Well, we all knew this was coming. It just isn’t possible to get through an event in the US without a visa issue.

So, if hallzerk likely being absent for Complexity wasn’t enough for you, you horrible bastards, don’t worry, because an entire team will now need to be replaced due to the failure to secure the necessary paperwork.

That team, if you’ve somehow managed to miss the controversy, is BESTIA. The Argentinian team, have been posting a lot on Twitter about their struggles to get their visas, and were ultimately replaced by Legacy as they missed the deadline set by BLAST to have them secured by.

Of course, this led many notable figures to come to their defence and criticise BLAST, especially when BESTIA pleaded their case, but further statements from BLAST has caused the community to be split in defence of the team and the tournament organiser.

Not sure where to stand on the matter? Well, allow us to play devil’s advocate for a minute.

Even if BESTIA have secured their visas now, we’re not entirely sure that should matter. The deadline was set and BESTIA failed to reach it. Considering that no other team has had this problem, should the rules be ignored so soon? We don’t think that sets the best precedent.

Besides, were BESTIA really going to do that much at the Major, anyway? dumau seems to think Legacy should’ve been there anyway, given the average results between the two teams, and let’s face it - Legacy aren’t doing f–ck all in their place.

There’s also no guarantee that US immigration will actually give BESTIA their visas on Monday, which, last time we checked, is further past the deadline than “one day”.

Sure, BESTIA can say they have them, but until they’re physically secured, there’s just no guarantee.

In truth, regardless of how many people you like telling you “it’s the right thing to do”, we’re just not sure it is. It might be the nice thing to do, fine, but TOs shouldn’t have to do things just because they’re “nice”. Nor should an organisation get their way just because they might have messed up and are now throwing their toys out the pram.

It sucks, but it’s life. And sometimes life sucks. Look at our lives for example, we’re all stuck in yellow levels on FACEIT. There aren’t many worse fates than that.