Another series in the DPC will be put on hold as the players of Nigma Galaxy tested positive for COVID 19.
The Spring Tour DPC nears the end of its first week and it has not been running smoothly. So far, there have been multiple instances of postponements and unfortunate forfeits. Today, Nigma Galaxy's series against Gaimin Gladiators for the Western European (WEU) Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) has been postponed to an unannounced date.
The reason for this postponement is due to 4 of NGX's players testing positive for COVID-19. An hour before the scheduled matchup, NGX revealed that their players, Kuroky, iLTW, MinD_ContRoL, Miracle-, and their coach, rmN- tested COVID positive, while GH's result is still in-waiting.
Due to NGX players being sick, the WEU tournament organizer, Dreamhack agreed to postpone the matchup. While it seems like a valid decision, the vague ruling that allows postponements of a match does raise some questions. Gaimin Gladiator's captain, Seleri reacted to the announcement and he didn't seem too pleased regarding the decision.
Statistician, Noxville also pointed out the flaw in the postponement. He stated that there were multiple other occasions where teams had to play with stand-ins or continue playing even while sick.
The inconsistent ruling is definitely under debate and for such an important league that awards massive DPC points, it is reasonable for people to raise their concerns regarding the flawed system.
NGX series postponement is not the first disruption in the DPC
Prior to this incident, OG vs Team Liquid's matchup was also postponed. While fans eagerly waited for the series to commence, it was announced that the series was put on hold due to an in-game bug on the side of OG. Liquid's coach, Blitz revealed that OG's Taiga informed him about a bug that allows them to see where the enemy is farming.
The match is still delayed until today with no news of when the bug will be fixed and when the series can continue.
Meanwhile in Southeast Asia, the region's top-dogs, BOOM Esports faced a punishing circumstance which caused them a series loss. Their bootcamp lost internet connection and they could not make it to the nearest cyber cafe on time. This resulted in a forfeit against Nigma Galaxy SEA and a heavy loss on their first series of the DPC.
SEA is infamous for its unreliable internet connection which can cause lags and even total internet disruptions. In the case of BOOM Esports, this is the first time they faced such an issue in 6 months, which was unfortunate timing for them. Some of the community questioned why the organizer could not postpone the series. To this, Beyond The Summit's founder, Godz replied that they were only enforcing rules fairly to all teams.
As for now, there are no exact dates of when the delayed matches will continue. We will have to keep our eyes peeled for future announcements from teams and tournament organizers.
The DPC schedule will proceed to continue normally for other teams. Check out the full WEU DPC Division I schedule here.
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