In Saturday’s VCT Game Changers Open Qualifier best-of-one match between Immortals and Cloud9 White (C9W), map vetoes were scheduled to begin at 12:45pm PT. A coach for C9W did not appear for vetoes until 1:06pm PT, and did not indicate a reason for joining late.
After completing map vetoes at 1:09pm PT, the tournament organizer informed teams the match needed to begin in five minutes. At 1:10pm PT, a C9W coach joined the game lobby in-client without any players, but did not report any issues affecting the team.
By 1:15pm PT, C9W players had yet to join the lobby, and the tournament organizer informed the C9W coach via Discord call that the team had been issued a forfeit.
At 1:17pm PT, following the notification of the forfeit, C9W players began to join the lobby.
At 1:19pm PT, four minutes after the forfeit was levied, a coach for C9W indicated the team experienced tech issues.
Due to the forfeit, C9W have dropped to the lower bracket.
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7.2 Arrival at Venue
...For any Online Matches Players will be expected to be ready to join the Match Lobby no later than the time specified by Tournament Officials. Sanctions for tardiness may be assessed at the discretion of Tournament Officials.
7.5.7 Online Matches
For Online Matches that are part of a Game Changers event, Players will be expected to complete setup, as outlined in Section 7.5.2, and confirm readiness at a time specified by Tournament Officials prior to each match. Players are responsible for ensuring the performance of their chosen setup, including computer hardware and peripherals, internet connection, DDOS protection and power. Issues with this setup are not an acceptable reason for lateness or pausing beyond a Team’s allowance.
11.1.4 Between Matches.
...If all the players are not ready to play and in their seats (if applicable) at the time designated to them by the Referees or Tournament Officials, the Team can be sanctioned for delay of Game.