When the people finally settled their seats inside the gymnasium, the tournament host was quick to announce the countdown of the game.
"Ladies and gentlemen, good morning! Welcome to the last day of our event! The final tournament match is about to start. May I ask the players of the Silver Flame squad and the Extreme Gaming squad to come here on stage for the preparation of your gaming accounts."
Calix and his members stood and quickly obliged. Their red jacket uniforms were very eye-catching that the audience easily spotted them walking toward the stage.
On the other side, the Extreme Gaming squad players were wearing an oversized white shirt with two letters printed in a large black bold font: EG. The simplicity of their logo also stand out and was easily remembered by the audience.
Chanting and cheering began to sound in the audience area and the host momentarily stopped talking. After the voices toned down, the host began to speak again.
"Let's acknowledge the presence of our last year's tournament champions. Ladies and gentlemen, the BGS!"
The cheering quickly intensified. But this time, the people were chanting the same squad.
"BAD GAMERS!!! BAD GAMERS!!!"
"BAD GAMERS!!! BAD GAMERS!!!"
The squad name sounded foul but no one had thought of it. If a passerby would listen to these chants outside the gymnasium, it could even be heard as the people bashing a squad.
But, with the enthusiastic and lively tone of the audience, the squad name had given a different meaning. What remain in the audience's mind when calling them was the solid reputation of these champions.
The large screen in front immediately flashed and showed the BGS booth where players were waving their hands. The squad captain simply looked at the camera briefly and shifted his gaze to his phone. But several audiences screamed his name in unison.
"Oh my gosh! Theo! Theo! Theo!"
Hearing the chant, Calix's line of vision moved to the BGS booth for a while and waved at them.
Minutes passed and the screen resumed to display the HD background digital art of the game. The people around were still in the hype mode. Some were taking pictures while others were doing live.
The Silver Flame squad occupied the right side table. Meanwhile, the Extreme Gaming squad was on the left.
There were five mobile phones ready for them to use on each desk. Headsets and necessary cables were already attached to it.
Not long after, the players took their seats and picked up their phones. Simultaneously, they put on their headsets before they logged in to their gaming accounts.
After typing and entering their password, the large screen quickly displayed their account on the game lobby. Two referees were standing behind the players to assist and ensure the fairness of the competition.
On the corner of the stage, there was another desk with three monitors on it. A man in his mid-twenties was sitting there. He was the tournament master. The person was responsible for showing the highlights of the game to the audience. It could also control and view all the player's perspectives.
In another booth, two commentators were assigned to describe and analyze the engagement of the match. They have a single monitor and individual headset with a microphone connected to it.
When all the player's accounts were displayed in the game lobby, one of the referees signaled a thumbs up to the host.
"All right! Everything is settled. Our players are ready to enter the battlefield! Are you ready for this final match, Downtown?" the host raised its microphone in the air.
The audience's response was loud and clear.
"YES!!!"
"OH YEAH!!!"
The host chuckled and waited for a few seconds. "Now, let us witness the final match of our tournament this year. It's Silver Flame squad vs Extreme Gaming!"
The sound of clapping reverberated. Some audience stood and waved a banner for the squad that they are cheering. But mostly, the distinction of their supporters could be seen by the color of their outfits.
Those who supported the Silver Flame squad were wearing the color red. Whether a dress, a t-shirt, a crop top or shorts. The outfit colors were intentional.
And for the Extreme Gaming squad, their supporters wore the color white. There were also white balloons that could be spotted in the audience area.
Only a few people had a different colors of their outfits. Perhaps, those who were just neutral and wanted to watch the outcome of the tournament. Mostly, these were the gamers from different clubs who wore their own color of their club uniform.
This tournament was a typical real-time strategic mobile game of 5 vs 5. Two groups consisting of five players would compete to win the victory. The character roles may vary depending on the lineup of the squad.
"And now, let the final match begin!" the host announced and the large screen behind him quickly projected into a 20 seconds countdown. It was a preparation phase. After the countdown, the players had to pick their roles and ban certain characters.
Within this 20 seconds countdown, the tournament camera showed the player's movements as they stretched their fingers for a quick exercise of their joints. The audience looked at the screen with eagerness. Some even followed to count the numbers.
"Five..."
"Four..."
"Three..."
"Two..."
"One!"
The scene on the large screen abruptly changed. The players were now arranged on the side corners in random seats.
Calix happened to be in S3 while Nate was on S5. But, such positions could be switched once their ally had their turn to pick their roles.
System Notice: Your turn to ban.
Calix easily picked a tank character and banned it. Then, their S3 opponent also banned an assassin character.
"Silver Flame captain Calix is not shy to ban the meta character of Extreme Gaming Captain! The tank is directly kicked out!" one of the commentators voiced out. The audience clapped their hands where other looked gloomy.
"Ohh... well, the Extreme Gaming also directly removed the assassin character. What do you think would be the role that they will pick later?" the other commentator hinted.
"It's hard to predict, right?" the first commentator slightly laughed. He adjusted his microphone and glanced at his companion. They both exchanged a friendly smile.
The players in the S4 position followed to ban a character until the system reached S5 position.
The frequent system announcement of the banned characters dominated the place. Then, the roles of the players continuously appeared on the large screen after picking it.
"Unexpectedly, captain Calix picked a fighter role! For the past matches, we had witnessed how aggressive his assassin gameplay was. But, now, dearest audience, do you think we will see an aggressive fighter for this match?" the first commentator sounded once more after the players picked their roles.
Undeniably, it was something that everyone highly anticipated. The aggressive gameplay of this fighter character sounded extremely exciting to them.
Meanwhile, on the BGS booth, Theo crossed his legs as he adjusted his sitting position to a comfortable one. His eyes trained on the large screen while his shoulder slightly trembled. There was an obvious amusement danced in his eyes.
It just so happened that this fighter character that Calix picked was his meta. Coincidence? Definitely not!
There was no doubt in Theo's thoughts. Calix intentionally picked this role... for him.
"Captain?" a member of BGS called him in a meaningful tone.
Theo shrugged his shoulder and crossed his hands on his chest. "We were busy with our endorsement projects. I don't know anything."
"Well, Calix was set to surprise you in this match for sure," another member expressed.
Theo's gameplay was a combination of passive and aggressive mode. He would use the fighter role to initiate a clash. But, he knew how to retreat when his HP would almost be depleted to avoid getting killed. He is best in teamwork strategies.
On the other hand, Calix is an assassin main. His gameplay was purely based on offensive attacks. Heck, this man would not even mind diving inside a tower just to get a kill!
"Captain, this is exciting. We can see a different version of your meta character!"
Theo took a deep breath. "That fighter character is best in team clash."
"Right! Right! Look! Calix changed the execute ability to teleport."
"Ahh... teleport ability would make sense if we consider his way of playing. Even though he is a fighter, he is still their core. Look, he also had a set of roaming items for farming!"
Theo did not speak anymore. He just waited until the system teleported the players to the battlefield.
A/N: *S1, S2, S3, S4, S5 term in banning mode refers to the seat position of a player. Players are arranged vertically on the side of the screen. S1 or seat 1 is a position in the uppermost corner. Followed by S2, and S3, until the bottom player S5.
*Meta character means the dominant or preferred character a player used to produce their best gameplay. During the banning mode, it is mostly expected that opponents would remove this character to force their enemy to pick a least preferred one.