffinz/status/907017587577413632 KNG was defended, for threatening to murder another player due to the implication that they were partying the night before a match, by the MIBR fan base. Feel free to re-read that sentence as often as necessary. https://twitter.com/shok017/status/907020572990869504 Fernando 'Fer' Alvarenga was fined by MIBR on June 2, 2020, for making racist comments against Blacks on stream. https://twitter.com/DotEsports/status/1268192305128845314 Even Gabriel 'FalleN' Sguario has had controversies where he shifts blame for poor performance onto young talent. They aren't exactly a clean team full of bright and upstanding members of society, although their performance within Counter-Strike shouldn't necessarily be viewed through the lens of personal turmoil that the team has experienced. Further, COVID-19 has resulted in all matches being played online instead of the standard LAN format. While this may make some players feel a bit better about having to play against MIBR, as it's difficult to actually murder someone over the internet, it has resulted in multiple tourney organizers struggling to offer stable servers with decent ping to all teams; Overwatch League split teams into regions to circumnavigate this issue, as has Counter-Strike tourneys and DOTA 2. All of this is what is the context for what happened yesterday on June 16, 2020, in a match that pitted two Brazilian teams against each other, FURIA versus MIBR. The server was struggling to maintain connectivity for all players throughout the match, with multiple freezes occurring for the majority of players. It was un-ideal at best, and obnoxiously stupid to continue playing on the server at worst. Even the webcams were freezing constantly, which made for amusing viewing. https://twitter.com/FalleNCS/status/1273030797486886913 On the 25th round of Inferno, the match was locked at 12/12 with both teams having a middling economy; 'fer' pushed into Banana where he froze, and was successfully engaged and eliminated by 'KSCERATO' with an AWP 31 seconds into the round. After the successful engagement, MIBR called 'NL' which means Not Live, and a technical pause began. The purpose of the technical pause was to discern whether or not the round should be restarted, and it was ultimately FURIA's decision; MIBR had inflicted 13 damage (from FalleN's tweeted video) onto 'KSCERATO' at the moment that 'fer' was downed, but not having 'fer' for the rest of the round guarding B (leaving B completely open for a plant and retake, which would tilt the rest of the map's economy in favor of FURIA). The teams took to the match Discord server (a standard practice) to discuss precisely what occurred and what should happen. It's worth noting that this isn't the first crash that has happened in a crucial moment: FaZe versus C9 in Katowice 2018 had Guardian crashing, and both teams opted to favor a round restart to ensure even ground. C9 voluntarily gave up the advantage they had on the round and ended up losing due to it. It was sportsmanship, and what many would consider being standard fare regarding the example that professional Counter-Strike players should exude while in the public eye. https://twitter.com/launders/status/1273064790320189440 While the teams were discussing it with the admins in the Discord server, FalleN opted to use Twitter to show everyone precisely what the freeze looked like, which sent fans into a frenzy. FURIA's CEO then opted to make the call for the players, opting to reset the round in its entirety. There are allegations that the decision to restart the round was only made after FURIA's CEO was pressured on Twitter, although it's rather difficult to prove beyond a doubt. Within the Discord chat-logs, the FURIA players stated that they didn't want to get involved with the decision whatsoever, likely attempting to avoid whatever crap-cyclone would inevitably surface, and requested their coach and CEO to decide. Without animosity or attempting to sway the decision (despite it clearly being in their favor to continue the round), the offered the decision to whatever powers may be. Whether or not the round should have been reset is a bit clearer; it's clear 'fer' did not have control over his avatar in the game which cost him his life; he wasn't outplayed, merely disconnected. FURIA did not have to, however, as they had a player take damage before the freeze. MIBR came back and beat FURIA in a clean-sweep (2-0). Now, you would presume that this would be the absolute end of it, as MIBR received a ruling that was in their favor and fair, and beyond that came up with a massive victory that moves them into the upper bracket of BLAST Premier Spring. Unfortunately, it isn't; it's brought on many questions about the admin roles within Counter-Strike, and MIBR players have once again taken to Twitter to throw shade at everyone while their fans threaten anyone who call them out. https://twitter.com/Thorin/status/1273141422108086274 First, it needs to be asked why admins and officials of the tourneys aren't making decisions for the team regarding if and when a round reset should happen. It's baffling that the impetus is placed on players to decide when there should be clear-cut rules to guide gameplay; there is simply very little room for 'who knows' when it comes to regulated tournaments. Second, MIBR continues to show that they are one of the most toxic teams in the Counter-Strike realm, and it needs to be addressed eventually. After the match, 'fer' tweeted out a fascinatingly complex message towards FURIA, calling them 'shit' after they reset the round and MIBR won. Jake 'Stewie2K' Yip responded almost instantly. https://twitter.com/Stewie/status/1273073700221317121 Even more baffling is that the ruling actually goes directly against the rule book, segment 10/6/3: If the issue takes place during a round after damage has occurred and the outcome of the round can still be determined (e.g. a single player has dropped but others remain) the round will continue to be played and count. With this in mind, it appears that the admins themselves were attempting to dodge MIBR's fury (and that of their fans) by placing the decision entirely in the hands of the players and removing themselves from their one job. After yet another incident coming from MIBR's consistent misconduct and unprofessionalism within play, some are requesting that MIBR simply be removed from future Counter-Strike tournaments, and that other teams should opt-out when MIBR are included. It's a difficult mandate, as the teams need to play in order to receive an income, and backing out of matches isn't financially viable (as shown by Astralis continuing to play with a gimped roster), but it's a strong suggestion that shows precisely how over everyone is of MIBR's antics. https://twitter.com/kngvito/status/1273323467803418631 MIBR is using their internet influence right now as one of the most dominant esport leagues in Brazil to attack and harass FURIA, and no one is saying anything about it. Likely because MIBR looks crazy every time they step into the spotlight, and there's no telling what they will do, or attempt, next. With the tenuous grasp (at best) that Valve now has over Counter-Strike tourneys, however, it seems that MIBR will continue to do literally anything they want in the near future. It's simply a shame that a large representative of Brazil is such a disastrous representation of the country.
