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Im not entirely sure why the Solo max fixing scandal has messed with me more than Savior in BW, but it has. I suppose it was because throwing games in Proleague somehow just seems so incredibly unlikely. Hell, most of the shock from the Savior revelation wasn't that just that Savior was fixing matches, but that ANYONE was fixing matches. And as much as it shocked me, it didn't alter the way I watched Proleague. I was able to once again go back to the underlying belief that both players were trying their hardest to win BECAUSE it was Proleage. And while I have eventually shifted away from Proleage (thanks SC2), I was still able to watch at the end.
For some reason the Solo scandal has had a much worse effect on my ability to watch Dota 2 tournaments. The Alienware Cup, for example, has been nearly unwatchable because of the addition of Navi. The fact they looked SO bad in the group stages (hello Xboct) yet now are stomping through the playoffs has raised a huge, irrational red flag in my head. Because of Solo, I am now stuck with the the idea in the back of my head that the Chinese organizers told the teams to ensure that Navi got through as much of the playoffs as possible so that they could have more games with the most popular western team there is.
Do I have any basis for this? No. Is a much better explanation that Navi was just exhausted after traveling to China and their play suffered a bit? You bet. Does it help me get over the nagging fear that the organizers are meddling with the results? No way.
All thanks to Solo. Without his stupidity, I wouldnt give the results a second thought. Now? I have to take every victory with a grain of salt.
Hopefully this nagging fear goes away and doesnt extend to other tournaments. The International is too big for something like this to happen (I hope). Similarly, I dont think any of the lans are going to be affected too much.
Even online cups, like the ones Solo abused, are free of this subconscious taint for me. Online cups and group stages were always wonky though, what with standins, and the myriad of other factors that affect day to day play which makes odd results more realistic.
The real casualty for me are Exhibition-like tournaments such as the Alienware Cup, which feature 1-2 teams going to an unfamiliar region and taking part in the tournament. The organizers benefit so heavily from the continued play of the visiting team that the spectacle, post Solo, has now been tainted for me. All I can do is hope that this eventually goes away.
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I don't know how much dots you play but really you'll get to recognise how much yours and a players form can change even in the timespan of a single day. Also something that has been known for a while. Chinese teams primarily take online tournaments as practice and are really only serious at LANs
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Until there is real reason to think this, I wouldn't jump to conclusions. I'm not big on DotA, I don't know the entire situation, but I can tell you that going straight to match fixing is a bad way to address any tentative situation.
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If you look at it from a matter of gain, it becomes rather unlikely because of risk of the secret getting out, and that if I'm not mistaken, what many dota teams need most are big wins, to gain more sponsors. From a risk-benefit perspective, if any fixing is happening it's less likely to be because of organizers who need to protect their own reputation at all costs.
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Some points
-Navi played the majority of their group stage games a day after getting off a long plan ride. Intercontinental plane travel is extremely fatiguing and completely messes with your natural rhythms be it sleep, appetite, concentration levels etc.
-They had been drinking the night previous to playing ))) axaxaxaxa (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVMU2I8tSpM and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpvRcxR7gfk)
-Playing in an entirely new setup (in a PCbang afaik
-Group stage games that only decide seeding. Navi are notorious for not exactly taking online competition 100% seriously and given the extenuating circumstances detailed above, I think it was safe to say, with no threat of elimination posed to them, Navi did not play to 100% of their capabilities.
Now in the playoff games Navi had several days to acclimatize to China, be it the food or jetlag or their playing conditions. They had been scrimming vs Chinese teams and playing in CDEC games. Navi's roster is a collection of some of the greatest and most talented veterans of the Western dota scene, I think that they are more than capable of delivering the results that have been accruing in the Alienware tourny so far with ZERO outside interference, which you are suggesting.
TL;DR: Group stage games were played in sub optimal conditions. Playoffs games played in much better conditions.
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On July 02 2013 20:01 Klonere wrote:Some points -Navi played the majority of their group stage games a day after getting off a long plan ride. Intercontinental plane travel is extremely fatiguing and completely messes with your natural rhythms be it sleep, appetite, concentration levels etc. -They had been drinking the night previous to playing ))) axaxaxaxa (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVMU2I8tSpM and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpvRcxR7gfk)-Playing in an entirely new setup (in a PCbang afaik -Group stage games that only decide seeding. Navi are notorious for not exactly taking online competition 100% seriously and given the extenuating circumstances detailed above, I think it was safe to say, with no threat of elimination posed to them, Navi did not play to 100% of their capabilities. Now in the playoff games Navi had several days to acclimatize to China, be it the food or jetlag or their playing conditions. They had been scrimming vs Chinese teams and playing in CDEC games. Navi's roster is a collection of some of the greatest and most talented veterans of the Western dota scene, I think that they are more than capable of delivering the results that have been accruing in the Alienware tourny so far with ZERO outside interference, which you are suggesting. TL;DR: Group stage games were played in sub optimal conditions. Playoffs games played in much better conditions.
All of that I understand. The problem for me is that Solo ruined my subconscious, so that now even though I KNOW all the reasons why play fluctuates, Solo has destroyed my ability to simply accept bad play.
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EPT
