WCG07: The tie breaker controversy

After three tie breakers, huge bug controversy and one forced rematch, it is at last clear that Stork won the group, White-Ra is second and EX is out. Here's the story.

Pardon us for being hours late with this story - the majority of GosuGamers coverage team are, apart from the on-the-spot team, in Europe and at 05.00 in the morning, reporting wasn't that easy.

Anyway, you know the deal since yesterday: EX, Stork and White-Ra in a tie breaker. Why? Because Stork lost to White-Ra on purposes, and was assuming that Ra would beat EX. This would've helped Stork by ending second in his group, avoiding Hwasin in the quarter finals and thus allowing a Korean top three. Now, Ra didn't beat EX and the plan failed so a tie breaker was needed.

Group F Tie breaker #1
White-Ra	>	Stork
EX	>	White-Ra
Stork	>	EX

As you can see, one tie breaker wasn't enough to decide it. Notice how these are the exact same results as in the group play. And again Stork lost to White-Ra, seemingly on purpose.

Now, after the first tie breaker had taken place, EX, backed up by the Russian team, complained to the referee team, saying Stork had used the observer-on-turret bug. The bug, which is allowed in Korean leagues, causes the Turret to "freeze" and make it unusable. The bug, however, can be avoided by clicking 'Stop' on the turret and it will work again. In either case, it is a bug and the WCG Rules read: "Intentional Use of Game/Program Bugs: A warning at the minimum or Loss by Default". It thereafter lists "Turret Stalling" as "not allowed". However, EX has signed the "result sheet", where he confirms the result of the match. After this, the rules say, "objections will not be accepted".

All the same, Armin Sayedi, Head Referee for StarCraft, » told GotFrag:

"This is really a sensitive situation because of the tie breaker. The rules say to give him a loss and a warning. My opinion is that it did not affect the game that much. I would not offer a loss to Stork. Ex wanted the decision to be fair to him and this was the fairest option for both players"

Armin, supported by the Referee team, took the final decision not to let the bug disrupt the whole tie breaker. Had Stork been given a loss, he would be out of the tournament. It may seem small but not according to Colbi at GotFrag and sources of GosuGamers, when the news hit the Korean press, it wasn't small anymore. "With cameras in-hand and close to a dozen people trying to get Stork’s attention, the tournament area for Starcraft had turned into a mad house", Colbi writes.

Here is Tasteless who is in a rushed manner explaining the situation to GGL:



Referee decision: Rematch. And a rematch it was where Stork once again beat EX.

Group F Tie breaker #1 Rematch
Stork	>	EX

A second tie breaker had to be played.

Group F Tie breaker #2
Stork	>	EX
White-Ra	>	Stork
EX	>	White-Ra

Now, the same result situation occured again and a third tie breaker had to take place.

Group F Tie breaker #3
Stork	>	EX
White-Ra	<	Stork
EX
<	White-Ra

This time Stork won both his games and ended first in the group, having to play Hwasin in the quarter finals. Whether or not this was intentional or if this time White-Ra threw his game is unclear and we will update the situation as we get more information. Clear is, however, that Stork and Hwasin will face each other in the quarter finals if they both win their first playoff matches. Since WCG's playoffs are in the Single Elimination format, we will have a top three list with only two Korean gamers in it.

Update: MYM just » uploaded videos from the tie breaker. There's a total of five of them, so click the link if you want to see them all. Here's the last two games between Ra and EX:




Above information gathered by various on-the-spot sources to GosuGamers. Additional thanks to below mentioned sites. The story is being updated as more information comes in.

Links
GotFrag.com - Part source
Wire.GGL.com - Video source
TeamLiquid.net - Discussion on the topic