I think you're being a bit pedantic here. Sure, no one won according to the conditions presented, but neither did anyone during the first Thrall or Garrosh Mak'gora and there was cheating in the one between Cairne and Garrosh. Nevertheless, its use still communicated something. Saurfang used a tool - Mak'gora, that is exclusive to the Horde and the orcs to challenge the Warchief publicly. He did so in a setting where it would have been a large audience. What you say about the way of use being influenced by humans is true, given how he doesn't go in to win, but I think that's also intentional, to show how he's using the old custom in a new way to expose said fraud. It is a very idealistic and saccharine scenario to be sure, but it's all pretty clear and while I don't like a lot of Saurfang's story, all this stuff is pretty clear and it's why I've defended bits of Reckoning and that Dustwallow Marsh business in isolation. The setting - the orcish capital, right in front of it, the audience - the two sides of the Horde, all of these things are exclusive to Mak'gora. No Horde honor challenge and Sylvanas could've just death beamed him passively and gone on her way. It's her lack of care for these things that delegitimized her. I'm not addressing if the way she revealed herself or the audience's reaction made sense, I've spilled plenty of ink on those topics before, only that the meaning of Mak'gora in particular being used there is pretty important.
@Combatbulter
She worked for Azshara because she was a posh rich girl who was jealous of Tyrande. She would've ended the world twice. I don't mind her going to Maldraxxus, but the morality of the afterlife is batshit. There's apparently a guy in Revendreth who destroyed planets and still got a shot at redemption.As for Vashj going to Maldraxxus, to be fair she's as confused as we all are at first, but it ends up fitting her like a glove. One guesses that whatever were her crimes weren't enough to punt her to Revendreth, perhaps in part because she did it all at someone else's behest.