Ninjas in Pyjamas manager Niklas "Fiskoo" Fischier has written a blog about the team's protest in the DreamHack Bucharest match against fnatic.

A problem with the server configuration made the two teams play out a maxround 5 overtime, when the rules stated that each half had three rounds, with fnatic eventually running out 21-16 winners.

After the match, NiP filed a protest, and the admins decided that the second half of overtime should be replayed, with the score set at 2-1 in favour of fnatic.

Andreas "MODDII" Fridh's side ended up winning the match again, and then fnatic's players shouted insults towards NiP's members, an incident that was caught on camera by HLTV.org.



Fiskoo and cArn discussing the issue

After fnatic's Chief Gaming Officer (CGO) Patrik ”cArn” Sättermon issued a statement to clarify what happened, it was now NiP's turn to address the issue. Below you can find Niklas "Fiskoo" Fischier's statement, taken from the team's website.



After our match against fnatic during DH Bucharest we all decided not to further discuss what happened outside the organisation and just let everything go. Our relationship with the fnatic organisation and our fans seemed to be better off without witnessing a debate on who is to blame in situations like this. But after watching several videos featuring the fnatic players not telling the whole story we are compelled to tell our side of the story.



We don’t like the fact that parts of the community and our fans in particular may be under the impression that NiP took a cheap-shot against fnatic. This is something we have never done, never will because we don’t have to. We reacted to a situation where a game was played with wrong settings and it had an impact on the match in question. The fnatic players insist on saying that they felt they were robbed of their victory and that the NiP players tried to stab them in the back. This is the reason we finally decided to tell you what really happened.



The overtime:



The rules say that all overtimes was to be played in the MR3 format. So after the first half of the OT (3 rounds) the NiP players said GH, but to our surprise the fnatic players stated that it was MR5 which was supported by the fact that the OT-script on the server did not switch sides. Confusion and discussion within the team followed and it seemed unlikely that it would be a valid outcome due to the fact that even one of the players of the fnatic team also stated that it was impossible. But the rules also say that teams can’t pause for rule violations so we continued playing.

The OT eco:



The confusion regarding the OT rules caused the NiP players to miss buy time and be stuck with only pistols in the 4:th round. Xizt had bought an AWP and an AK in what we thought was the final round because he had good spawn. He then ran back to spawn to switch to the AK he bought. This caused Xizt to have almost no money in the 4:th round. None of the fnatic players seemed to react to the fact that their opponents had to play with pistols in the middle of an overtime.



The momentum loss:



After being forced to a pistol round caused by the confusion, we lost all of what was left of our momentum. This in turn put us in a situation where fnatic was up 4-1 after the first half. Being in a situation being down three rounds due to an eco and the following frustration is not an easy situation to handle and just keep playing.



All of this because of faulty settings on the server. No doubt we would protest. And to be clear here; we did not protest against fnatic. We protested that the wrong settings put us in a situation which would never have happened if the settings were right. No pistol round, no frustration and no momentum loss.



fnatic players have stated that they left the tournament area certain they were winners even though i instantly approached them after the game while they were still there and said i would protest against the situation and that i would take it up with Carn. So i informed both players and management of fnatic before i even talked to an admin. Carn, me and the admin discussed the situation and we ALL agreed that the OT indeed should be played MR3 and that the final half should be replayed. First half would still be 2-1 in fnatics favor. That way we cut out the eco round, the momentum loss and all other factors that should not be there due to the faulty settings.



Some time after the decision Carn came back and said his players refused to accept his/my and the admins decision and that they too wanted to protest. They insisted they had won fair and square. Admins deliberated and then delivered the final decision that the last half of the OT would indeed be replayed.



What happened is that fnatic beat us in the second half of the OT and got a well deserved win. We would like to thank Carn and Devilwalk for their professionalism. They both approached us after the game and wanted to apologize for the fnatic teams reactions after the game was over and that the others refused to shake hands after the match. Fnatic has made an official apology to both NiP and the community so the matter is closed. NiP and fnatic maintain their good relationship.