Falcons launch complaint against BLAST over "Call Something" timeout clip

Saudi esports organizations Falcons have filed an official complaint against BLAST following the tournament organizer's decision to air a snippet of one of the team's tactical pauses during their series against Virtus.pro — with Falcons Director of Esports and Operations Grant Rousseau claiming "[The clip] forcibly lacks context" and misconstrues the timeout.

For context, the portion of the tactical timeout BLAST aired portrays an awkward moment between Danny "⁠zonic⁠" Sørensen, Abdul "⁠degster⁠" Gasanov, and Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač where zonic trials off mid-sentence leading NiKo to ask zonic if the Danish coach has any ideas or if he should call the round.

BLAST's decision to release the clip comes as Falcons have continued to struggle to find their way into the upper crust of the scene despite much time and investment into securing the services of top players over the past two years. These high-profile failures have led some in the community to question zonic's position on the team, with this clip seemingly tapping into those sentiments.

Following the release of the clip a number of coaches including Torbjørn "⁠mithR⁠" Nyborg and Wiktor "⁠TaZ⁠" Wojtas criticized BLAST for sharing the clip while others have noted it's fairly normal in the midst of a close game.

On the other hand, Canadian caster Conner "Scrawny" Girvan called out Falcons for being "soft asf" while noting the organization has previously complained "behind closed doors in order to control what casters are allowed to discuss on broadcast."

It remains to be seen how BLAST will respond to the complaint but this incident follows previous controversial clips including one where they misrepresented Shahar "⁠flameZ⁠" Shushan leading to row with Turkish fans in January.