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SamSkumm
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the rest: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/12/01/dreamhack-winter-cs-go-cheating/Dreamhack Winter was held over 27th to 29th of November, and included the last major Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament of 2014. It was held in the recent context of professional players being outed as cheaters, a commensurate fug of spectator paranoia, and CS: GO’s ever-rising popularity – viewer figures for the final topped out at around 430,000 people, which rises to just over half a million with syndication, meaning the largest audience the series has ever had. The tournament delivered, in scarcely-believable fashion, another huge cheating scandal, a new era for CS: GO’s most popular team, and some of the best games in recent memory. Let’s roll.
Dreamhack Winter was held in Jőnkőping Sweden and featured several games, though it’s only really possible to keep abreast of one because everything’s being played at the same time – and for me, CS: GO is the daddy. I used to keep up with certain eSports before Twitch was a thing, and there’s no doubt that the streaming service has enabled a golden age of competitive gaming; what was once the preserve of the truly dedicated is now accessible to anyone.
Twitch is a phenomenon because it taps into this latent hunger. Obviously it would be wonderful to attend events like Dreamhack in person but, given most interested parties can’t, it’s equally as wonderful to have the option to watch it. The advantage and the trade-off with Twitch are the same thing: distance. If you’re there you can see the sweat on individual players, hear the keyboards clack, and focus anywhere at any moment. Twitch viewers have a different perspective. An unknown controller makes sure we see important things when they happen, delivers regular panning shots of the prizefighter-like arena, and replays the crucial moments for our delectation.
What it does, in wonk-speak, is connect me to somewhere I want to be but can’t. And boy was this one worth it. Every result from DH can be found in innumerable other places, but there are three major talking points this tournament brought up. The first has been something of a theme for CS: GO in recent weeks – cheating. Valve Anti-Cheat bans players in waves, and the latest wave included several pro players which led to accusations against several more – giving fuel to the ever-burning fire of cheating being rife amongst the game’s competitive community.
Since this incident two Fnatic players have been a focus for scrutiny in CS: GO – though nothing has been proven against either of them, the internet has done its thing and amassed a tonne of circumstantial evidence. This is the context for what happened in the DH quarter-final match between Fnatic and LDLC, the two most-favoured teams in the competition, when it went to a third and decisive game on Overpass.
The first half was won 12-3 by LDLC. In the second half Fnatic lost the pistol round, making it 13-3, before revealing a new trick. It involves a boost from the Counter-Terrorist (CT) spawn that should be impossible, because there’s nothing to stand on, but it turns out there’s a rogue pixel somewhere. One player gets on this invisible surface, another stands on his head, and from here there’s a view of the majority of the map – including the Terrorist (T) side’s spawning location. Such an advantage is a map-breaking exploit, and Fnatic used this spot to enormous effect and turned the score around to win the match.
Quick intermission. CS: GO maps are tested by pro teams in the sense that Valve specifically requests their feedback to help remove unfair cheats and glitches. Fnatic had known about this exploit, as coach Devilwalk admitted in a post-match interview, for over two months.
There are two words for Fnatic’s behaviour: immoral and idiotic. While the game was live the Dreamhack administrators ruled it was acceptable. Post-game LDLC immediately appealed. The backlash from the CS: GO community was furious. Dreamhack’s initial decision was to replay the match from half-time, when the score was 12-3 in favour of LDLC. At this point Fnatic appealed, claiming a boost LDLC had used was also illegal, and this appeal succeeded in making Dreamhack rule that a full replay of the game was necessary.
We’ll return to Fnatic in a moment, but the real problem with this incident was that Dreamhack didn’t know what to do. eSports is a young scene where, simply put, things often have to happen before there’s any precedent for how to deal with them and – while obviously cheating isn’t allowed – it’s often arguable what exactly cheating is. In this case the Dreamhack rules for 2013 (there is no 2014 version, which says everything) state both pixel-walking and any exploit that turns textures transparent are illegal. Fnatic’s boost spot featured both.
Dreamhack’s eventual ‘solution’ of ordering a full replay is really a way of saying that it didn’t know what to do. At this point the CS: GO community went nuclear on Fnatic and, though not without good reason, this was lent an extra edge of venom by the team’s recent controversies. The backlash was such that by the next morning Fnatic had decided the only course of action was toforfeit the game and exit the tournament. Some might call this the right result in the wrong way.
This exploit could have been worth $100,000 to the Fnatic organisation, and the context raises a serious question over its management and judgement. There’s no doubt that Fnatic’s players can be unpleasant people (watch them scream insults at NiP following a win here), but that doesn’t make the recent cheating accusations against them true. Indeed some of the team’s members, particularly Flusha, have been presumed guilty in a situation where it’s almost impossible to prove one’s innocence. What this context means, however, is that when Fnatic then go on to cheat in front of an enormous audience the reaction is going to be on a different level than if it was another team.
The forfeit may have saved some face but Fnatic brand has been sullied within CS: GO in the past, and this Dreamhack performance has put it in the gutter. There are oblique hints that certain players, or even the team, may give up the game. Fnatic has completely brought this on itself. But Fnatic also has some of the most exciting pros around and, while it’s tempting to say good riddance to bad competitors, there’s a whiff of mob rule about the whole incident. Clearly we’ll have to wait and see but, whatever happens, there are no winners.
Luckily the remainder of the tournament was memorable for the right reasons, and some karmic justice in seeing the reinstated LDLC make it through to the final to face perhaps CS: GO’s most iconic team – Sweden’s Ninjas in Pyjamas. This was a remarkable tournament for NiP because, following a recent and extended slump in form, in-game team leader Fifflaren had stepped down to be replaced by young hotshot Maikelele. This new-look lineup had only been playing together for three weeks and was expected to deliver a respectable performance but little more.
Instead, after a so-so first day, the new NiP moved into gear and started to play some absolutely outstanding Counter-Strike. Their quarter-final defeat of Hellraisers was arguably the first big hurdle that NiP overcame, but the first game of the semi-final match against Virtus.Pro on Nuke was the game of the tournament.
Incredible CT play from both sides led to scores of 12-3 in each half, so 15-15 and overtime. At this point the precision CT play went out the window and overtime became a slugfest, the score split again at 3-3, and a second period of overtime finally saw NiP emerge victorious. All tournament long the home crowd was cheering for NiP, but the roar after the last round here was something else. It started to feel like this might be destiny.