Dread was spreading amongst Overwatch fans earlier this morning as a panicked Timo "Taimou" Kettunen took to Twitter, trying to reach his EnVyUs team mates who were nine hours behind him in Las Vegas. The superstar DPS was facing the prospect of being denied entry to the United States as he had not yet been approved for the ESTA visa waiver program.
Two and half hours later he reported in again to confirm that he had missed his original flight, but had been approved for the ESTA scheme and secured a new flight at significant cost. He was already running on a very tight schedule before these complications today and had expected to arrive two hours before his opening match at MLG Vegas, essentially walking from the plane to his PC. However, now it looks like EnVy's Finnish firepower won't be arriving until after their opening match against compLexity.
What exactly nV's options are at this point is unclear, but the possibility that team's manager TazMo or their owner hastr0 may have to stand in until he arrives is a very real one. More than one loss in the GSL-style double elimination groups will see EnVy taking an early exit from the $100,000 tournament, so you can be sure they will be doing everything in their power to find a suitable substitute or come to compromise with the admins who have already bumped their game back to the end of the schedule.
Update: compLexity agreed to push back the match until Saturday morning, clarified by their manager Tiffany "Tifa" Chiu on Reddit:
"Quick update: It's a really unfortunate situation for everyone involved, especially Taimou, so we have agreed to postpone the match to 10:30am PST on Saturday. Get some rest Taimou and glhf when we play on stage tomorrow :)"
My new ESTA wasnt approved in time. Can someone please even answer??? @hastr0 @TazMo @EnVy_HULK @EnVy_HarryHook @EnVy_cocco @EnVy_chips
— Timo Kettunen (@EnVy_Taimou) December 16, 2016
Missed flight. Paid 2.2k for another. ESTA application approved 20mins after first flight left. Arriving 9.30pm PST
— Timo Kettunen (@EnVy_Taimou) December 16, 2016
I struggled so much with this shit that now everythings done so unless I die before I land I will fucking make sure I win this tournament.
— Timo Kettunen (@EnVy_Taimou) December 16, 2016