A disqualified winner of a tournament from Pokémon GO, who lost not only a match but the entire regional championships due to a disqualification, is now fighting against this decision. The community and the actual second-place holder are on his side.
How did the disqualification happen? At the regional championships of Pokémon GO in Orlando, a decision caused an uproar in the community: The actual winner of the tournament, Firestar73, had his victory of the tournament revoked, because he allegedly behaved “unsportingly” during his celebration. He apparently threw his headphones too hard, which cost him not only the victory of the match but of the entire tournament.
Upon closer examination of the clip, most of the community and professional colleagues regarding Pokémon GO, by their reactions on X, do not notice any such unsporting behavior. They even urged the Pokémon Company to reverse their decision and apologize to the actual winner. Firestar73 has also officially addressed the organizers and published a statement document on X, in which he clearly states: “Their decision was a mistake made in good faith, but nonetheless a clear error.”
The revoked winner provides evidence that could help him
What does Firestar73 say in the statement? In the statement regarding his disqualification at the regional championships in Orlando, the professional explains that he wants to not only contact the support of the Pokémon Company but also analyze why the decision was wrong. He mentions two main reasons:
Firstly: His celebration was not unsporting but exactly the kind that is known from tournaments to Pokémon GO and is regularly integrated as clips in official compilations. He includes video links as evidence that support this statement. You can access these in his statement document.
Secondly: Even if his celebration had been unsporting, it should not have resulted in a loss. For this, Firestar73 refers to the official rules that state a penalty in the form of a game loss is imposed when an error significantly impairs the integrity of the game state. This includes mockery, distraction, or intimidation of the opponent, thereby influencing the game and the results. His celebration, however, occurred only after the end of the match.
“I clearly did not mock any other competitor or participant,” emphasizes Firestar73, “an escalation to a game loss was unjustified.”
How does he assess the organizer’s decision? The professional also mentions in his statement that he does not accuse the tournament organizer of malicious intent. However, he explains that they “probably have less insight into the history of the Pokémon GO community than the hundreds of committed trainers worldwide who all disagree with the decision.”
The Pokémon GO player base and the actual second-place holder, NiteTimeClasher, reject the organizer’s decision, as evidenced by the reactions on X under the hashtag #JusticeForFirestar.
So far, the Pokémon Company has not commented on the case. If there are updates on Firestar73 and the victory or loss of the tournament, we will keep you informed. If you want to know how the community reacted to the incident, you can learn more about the disqualification here. Because it found an exciting parallel: Tournament winner is disqualified in Pokémon GO for celebrating incorrectly, now fans could save him
Your opinion is important to us!
Do you like the article? Then let us know!