Omega Esports expressed its disappointment over Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League-Philippines’ decision to do a full redo of the Game Three draft during their match against ONIC PH last Saturday.
Trying to salvage points to qualify for the playoffs, the SMART-backed squad showed grit against ONIC PH – dragging the second-ranked squad to a deciding Game Three after a dominant showing in Game Two.
All that momentum, however, went down the drain after technical issues hounded the Game Three draft which halted the series for more than two hours since the end of the previous match.
On Saturday afternoon, Omega Esports head of coach and player development Tony “Ynot” Senedrin shed light on the events that transpired during that long pause.
After both teams made their first set of bans, ONIC PH picked up Jawhead as its first pick while Omega Esports took Esmeralda and Paquito, respectively. Then, the opposing squad selected Bane as its second pick followed by a Kaja while Omega Esports ended the first phase with a Beatrix pick.
OMG picks up Beatrix as their final pick in the first phase
According to Ynot, ONIC PH encountered a bug during the drafting phase which resulted in a mix-up. The team bared that they initially picked Aulus, an up-and-coming jungler in the new patch which they used in Game One, but was surprised when Bane appeared on the screen.
ONIC PH then immediately informed its marshal about what happened but the said personnel failed to communicate with Omega Esports’ marshal which then ignited the whole situation.
Bane (Aulus supposedly) + Kaja as second and third picks of ONIC PH
“So, with that being said, nalaman lang nila Pakbet na nagkaroon ng bug nung tapos na, nung full na yung draft,” said the player-turned-coach. “Yun yung unang ‘pagkakaano namin, siyempre sa case namin hindi acceptable kasi ‘di namin alam e. Wala kaming idea e.
“Ngayon ang naging problem non, hindi kami ininform ng mga marshals. So ang thought process ng ONIC nung nag da-draft sila is alam na ng Omega na Aulus yung Bane pick. So tinuloy nila yung draft nila considering na Aulus na yung third pick nila at hindi Bane while kami sa side namin tinutuloy nila yung draft as is na walang hitch, walang problem akala nila smooth. Bane yung alam nila,” explained Ynot.
Under league rules 9.5.3.1 of Remakes Protocols, an MPL official must determine that the bug is critical and verifiable before a remake can be ruled. Aside from that, the bug must be conclusively present and not possibly attributable to the player’s error. The spectator must also be able to replay the instance in question and verify the bug.
The said error, however, can easily be attributed to the opposing team since Bane and Aulus have very similar icons. There is also no possible way to verify the said bug, which is why Omega Esports questioned the league’s decision to do a full remake when in fact, they offered three solutions in the first place.
“So nandun na yung mga questions na how do you justify a bug? Paano niyo nalalaman na bug talaga? Give us concrete evidences na nagka-bug talaga.
“Ang sinasabi nila discretion na ng marshal, sabi nila dinedecide nila na nagdedepend sila sa body language ng players and other factors,” said Ynot.
According to Ynot, league officials laid out three courses of action for them to pick. The first and obvious one was to just replace Bane with Aulus, but Omega Esports immediately denied the idea since their entire composition was built against the Bane-centered structure of ONIC PH.
Then, the league said that they could restart during Omega’s final pick in the first phase, retaining all bans and picks prior to the second phase but replacing Aulus with Bane anew. That, or the full remake of the draft.
“So tumagal yung usapan as in literal paulit ulit lang kami doon sa tatlong gustong mangyari. Kami ang pinakapinupush namin is matuloy yung game as is, same picks. Matuloy yung game na Bane sila tapos pabalik balik, sinasabi nila sa amin na kakausapin nila yung ONIC tapos tatagal siya mga 20 to 30 minutes tapos babalikan nila kami tapos same ulit, ganun ulit yung pinaguusapan,” shared Ynot.
“Nag reach na sa point na naisip namin ng team, kasi ang tagal na e, sinabi ko sa kanila na what if ganito yung scenario na ito na yung pinakabest na ibigay sa atin ng Moonton, ng Gariath na kasi yun yung pinakaunang pinupush nila e yung first three papalitan lang ng Bane yung Aulus tapos kami maintain two heroes, tapos sabi ko what if ganun na lang at least tayo puwede pa nating makakita ng mga puwedeng i-counter,” added Ynot.
After exhausting all other possibilities, Omega Esports decided to go with the second option which is to start the draft during the final pick of the first phase. However, to their surprise, the league officials decided to enforce a full redraft.
Full redraft
That, despite initially offering three suggestions which dragged the conversation to almost two hours.
“So, sinabi namin sa marshals na doon na lang kami sa compromise na yun, parang medyo natuwa pa sila na sige, okay tatanungin na nila yung ONIC,” said Ynot.
“Ang tagal, almost 30 minutes went by tapos binalikan na niya kami so all this time yung 30 minutes na naganap, yung team pinaguusapan na nila kung ano kaya yung magandang last three picks, yung magandang bans natin kumbaga iniisip na nila yung outcome doon sa compromise na yun nung whole time na yun. Tapos ‘pag balik nila biglang sinabi sa amin na yun nga, sorry pero final decision na, cannot be changed na nakapagdecide na sila na full remake na,” he added.
Ynot bared that if the marshals informed them right on about the issue, they would not have any problems about doing a full redraft. But with what transpired during that two hours, the team felt it was unfair that they were the ones who have to suffer from something that they didn’t do.
“Now, if initially they informed us agad na nagkaroon ng bug, it would have been fine. Pero since negligence ng marshals nila na hindi kami nasabihan, mali talaga,” said Ynot.
“We can say na nagkamali yung ONIC, we can say na nag bug lang talaga, we don’t really know. We don’t have the facts. Pero ang pinakamali is yung marshals talaga e. Buti nga nagkaroon pa ng magandang game though unfortunately we came up short,” he added.
With this, Omega Esports hopes that this could be a learning experience for the entire league.
“Ito it was something na ano lang… we need to put it out there kasi mahal namin yung liga e, mahal ng mga players yung liga, ang daming fans na weekly inaabangan nila yung magandang laban and its something na hopefully ‘wag nang mangyari sa future,” expressed Ynot.
Omega Esports is currently at the sixth spot with 10 points through a 2-7 standing. The team will look to strengthen its playoff bid next week, Saturday against ECHO at 4:00 PM.
