Natural 9 and 
Fire, the first qualifier in the DotaReplays Brawl has been awarded to Natural 9.The two teams battled it out on Sunday, but the match was placed under review after it became apparent that a bug involving Puck's Phase Shift and its interactions with various forms of disable had affected the game. Today, the administration of the Brawl released their official ruling. After determining that the bug did have a significant effect on the outcome of the match, DotaReplays has awarded the victory, and the first spot in the Final Four, to Natural 9.
Since Fire were not warned during the match, they will not face punishment and will be given the #1 seed in the second qualifier, which will take place on January 22.
Since FIRE was not officially informed by a tournament official, it's unrealistic to punish them to the fullest extent by banning them from future qualifiers. However, upon extensive review and deliberation, it's been determined that the Puck bug did in fact have too great an effect in several confrontations that undeniably altered the expected result of said confrontations. Ignoring the entire subject of intentional or unintentional use, this simple fact alone prevents us from leaving the ruling as a win for FIRE.
And since, without the shadow of a doubt, with confirmation from Icefrog, a bug was occurring that aided the survivability of Puck, and this bug occurred multiple times and had at least a moderate impact in the game, our final ruling is this:
Because of the use of a potentially game altering bug, regardless of malicious intention, we've nullified the match and awarded the first slot in the Final Four to N9. Team FIRE is not banned from participating in future qualifiers and instead will be first seed in the next qualifier happening on the 22nd of January.
And since, without the shadow of a doubt, with confirmation from Icefrog, a bug was occurring that aided the survivability of Puck, and this bug occurred multiple times and had at least a moderate impact in the game, our final ruling is this:
Because of the use of a potentially game altering bug, regardless of malicious intention, we've nullified the match and awarded the first slot in the Final Four to N9. Team FIRE is not banned from participating in future qualifiers and instead will be first seed in the next qualifier happening on the 22nd of January.
In addition, DotaReplays has clarified and expanded their rules regarding bugs and reporting them to the admins:
If a bug is recognized during a game, players must immediately pause and contact a tournament admin. Upon investigation by tournament admin, depending on the severity of the bug, the admin will take necessary measures to secure fair play. This ranges from play continuing to remaking the game or even disqualification from current and future events.
To prevent future abuse, deliberate or accidental, the admins have banned Puck from use in future tournaments.
The full statement is available at DotaReplays.
Links
Dota2Replays - official statement
