| 24 May 2011
(UPDATE: Made a correction, Ally won KTAR5, and Anti finished second).
The Smashboards' Brawl Backroom Committee, the organization that has overseen the unification of tournament organizers for Brawl tournaments in the nation, has decided to punish three players for splitting prizes during this past weekend's KTAR5 event.
The three players are ADHD, Mew2King and Anti. They will receive a "yellow card" infraction, putting them one more penalty away from not being allowed to participate in certain events.
If you're wondering whether the yellow card concept is similar to what Evolution tournament organizers have, it is similar, and the BBR Committee acknowledged that's where the idea came from.
The current yellow card for the three players expires Nov. 21, 2011. If they receive another penalty, they will be barred from future tournaments that only use the newly formed Unity Ruleset. More than 50 percent of tournaments are using the format on a weekly basis -- this includes the Monterey Bay Thunder tournament series as well as major championship events such as KTAR5.
M2K reportedly had forfeited a match in the winners bracket during the KTAR5 tournament, played one match (and won) and then forfeited himself from the remainder of the tournament. He finished in fourth. ADHD took third and Anti second. The top eight players all received money.
Word immediately went public about M2K forfeiting twice, creating a debate about whether any punishment should have been done considering he never lost to anyone in game and actually came back to the tournament to play a losers bracket contest.
It's not the first time M2K and ADHD have been involved in something like this. ADHD and M2K were barred from competing in Major League Gaming's 2010 national championship tournament for Brawl after it was found out they were involved in what the league determined to be match fixing -- it was reported that one player paid off the other to advance in a prior tournament, but the players said they were splitting prize money and no sandbagging was involved. Instead of going to MLG officials first, ADHD and M2K went public with apologies and then talked to tournament staff, which upheld their decisions. On the same day that ruling came down, M2K was released from vVv Gaming.
This repeated action of splitting money has been an unfortunate staple of the Smash community, where it is wide open and well known compared to other competitive games. It has created a debate, not only in the Smash community but in other areas, about how lenient tournament organizers and fans should be regarding those that finish in the money. Some fans and tournament organizers see it as a black eye, while others have taken the "you make it in the money, do whatever you want" approach.
This is the full statement from the committee:Recently the integrity of our tournaments has come under attack. While most would agree having the best players possible at events is in the interest of the community, it should also be noted that it is only beneficial if these players are playing at their best capacity and not attempting to manipulate the tournament for their own collective good. The issue directly at hand is splitting, as it has caused what should be high profile, amazing matches, to instead become a battle of players not trying their hardest, using secondaries, or worse, playing "reverse mains" and also forfeiting. This, because the players have chosen, before playing, how to divy up the winnings of the tournament. This hurts the image of the individual tournament and of the overall Smash community, and this behavior will no longer be tolerated. The BBR-RC is taking the following stance and amending it's ruleset, partially mirroring and in the same spirit as recent decisions made by The Evolution Fighting Game Championship Series, in order to combat this awful practice that has already severely scarred the community (e.g. MLG DC and the Midnight Gaming Championship).
The first players to be infracted and receive a Yellow Card under the already established authority of the Unity Ruleset, Conduct Rule #5, in conjunction with the newly created Infraction System (category: Bracket Manipulation), are Mew2King, ADHD, and Anti. This is due to their actions at this weekends tournament-KTAR5, where the players agreed to a split the money allocated for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place, respectively. This has been confirmed by Tournament Organizer Keitaro. This Yellow Card will be in effect for a period of 6 months, ending Monday, November 21st, 2011.
We hope future action will not need to be taken, but the Tournament Organizers in the BBR-RC, representing the largest collective of Tournament Organizers ever in the Smash community, with over 50% of tournaments in the community now using the Unity Ruleset, has the unique ability to prevent future issues from occurring. We hope the entire Smash community can work together to collectively cry out in disgust at the all to common action of splitting, as it has deprived the community of prestige, integrity, and most of all amazing matches that participants of any tournament deserve.
-The BBR Ruleset Committee
