In a pure 1 on 1 fight with no outside interference, on the very first merge I generally won't take a high deflection shot or any shot for that matter, just because if I were to land those shots and pop him as we passed each other, it would make for a really short and uneventful fight. Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's unfair to take those shots on the first merge, but I wouldn't want a potentially good 1 on 1 fight lasting only 5 seconds.
In a perfect world I'd like my opponent to do the same, but I know that doesn't happen much in the MA of AH, and luckily it is usually pretty easy to avoid.
Humble and the Lala had already been engaged when the shot in question was taken, and IMO anything goes after the first merge. Even if it had been a HO (it wasn't), all bets were off since the fight was already in progress.
My 2 cents