LPL officials ruled for a controversial remake of Game 1 between Oh My God and I May

UPDATE: The LPL published an official statement on the ruling. According to the translation by Chinese esports media Tuwan Esports, Road reported the equipment malfunction as soon as he discovered it, but the referee was slow to respond. Both teams agreed to the remake upon hearing the comms, but Oh My God asked that they keep the original draft. I May agreed to the original draft, and the game was remade.

Original Article: 15 minutes into the quarterfinal match between Oh My God and I May, the game paused for League of Legends Pro League officials to investigate a mouse issue for I May support, Yun “Road” Hangil. Following a more than two hour pause, officials determined the game would be remade.

“According to the following rules,” the LPL official weibo wrote, “If an LPL official determines that there are environmental conditions which are unfair (e.g. excessive noise, hostile weather, unacceptable safety risks)” or “external environmental conditions become untenable, then a restart may occur.”

Reportedly, the situation involved Road being unable to move his mouse during a crucial mid lane teamfight. The LPL’s weibo posted a video of Road initially stuttering across mid lane, then sitting stationary while members of Oh My God flanked and killed him. This happened while the main match camera was focused elsewhere on the map.

Naturally, there is some debate as to whether “unfair environmental conditions” should include a mouse error when the mouse can easily be replaced without restarting the game. Ultimately, however, official LPL rules state that “Conditions under which a restart can occur will be solely determined by an LPL official. The following conditions are only for illustrative purposes.”

To add to the controversy, I May have a history of requesting remakes due to hardware difficulties. Against WE in the 2016 LPL Summer playoff third place match, I May had a hardware issue that resulted in a remake decision. In the Demacia Cup following the 2016 World Championship, I May’s match against Snake was also remade due to faulty hardware.

Members of Oh My God publicly spoke out against the remake on Weibo. Mid laner Xie “Icon” Tianyu left a brief post that said “justice will prevail!” This instance incited fans at the venue to quickly make signs with the same message.

I May also attempted to appeal for a new draft phase, but were unsuccessful. Their weibo posts on the issue (reposts of official statements made by the LPL weibo), are filled with angry comments from OMG fans (a much larger fanbase).

At the time of the remake, Oh My God were about 2,000 gold in the lead at 16 minutes. This is the second LPL remake controversy this split, following the Tahm Kench bug in the game between QG Reapers and LGD Gaming.

You can follow Kelsey Moser on Twitter @karonmoser.