North American Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team Triumph hand Evil Geniuses a forfeit win during the IEM Fall NA tournament, after Jack “xCeeD” Holiman slept through the match. IEM Fall 2021 is the final RMR event of the year and it’s the last opportunity teams have to qualify for the PGL major.
The teams were set to face-off on a map that EG has a 0% win rate on, Nuke. Triumph was already using a stand-in, Wesley “viz” Harris for Brendan “Bwills” Williams, and were therefore unable to compensate for xCeeD’s no-show. What’s more, Nuke is statistically Triumph’s best map, as the team hold an impressive 88.9% win rate there.
xCeeD lets Triumph fans down
Shortly after the match’s planned start time, Triumph player Danny “cxzi” Strzelczyk took to Twitter announcing the team’s forfeit. He said the team’s loss was because “someone” was sleeping. It goes without saying that the anonymous player was xCeeD, as he was the only player who wasn’t ready for the match on time.
Well guys we got forfeit vs eg because of someone sleeping.
— Danny (@CxziDanny) October 6, 2021
Following the forfeit, upset fans lamented the NA CS:GO scene for its tendency to be ‘unprofessional.’ On the lighter side, some content creators filled their timelines with jokes on the situation.
NA CS players when it's time for their 5:45 PM match https://t.co/lTjD96rwxg pic.twitter.com/pNr0sXhk6A
— Adam P (@piethrouer) October 6, 2021
Triumph’s redemption arc
After the devastating forfeit, Triumph, with xCeeD in the server, played 00Nation on Inferno at IEM Fall. The squad took the match 16-11, marking their second win of the tournament.
Triumph’s Major qualification hangs by a thread because the organization entered the tournament with a total of 0 RMR points. Also, because they made use of substitutions, they inherit a 36% penalty on RMR acquisition. As a result, their qualification is based not only on upcoming matches but also on the results of other teams.
Sorry for the mistake. While the 36% deduction is true, they can still make it to the Major if both EXTREMUM and Furia gain points https://t.co/8ajXmDbZIW
— Liquipedia Counter-Strike (@LiquipediaCS) October 7, 2021
At the moment, it’s up in the air whether or not Triumph will have a fighting chance at qualifying for the Major. However, the team are scheduled to match up against the recent IEM Winter 2021 closed qualifier winners, GODSENT. A win over the Brazilian roster could give Triumph the bump they need to keep their heads above water for Major qualification. For information regarding map bans and where to watch the upcoming matchup, visit the official match page on HLTV.
