Considering the number of people complaining about how the "final three sets" were split at ROM 5, I'm surprised at how little discussion there is about what I believe is the source of the mess: the Game 5 rematch in the Winners Semis set between Mew2King and Unknown. Have you considered what state of mind these guys were in after this debacle? Put yourself in Mew2King's shoes; you've just been the victim of a poor TOing decision and robbed of a victory, and now everyone is asking you to play three extra sets for the audience's entertainment. Yeah, I don't think you'd be so pumped up to do that either.
We haven't even begun to talk about how Unknown and Eggm were swapped to opposite sides of Winners Semis. I've always believed that poor TOing decisions can carry over to the players' mindsets and result in messes like these, and I think we saw an example of this at ROM 5.
I want to preface this post by saying that I was only a stream viewer this weekend, so I'm sure my understanding of the situation is not as full as someone who witnessed it in-person. If anything stated below is a grossly inaccurate report of what happened, please correct me and I will fix it. The point of this post is NOT to put immediate blame on anyone involved, though there is definitely blame to go around. The point of this post is to inform people about the controversy that went down at ROM 5 with a focus on the Winners Semis set between Mew2King and Unknown, and to discuss the lessons we need to learn from this as a community.
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The Facts (an unbiased explanation about exactly what happened)
Mew2King vs Unknown sit down to play Winners Semis, a best-of-5 set.
Unknown wins Game 1 on Battlefield
Mew2King wins Game 2 on Final Destination
Mew2King wins Game 3 on Fountain of Dreams
Unknown wins Game 4 on Fountain of Dreams
Mew2King counterpicks FD for Game 5, under the pretense that Modified DSR is in effect. For those who don't know, Modified DSR is a rule stating that you cannot counterpick the stage you last won on in a set. Under the Modified DSR rule, Mew2King is 100% allowed to counterpick FD for Game 5.
Unknown questions the ability to counterpick FD, under the pretense that Standard DSR is in effect. For those who don't know, Standard DSR is a rule stating that you cannot counterpick any stage you have won on in a set. Under the Standard DSR rule, Mew2King is not allowed to counterpick FD for Game 5.
At this point, Mew2King assures him that Modified DSR is in effect, as it has been at virtually every major tourney in 2012, including Apex 2012, WinterGameFest VII, SMYM 13, Northwest Manifest, Zenith, Smashers Reunion, Rule 6 Regional, Big House 2, and Kings of Cali (yes, I did check each and every one of those tourneys' threads to confirm this). Without confirming the rules with the TOs, they go ahead to play out the match, and Mew2King wins Game 5 on Final Destination.
After this, it is brought up to the TO, Alukard, that Mew2King counterpicked FD for Game 5. Alukard cites the ROM 5 Smashboards thread that says Standard DSR is in effect, not Modified DSR. Based on this, he decides to force Mew2King and Unknown to go back and replay Game 5 on a different stage. Mew2King comes back to the setup and counterpicks Yoshi's Story. Unknown wins this Game 5 rematch.
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What Went Wrong (my completely biased opinion about the mishandlings of the situation)
1. The TOs decided to use a strange rule that no other major tourney in 2012 has used. We can debate the pros and cons of Standard DSR vs Modified DSR in best-of-5 sets all we want, but the bottomline is this: ROM 5 is the only major tourney in 2012 that decided to use Standard DSR for best-of-5 sets. On the other hand, here's the list of tourneys that used Modified DSR for best-of-5 sets: Apex 2012, WinterGameFest VII, SMYM 13, Northwest Manifest, Zenith, Smashers Reunion, Rule 6 Regional, Big House 2, Kings of Cali. Although ROM 5's different take on the rule was mentioned in the Smashboards thread, it was NOT clearly communicated to the attendees. As a TO, when you go against the status quo and decide to use a rule different from one used at every other major tournament, you need to clearly communicate that to your attendees. MELEE-FC10R is a great example of a tourney that did this SUCCESSFULLY with its info packet and entire thread dedicated to ruleset discussion. ROM 5 failed at this.
2. Unknown522 did not confirm the rules with the TOs before the set. A common opinion in the stream seemed to be that Mew2King "lied" to Unknown, telling him Modified DSR was in play in order to counterpick FD for Game 5. My response to this is... really? Let's think about a hypothetical example. If I told you before a tourney set that we're supposed to play a best-of-1 set and you go ahead with it, then after the match you found out it was done wrong, who is to blame? It's not my fault, it's YOUR fault for starting the match without getting TO clarification. It is completely unfair to blame Mew2King for this. The player who objects is the one responsible for getting clarification from the TOs. It's really not that hard to understand; if you have a problem with something, it's your responsibility to step up and deal with it. Unknown522 should have gotten TO clarification before playing if he felt like a rule wasn't being followed. Mew2King should not have been responsible for this.
