Server Crash Causes Remake of Crucial AniMajor Game

The WePlay AniMajor fell into turmoil today (June 3rd) as a ill-timed server crash halted play. The crash occurred during the second match of the Team Nigma versus Team Secret clash. 

With Nigma 1-0 up, after some incredible play and an unfortunate Lone Druid pick from Lasse Aukusti "MATUMBAMAN" Urpalainen, the team looked to cement their lead. A win in the second match would have locked Team Nigma into the Group Stage, eliminating Invictus Gaming and Team Secret.

Nigma, who by any right should have been losing game two after first-picking Puck, had taken control of the match. The stack were firmly putting the boot to Team Secret, when the crash took hold. And that Puck was causing some real trouble for Secret.

With the stream surprisingly switching to a graphic of a lone Juggernaut standing on a hill, fans and casters alike were left grasping for answers. Ultimately it was determined that a client-side crash had caused the game to end. With victory snatched away from Team Nigma, it was time to dive into the rule books to figure out what happened next.

However, it turns out that server crashes that take out entire games aren’t a common occurrence. In fact, there wasn't anything in the rulebook for it. As a result, it was decided that the game would be remade with the same draft, same lanes, and same items.

But the last point in particular was contentious, with casters unsure what “same items” entailed. With the game playing out differently, it would be unreasonable to ask players to pick up the same items. Especially when they might not even have the same net worth.

With this and other issues being contended, the decision was eventually passed to a higher power: Valve themselves. Eventually, after a short pause, the ruling was made: The game would indeed start again with the same draft, same lanes, and starting items the same.

Both teams were also given an alternate option: Team Nigma and Team Secret’s second game would be delayed, and Team Secret would play their matchup against iG. Then after that match had wrapped up, they’d settle things with Nigma.

Eventually the teams decided to go with the first option. But, as was par for the course at this point, this ran into an issue. Because the server had crashed, there was no record of what starting items were selected. Eventually a screenshot from the Ukrainian stream was uncovered which had the correct items, but not before several minutes of panic.

With the decision to remake made after Team Nigma were clearly in control of the game, you could reasonably make that case that it was unfair to Nigma. Indeed, fans were quick to voice their outrage on Reddit, while teams made light of the situation on social media.

Regardless of the eventual outcome, it’s one of the most unusual technical difficulties to strike a Dota 2 Major in recent memory. A server crash at the AniMajor! No amount of anime shenanigans could have prepared either team for this outcome.

Stay tuned to esports.gg for the latest Dota 2 news and updates.