NIP vs Anonymo Rematch Controversy Explained - Flashpoint Season 3

The CS:GO esports community is riled up following Flashpoint’s decision to replay the match between Ninjas in Pyjamas and Anonymo. The decision was announced after NIP submitted a formal request to Flashpoint to replay either the third map of the series versus Anonymo Esports, or the entire series altogether. NIP cited technical issues and packet loss as the primary reason for submitting this request. The match originally took place on May 14 and resulted in a ‘2-1’ victory for Anonymo, despite a close contest between the two teams. A day later on May 15, NIP submitted proof of the lag issues, which after being tested and analyzed by Flashpoint has resulted in the tournament officials accepting the team’s request to replay the match.

This decision has been contested by Anonymo who are claiming that they are being pressured into a rematch by both Flashpoint organizers and NIP.

RELATED: NIP Blasts Flashpoint For Ignoring Technical Issues in Match Against Anonymo

NIP face heavy packet loss against Anonymo

The ongoing rematch controversy roots from the original match that took place between the two teams. NIP was playing its debut match featuring their latest signing Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz, and was a clear favorite to win the matchup against the Polish CS:GO squad Anonymo. However, things did not bode well for NIP as almost the entire series was marred by technical issues which the Swedes were unable to resolve.

According to the statement released by Flashpoint on May 16,

“In round 3 of map 1, NIP called a technical pause claiming that the team was having packet loss issues. The League Operations team changed the game server locations between 4 different data centers (2 different in Germany, Netherlands, and Sweden), but none of those attempts seemed to solve the issue.”

On the day of the match, NIP had claimed that they had tried various methods to solve the issue but nothing seemed to work. They suggested playing the match on non-FACEIT servers, and Anonymo was in support of this. However, NIP claimed that Flashpoint refused any alternate solution presented to them and the admins forced them to play the series regardless of consistent packet loss. 

NIP had voiced their concern related to the issue following a ‘2-1’ loss, where they had managed to put up a tough fight despite the technical issues being faced. Their statement on the matter at that point in time was,

“We lost the series to a determined opponent who played a great game, and we accept this, but it is incredibly frustrating to have technical issues beyond our control weighing on us when competing at the highest levels of professional CS:GO.”

Additional information provided by Flashpoint reveals that the original match between the two teams had continued on the default server location in Germany, as a game server could not be determined and agreed upon by both teams.

NIP files an official complaint

A day after the original match on May 15, NIP via Hicham Chahine (CEO) and Jonas Gundersen(COO) filed an official complaint as per the official tournament rules. The same was confirmed by Flashpoint, who revealed that extensive proof about the lag issue was provided by NIP along with their complaint.

Flashpoint stated, “The League Ops team and Server Operations team examined further documentation provided by NIP and through an extended sequence of tests, configurations, and analysis it has been possible to finally identify the issue that was affecting the connection from the NIP facilities to the game servers that was causing the packet loss experienced by NIP players.”

The reason was identified as Flashpoint’s security settings on the server which was partially blocking the flow of traffic, something that NIP could not control and solve from their end. This resulted in Flashpoint accepting NIP’s request of replaying the match. The final decision of replaying the complete BO3 series or just the final map now rests with Anonymo, who has not made any decisions so far.

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Anonymo releases a statement on the situation

Even before Flashpoint had released an official statement from their side, Anonymo had come forward to publicly state that they were getting pressurized from both NIP and the organizers of the tournament. 

Anonymo further pointed out that on the day of the original match when the technical timeout had been taken at the ‘1-1’ scoreline, they had offered to reschedule the match after learning about the technical problems faced by NIP, but claimed that their opponents did not choose to do so.

According to Anonymo they were ready to play the original match on any server except for the Swedish one, due to a high ping issue. Their statement reads as follows,

“We’ve played a match that got finished fair and square and lies in the past. It’s definitely too late to pursue a replay of the match. The whole decision is unsubstantiated to begin with. The losses and internet problems were not apparent in the provided evidence.”

Anonymo pointed out that they were told about the rematch less than 24 hours before its scheduled time, which they claim coincides with their ESL Polish Championships semi-final match. Calling the decision ridiculous, Anonymo stated that “We are under the impression that FACEIT is being pressured by NIP on a business level,” which according to them is evident by the tweets of both the organizations and players.

Many prominent community members, professional players, and talents have since given their thoughts and opinions on the matter. The majority of them simply want this matter to be left as it is and do not seem to support the notion of a rematch, calling this decision unfair on Anonymo’s part.

They do acknowledge the fact that NIP had to face technical issues, but also state that it had nothing to do with Anonymo who on their part had offered to reschedule the match on the day of the game itself.