3. The players were wrongly forced to replay Game 5. Yes, Standard DSR was stated as the rule in effect in the ROM 5 Smashboards thread. Yes, Mew2King and Unknown played out Game 5 on a stage that shouldn't have been allowed under the stated rules, no matter how bad those rules were. With that said, as a TO, you should NOT ask players to replay a game whose outcome has already been decided. As a player, if you fail to get TO clarification on the rules and you go ahead to play out the match, then you live with the result. Having to replay a match messes with the mindset of both players and is especially unfair to the player who won the original match, EVEN IF if that match was played under a slightly different take on the rules. The original Genesis is a great example of a tourney that did this SUCCESSFULLY with their decision to uphold the Mew2King vs Armada outcome since both players had gone ahead and played out their set under one set of assumptions. ROM 5 failed at this.
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tldr;
Mew2King got robbed in Winners Semis.
ROM 5 used a strange rule, Standard DSR for best-of-5 sets, that has not been used at ANY major tourney in 2012, and this different take on the rule was not clearly communicated to the attendees. In the future, every major tournament needs to clearly communicate its ruleset to all attendees, especially RULES THAT GO AGAINST THE STATUS QUO, in an effort to cut down on wasted time and needless confusion.
The players failed to confirm rules with the TOs before playing out their set, resulting in unnecessary confusion. In the future, we need to emphasize a simple fact: the player who objects to an understanding of a rule is the one responsible for checking with the TO! This is a pretty simple concept to understand; if you object to something, then it's your problem to solve. In this case, it's Unknown's responsibility, not Mew2King's.
And finally, the TOs subsequently failed to handle the situation properly because they wrongly asked the players to replay Game 5 of their set. After an original outcome is decided based on assumptions that both players go ahead and play with, you need to live with the result. In the future, every major tournament thread needs to include a section explaining how it will deal with a ruleset misunderstanding by its players.
So I argue that the Game 5 rematch in Winners Semis set between Mew2King and Unknown is what eventually led to the splitting mentality, and you know the unfortunate part of it all? Everything could have been avoided. If the players had easy access to Alukard for ruleset clarification during that set. If the players had simply read up on the rules beforehand. If the rules were properly advertised to begin with. If the rules had followed the precedent set by the first nine major Melee tournaments of 2012.
What other lessons can we learn from ROM 5, and what steps should we take as a community to ensure nothing like this happens again?
We haven't even begun to talk about how Unknown and Eggm were swapped to opposite sides of Winners Semis. I've always believed that poor TOing decisions can carry over to the players' mindsets and result in messes like these, and I think we saw an example of this at ROM 5.
I want to preface this post by saying that I was only a stream viewer this weekend, so I'm sure my understanding of the situation is not as full as someone who witnessed it in-person. If anything stated below is a grossly inaccurate report of what happened, please correct me and I will fix it. The point of this post is NOT to put immediate blame on anyone involved, though there is definitely blame to go around. The point of this post is to inform people about the controversy that went down at ROM 5 with a focus on the Winners Semis set between Mew2King and Unknown, and to discuss the lessons we need to learn from this as a community.
---
The Facts (an unbiased explanation about exactly what happened)
Mew2King vs Unknown sit down to play Winners Semis, a best-of-5 set.
Unknown wins Game 1 on Battlefield
Mew2King wins Game 2 on Final Destination
Mew2King wins Game 3 on Fountain of Dreams
Unknown wins Game 4 on Fountain of Dreams
Mew2King counterpicks FD for Game 5, under the pretense that Modified DSR is in effect. For those who don't know, Modified DSR is a rule stating that you cannot counterpick the stage you last won on in a set. Under the Modified DSR rule, Mew2King is 100% allowed to counterpick FD for Game 5.
Unknown questions the ability to counterpick FD, under the pretense that Standard DSR is in effect. For those who don't know, Standard DSR is a rule stating that you cannot counterpick any stage you have won on in a set. Under the Standard DSR rule, Mew2King is not allowed to counterpick FD for Game 5.
At this point, Mew2King assures him that Modified DSR is in effect, as it has been at virtually every major tourney in 2012, including Apex 2012, WinterGameFest VII, SMYM 13, Northwest Manifest, Zenith, Smashers Reunion, Rule 6 Regional, Big House 2, and Kings of Cali (yes, I did check each and every one of those tourneys' threads to confirm this). Without confirming the rules with the TOs, they go ahead to play out the match, and Mew2King wins Game 5 on Final Destination.
