The Export

Moving to Match Point

"All players at the World Championship have an abnormal requisite talent," Bronson was shouting to all four walls of the arena, his voice carrying with the warm moisture of 50,000 people to the curved top of the dome. 

"The ones who make it this far share a fair balance between raw individual skill, game management and team cohesion. But, there are only 4 semi-finalists, 2 finalists and 1 champion. From this point on, the margins are thin and traits the players lack start to define their success. Right now, we need to see whether Telezone have that killer instinct. They need to keep the pressure on The Port before they have the chance to bounce back." Alexander heard it while heading back to the prep room in between games. With his head down, he was following the noise of commotion to his destination, from the toilets and refreshment stations to the 'pre-stage' area past security guards and down the corridor with all the preparation rooms. He realised he'd taken a wrong turn somewhere when Telezone's omnipresent deep blue theme was switched for a dark purple. He still heard the commotion, it sounded just like Telezone's room but the signs all told him it was The Port's. He should have left, but he couldn't help lingering in the quiet corridor. His own team room was just a couple corners away and he could swear he heard Jeong-Wan's commanding tone behind the purple walls. For integrity, the rooms were as sound-proof as possible so spies like Alexander couldn't discern a strategy while passing by. He couldn't hear the words but he knew their content. Xhu sounded stern and unimpressed, Alexander really couldn't picture him standing tall and wagging fingers. He was too soft. With a switch of tone, the whole room erupted into laughter and different voices started to pipe up. That sounded more like Xhu's team. 

Alexander recognised Kaede's and then Rookie's, Lupin joinig in too. Xhu's constant tone was playing around them while they had their fun. He caught himself reminiscing over the easy atmosphere around his own teams. Amber on Telezone and Mihael on his Balkan team were both jokers, always easing tension and reducing the grand scale of worldwide events to a simple outing with 4 other friends. Every member of The Port was playing the joker in that room, from the sounds of it. Xhu had his work cut out to get them focused up, Jeong-Won's players were refined and professional. Right about now, he would be taking them through their mistakes and the macro points to improve for the next game.

"Pin them down while they are stunned." Something like that. Jeong-Wan fancied himself a motivator and strategist, a mincer of words and intellect; rarely did a coach posess both traits. Needless to say a World Champion did, and Jeong-Wan had more gold in his collection that Gilgamesh. Alexander traipsed away from the purple corridor towards Telezone's ocean blue and heard the briefing. There was still time to remind Strife of some pointers in his individual matchup and Alexander liked the way Bronson had put it.

"There's blood in the water." He'd tell Strife. The one factor Strife hadn't displayed in his gameplay yet was a killer instinct. That  merciless drive to win, to prey on any weakness you can find. He knew Rookie wouldn't give Strife a second chance. A string of bodies at the showcase told him that. Telezone had to shut this series down before Rookie and his team found their focus.

Character select offered Telezone their chance.

"I can't see them banning away Kreigsmesser on the priority side of the selection. They will be allowing a priority pick if they take her away from us." Jeong-Won had said and he was right. Strife locked in the dark knight himself. Telezone had pinched at the jungle pool while The Port tried to limit Nagini's selection of solo side lane carries. By the time Krreigmsmesser was locked in, Telezone had lined up Bullard and VoidDrop. The Port had traded back directly for Karina and Pyro after first picking Juno's Lyra.

"Kaede and Crank share a lot of the same champions and nearly all of them are banned. I wonder what Kaede will pick here." The casters said on the monitor behind the group of coaches watching on their analysis screen. Cynthia and Diantha were the only options, from what Alexander remembered of their character pools. Kaede took the first and Crank the latter, Nagini was droughted and had to settle for Pixie as mitigation for Lyra. Rookie's pick was last and with only Rasmus and Zela banned away on either side, Alexander was waiting for the Arsene pick, or Rasmus, Kali, even Ruroni. The Nekroz selection disappointed him. This was Xhu's doing, trying to secure a stable character who could make up for the discrepancy in the solo lane duel by taking over skirmishes easily. Rookie didn't look overjoyed as the camera stared through the back of his booth.