The Nine Empires Invitational 2001

The Nine Empires Invitational of 2001 was one of the most controversial as a small group of veteran players specifically targeted the previous years regional winners in order to qualify for this event. This strategy normally wouldn't work, however, due to the number of these players who were able to make it to nationals, the group won by sheer numbers and brute force. The end result being the introduction of the alien race The Ord into game canon.