They lost on purpose for 15 minutes — and made the finals forfeit
The most talked-about play of the season wasn't mechanical brilliance — it was a cold reading of the urn rules.
In the Night Shift North American finals, team Melee Creeps deliberately threw the opening minutes. The plan: stack Golden Goose Eggs, fall behind to trigger the urn's comeback mechanic at maximum power, then consume everything at once.
The urn was never deposited — it served as a mobile beacon to keep the buffs running. The Floormen forfeited after the first game, and Melee Creeps advanced to the grand final.
No rule was broken, and no penalty was handed down. The tournament banned the strategy immediately afterwards, and Valve hotfixed the urn the same day. Some team members explained on stream that it was partly a protest against the objective's design.
The episode left a mark on the scene: it showed that an objective built to help the losing team could be turned into an offensive weapon by players patient enough to lose first.