Breaking down the pointless ONET4P-X13 drama

ESEA Advanced Season 41 playoffs is set to start tonight at 09:30PM with the star-studded ONET4P lineup squaring off against Max "Makzwell" Sparrey's X13 squad, who look to return to ESL Challenger League after being demoted last season. However, before the actual in-server carnage was set to start, the two sides took to Twitter to fire shots across the bow over ONET4P's supposed unwillingness to reschedule the BO3 before the whole thing wrapped up in about an hour.

So what's going on here again? Basically, one of X13's players is going on vacation at some point this week, meaning they wouldn't be able to field their full lineup in what is already an incredibly difficult series against a seasoned squad. As a result of this upcoming vacation, Makzwell and co. asked ONET4P if they could reschedule in a quid pro quo exchange for when X13 gave them the courtesy earlier in the season. However, ONET4P's coach, Calvin "becker" Becker, said no dice because the team haven't had a chance to practice in a few weeks due to being in Toronto for the SiGMA Esports Cup.

This leads us to last night where Makzwell made the above tweet to engage in what is essentially a "struggle session" where random Advanced and Main players got to throw their hats into the ring to denounce ONET4P over this supposed breach of etiquette. This riveting saga came to a close when ONET4P folded to the pressure and agreed to play the match tonight despite Gage "Infinite" Green and co. being on the receiving end of barbs about his team lacking in empathy and being "shameless and/or assholes".

What's my take on this you may ask? Well thanks for asking dear reader. Let's break it down Q&A style:

Should teams make all reasonable efforts to reschedule matches to accommodate their opponents? Is a player going on vacation a reasonable basis for a reschedule?

I would generally say yes, especially at the Advanced level where almost no one is earning a full-time salary and everyone is juggling CS:GO with the generic 16-24 year old struggles (college, work, graduation, etc.). However, I'm not quite sure how I feel about the vacation angle as most of these players are young adults and can reasonably say no, especially if they have pro aspirations. On the other hand, I understand that's not really tenable for most players because of familial pressure and the struggle to have a good life-work balance and not be a complete shut-in.

Do ONET4P have reasonable grievance for losing out on an opportunity to practice before playoffs start?

100% yes. This is especially true considering ONET4P have only really had two weeks to integrate Voltage into the squad as IGL after walker left at the end of May. The only caveat is I don't know how much difference one day of practice would make, but ONET4P are a very serious contender to win the division so they should have some remit when it comes to deciding what they need to do to achieve results.

Is it reasonable for Makzwell to engage in pot-stirring on Twitter to try and get what he wants?

Obviously not, but it worked, so I expect this hallmark of NA's approach to dispute resolution won't be going anywhere. I understand why Makzwell did it, because he was frustrated over his playoffs run being compromised, but the ALL CAPS approach isn't really something I like. It also subjected the ONET4P guys, especially Infinite, to a fair bit of unrelated abuse which isn't really in the competitive spirit. Considering ONET4P were ultimately able to reschedule, this felt a bit needless from both sides and I hope it's the last bit of drama this season, as wishful as that thinking may be.

In conclusion, X13 got what they wanted while ONET4P shouldn't really worry because they will still likely win based on the strength of their roster. Overall, a pointless exercise but I'll take it any day over constant DDOSing in Advanced playoffs. GLHF everyone.