At the first European tournament of the Overwatch Contenders, the German team Munich eSports won its first league title. In the semifinals, the team was hit by a controversy that subsequently led to a strike by several teams.
In the semi-final against 01_esports, which was scheduled as a first-to-four series, Munich eSports led 3-0. But the team from Saudi Arabia picked up momentum and came close to leveling the game 3-2. At this point, Blizzard abandoned the game, arguing that it should have been a first-to-three series, and rolled the final score back to 3-0.
Contender teams outraged by Blizzard’s mistake
“It’s humanly impossible to mess up like that,” tweeted 01’s Timber “kraandop” Rensen. “We were only confirmed the day before the game that it would be a first-to-four series.” The defeat sent his team into the losers bracket, where they were to meet Ex Oblivione.
But both teams have decided to go on strike. After a few minutes without action, the game was paused and eventually abandoned. In the official statement, Ex Oblivione spoke of “several errors on Blizzard’s part” that “affected the integrity of this tournament” and called for a solution.
Overwatch Contenders: Blizzard agrees with the teams
Later, the organization of the tournament admitted mistakes and misunderstandings in communication. “Consistent with our recent announcement to teams, games will continue as a first-to-four series,” the official statement said on Twitter.
The game between Munich eSports and 01_esports continued the next day at a score of 3:2. The German team won the round and won the game 4:2. The two teams met again in the final. Here, too, the Munich team prevailed (4:3).