Samuel Chan · @SequinoxHS
9th Sep 2018 from TwitLonger
HCT APAC Fall Playoffs issue
Hi everyone,
Just woke up from a long nap in Taiwan as I couldn't really bring myself to do anything else after the whole incident, but I find myself with a clearer mind now and therefore am doing a write-up on it.
First up, I would like congratulate Aku for making it to seasonals! Like he mentioned in his tweet, we both know each other and have hung out during the past few events, I know how he's like and I'm genuinely glad that he made it, albeit at my expense. And of course I do not blame him for the whole issue.
After going through all the evidence that have been captured by people from all over the community (who have been really supportive thus far and I really really appreciate it), I strongly believe it is just foul play on the part of the admin at Aku's venue, and that he simply wanted to "help" his countryman out. But the main issue from there is how HQ just makes a decision without consulting the BlizzardTW side at all. It completely leaves me dumbfounded. This is solely based on my assumption, and I will try to help you understand why I've assumed so in my next paragraphs.
So, I am just sitting in my chair after the first game, feeling really good about my chances after winning that first game as I believe I manage to get the favourable queue and actually won, so my lineup from then on was kinda 65% favoured in my opinion. As I start thinking of various scenarios/board states in my head and how I would handle them, I realise that quite a while has passed and I decided to ping the admin from my Hearthstone client, mentioning that "the wait has been quite long, what's the issue?". And suddenly, I receive a message saying "there will be a regame for game 1 due to a technical issue."
At this moment I just feel extremely unjust, but nevertheless I decide to keep my cool and raise my hand to get the admin from my venue over, and simply point at my screen for him to read. It is now that I realise that is it apparent that my admin JUST GOT HOLD of the information, and it's MINDBLOWING that my on-site admin isn't the one informing me of any issues but the spectator in-game instead. Of course, I state my point to my on-site admin and lay out all the reasons on why it is simply unfair to me when I hear absolutely nothing. Even if it is as claimed that Aku might have heard the commentary by the AU admin, he lost the game anyway, so why am I the one getting punished for it if I'm not at fault?
I believe my admin did try to push the case towards the HQ, but as he continuously types in his phone, all he can tell me is the decision has been final from HQ.
My setup is subsequently checked again by my admin and confirmed that there is no foul play whatsoever involved, and I am left with the exact same setup at my venue. Recognising that I don't really have a choice at all, I just continue the series from 0-0, and after losing the regame, I genuinely tried very hard to keep my head in the game, but I believe everyone could see that I wasn't playing at a level that I originally could anymore, having lost all the momentum. I'm just glad that I managed to keep my cool on screen.
As I lay in bed typing this out, it suddenly hurts even more. It has always been my goal to get the Golden Celebration cardback, but it feels like it'll just be a painful memory for me. I hardly mention it, but I too have sacrificed a lot in order to try to do well, both for myself and for the Singapore eSports scene, having quit my full-time job and delaying my university education this year for Hearthstone, so bowing out this way just absolutely sucks. However, I still believe that I've done great so far this year, and I don't doubt my abilities to bounce back from this at all. So see you guys in the near future! And looking forward to meeting more players in the HCT Singapore tour stop :)
Regards,
Samuel 'Sequinox'