Cover-Credits:
The 31st SEA Games Mobile Legends: Bang Bang event was met with controversy after the Indonesian Team protested that the Sibol MLBB Squad allegedly abused pauses to gain an advantage. Following this, fans and esports personalities shared their own opinions regarding the matter. BloodThirstyKings’ (BTK) pro player Ian "FwydChickn" Hohl shared his thoughts about the issue. He believes that pausing without a valid reason is unprofessional and all the pauses made in a match should be documented and made available to the public for transparency. FwydChickn also thinks that pausing in the middle of a match is never justified and is unfair.
BTK FwydChickn thinks pausing in a tournament is stupidity
Through a livestream, BTK’s Gold Laner FwydChickn discussed the controversy that transpired during the 31st SEA Games MLBB grand finals match. While on his meal break, he tackled the consequences of frequently pausing a game and how tournament organizers should be more strict when handling pause requests.
“I feel like when pauses happen, they [the organizers] should actually show the issue to the stream,” said FwydChickn.
The BTK Gold Laner added that fans and even opposing teams would get mad if a team frequently paused. “People think pauses don’t affect the game, but pauses can ruin your momentum or your mood,” FwydChickn explained.
He further elaborated that people have different thresholds in terms of endurance because “some people can run miles while some people can’t. The same thing can apply for the games [MLBB matches]... your mental fortitude can only last for so long.”
FwydChickn stated that “what if PH got 1-3 and Indo kept pausing over and over… either team will be pissed off no matter what happens.”
While some fans blame the 31st SEA Games committee for their lack of transparency regarding the matter, FwydChickn thinks that “it could be anyone’s fault, really, I’m just saying it’s a bad thing in general.”
He added that the MLBB esports scene has way too many pauses for each match which he thinks is something that should be fixed. “Every single MPL [Mobile Legends Professional League] I watched, every single match I’ve seen, at least once I will see a pause, and usually more than often it’s more than once. I think it’s really stupid,” FwydChickn complained.
The frequent pauses in the 31st SEA Games MLBB grand finals raised a protest and caused a two-hour delay before the Medal ceremony commenced. This protest came from the Indonesian team alleging that the Philippines team abused the pauses to distract the players.
The investigation was eventually dismissed due to the lack of recorded conversation from the athletes during the grand finals match.
