It's always been like that, this is just the most obvious it's ever been. Perhaps emboldened by the current political climate, snakes are coming out into the open left and right. I'm really glad I made no effort in this clan league, this is still distasteful even when I have no stake in it. Also group stages were a terrible idea, forcing an already apathetic fan base to split their attention and try to schedule multiple bouts in one round was really foolish. Over the years all the honor has slowly drained out of clan league, leaving little else but lackluster playstyles and manipulative weebs cheating anyway they can to win. No wonder the servers are so empty these days. I have hope for toribash next, but year after year the toribash community becomes more fetid and I'm not sure it's fixable at this point.