After this, it is brought up to the TO, Alukard, that Mew2King counterpicked FD for Game 5. Alukard cites the ROM 5 Smashboards thread that says Standard DSR is in effect, not Modified DSR. Based on this, he decides to force Mew2King and Unknown to go back and replay Game 5 on a different stage. Mew2King comes back to the setup and counterpicks Yoshi's Story. Unknown wins this Game 5 rematch.
---
What Went Wrong (my completely biased opinion about the mishandlings of the situation)
1. The TOs decided to use a strange rule that no other major tourney in 2012 has used. We can debate the pros and cons of Standard DSR vs Modified DSR in best-of-5 sets all we want, but the bottomline is this: ROM 5 is the only major tourney in 2012 that decided to use Standard DSR for best-of-5 sets. On the other hand, here's the list of tourneys that used Modified DSR for best-of-5 sets: Apex 2012, WinterGameFest VII, SMYM 13, Northwest Manifest, Zenith, Smashers Reunion, Rule 6 Regional, Big House 2, Kings of Cali. Although ROM 5's different take on the rule was mentioned in the Smashboards thread, it was NOT clearly communicated to the attendees. As a TO, when you go against the status quo and decide to use a rule different from one used at every other major tournament, you need to clearly communicate that to your attendees. MELEE-FC10R is a great example of a tourney that did this SUCCESSFULLY with its info packet and entire thread dedicated to ruleset discussion. ROM 5 failed at this.
2. Unknown522 did not confirm the rules with the TOs before the set. A common opinion in the stream seemed to be that Mew2King "lied" to Unknown, telling him Modified DSR was in play in order to counterpick FD for Game 5. My response to this is... really? Let's think about a hypothetical example. If I told you before a tourney set that we're supposed to play a best-of-1 set and you go ahead with it, then after the match you found out it was done wrong, who is to blame? It's not my fault, it's YOUR fault for starting the match without getting TO clarification. It is completely unfair to blame Mew2King for this. The player who objects is the one responsible for getting clarification from the TOs. It's really not that hard to understand; if you have a problem with something, it's your responsibility to step up and deal with it. Unknown522 should have gotten TO clarification before playing if he felt like a rule wasn't being followed. Mew2King should not have been responsible for this.
3. The players were wrongly forced to replay Game 5. Yes, Standard DSR was stated as the rule in effect in the ROM 5 Smashboards thread. Yes, Mew2King and Unknown played out Game 5 on a stage that shouldn't have been allowed under the stated rules, no matter how bad those rules were. With that said, as a TO, you should NOT ask players to replay a game whose outcome has already been decided. As a player, if you fail to get TO clarification on the rules and you go ahead to play out the match, then you live with the result. Having to replay a match messes with the mindset of both players and is especially unfair to the player who won the original match, EVEN IF if that match was played under a slightly different take on the rules. The original Genesis is a great example of a tourney that did this SUCCESSFULLY with their decision to uphold the Mew2King vs Armada outcome since both players had gone ahead and played out their set under one set of assumptions. ROM 5 failed at this.
---
tldr;
Mew2King got robbed in Winners Semis.
ROM 5 used a strange rule, Standard DSR for best-of-5 sets, that has not been used at ANY major tourney in 2012, and this different take on the rule was not clearly communicated to the attendees. In the future, every major tournament needs to clearly communicate its ruleset to all attendees, especially RULES THAT GO AGAINST THE STATUS QUO, in an effort to cut down on wasted time and needless confusion.
The players failed to confirm rules with the TOs before playing out their set, resulting in unnecessary confusion. In the future, we need to emphasize a simple fact: the player who objects to an understanding of a rule is the one responsible for checking with the TO! This is a pretty simple concept to understand; if you object to something, then it's your problem to solve. In this case, it's Unknown's responsibility, not Mew2King's.
And finally, the TOs subsequently failed to handle the situation properly because they wrongly asked the players to replay Game 5 of their set. After an original outcome is decided based on assumptions that both players go ahead and play with, you need to live with the result. In the future, every major tournament thread needs to include a section explaining how it will deal with a ruleset misunderstanding by its players.
So I argue that the Game 5 rematch in Winners Semis set between Mew2King and Unknown is what eventually led to the splitting mentality, and you know the unfortunate part of it all? Everything could have been avoided. If the players had easy access to Alukard for ruleset clarification during that set. If the players had simply read up on the rules beforehand. If the rules were properly advertised to begin with. If the rules had followed the precedent set by the first nine major Melee tournaments of 2012.
What other lessons can we learn from ROM 5, and what steps should we take as a community to ensure nothing like this happens again?