Olofboost
Controversial play in professional Counter-Strike
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The Fnatic pixel-walking controversy, more commonly referred to as the Olofboost, was a series of controversial plays made by Swedish Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) player Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer Gustafsson during the third game of a quarterfinal matchup against Team LDLC.com (LDLC) at DreamHack Winter 2014, the fourth Counter-Strike Major Championship.
After losing the first half of the third game 12–3, olofmeister successfully used an invisible "pixel-walk" glitch for the majority of the second half of the game, allowing olofmeister to be at an increased height allowing sight across the map. Fnatic would come back to win 16–13 and advance to the semifinals. Following a protest and subsequent counter-protest, Fnatic would ultimately forfeit the match after facing backlash from fans and other players. LDLC would later progress to win their first Major championship.
Background
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) is a multiplayer first-person shooter video game developed by Hidden Path Entertainment and Valve Corporation. It is the fourth game in the Counter-Strike series. In professional CS:GO, the Valve-sponsored Majors are the most prestigious tournaments.[1]
On October 3, Valve announced that DreamHack Winter 2014 would be the fourth Major and the third Major of 2014. By virtue of finishing top-eight at ESL One Cologne 2014, Fnatic were directly invited to the tournament.[2] LDLC qualified for the Major through the European online qualifier.[3]
Matchup
| |||||||
| Date | 28 November 2014 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Elmia, Jönköping, Sweden | ||||||
| Live Broadcast | |||||||
| Broadcast | DreamHack | ||||||
| Announcers | Anders Blume Auguste 'Semmler' Massonnat | ||||||
Fnatic and LDLC advanced through their respective groups in the group stage phase of the tournament, where the would play each other in the quarterfinals. LDLC won the first game of the match on Dust II 16–10 while Fnatic came back to win the second game 16–8 on Cache.[4]
The third game of the match was played on Overpass. LDLC won the first half of the game 12–3. Following a first–round win by LDLC bring the score to 13–3, olofmeister used a series of illegal boosts and jumps to see a vast portion of the map and shoot from a great height unsighted by LDLC. Fnatic would win thirteen rounds in a row unanswered and won the game 16–13, advancing to the semi-finals.[5]
Reactions and aftermath
After winning the match, Fnatic coach Jonatan "Devilwalk" Lundberg gave an interview where he revealed that the team had been practicing the boost strat two months before the Major.[4]
Following the matchup, LDLC lodged a protest to DreamHack, the tournament organizers, claiming that Fnatic and olofmeister used an illegal "pixelwalk" on invisible ledges outside of the map geometry not intended for player use.[6][7] LDLC player Nathan "NBK" Schmidt criticized the move, saying that "the CS:GO scene will turn into a joke" if Fnatic weren't disqualified. Semifinalists Ninjas in Pyjamas and Virtus.pro both supported LDLC, with Virtus.pro tweeting that Fnatic had "no respect for the fans."[6][5]
DreamHack ruled in favor of LDLC and ordered the second half of the game to be replayed. Fnatic launched a counter-protest claiming LDLC also used a pixelwalk during the match. DreamHack then ordered the entire game to be replayed, but following intense backlash from fans and players Fnatic decided to forfeit the map,[8] becoming the first team to forfeit a match in Major history.[9][10]
LDLC advanced to the semifinals against Natus Vincere and won the series 2–0. LDLC would defeat defending Major champions Ninjas in Pyjamas in the grand final, winning the organization's first Major championship.[9] Fnatic would later win ESL One Katowice 2015 and ESL One Cologne 2015 to become the first organization to win multiple Majors and the first to win back-to-back Majors.[4]
Legacy
Valve released a patch after the tournament that removed the pixel-walk from the map, which also included a sign reading "Geländer übersteigen verboten!" (German for "Climbing over railings prohibited!") below where the incident took place.[10][5]
The controversy was featured in Red Bull Gaming's documentary Memories of CS:GO. Devilwalk reflected that Fnatic were "completely isolated" from the professional Counter-Strike scene after the Olofboost controversy. Olofmeister said in an interview that he was "very close to quitting."[11]