Starting from the open bracket

On the first day of the open bracket, the lights were still warming up and the crowd was already in place to watch him fail. When Nathan Cole's name appeared on the pairing board, the room answered with a small wave of laughter. Not a loud boo. Something worse. A quiet assumption that he would lose, and the only question was how long he would last. "If he takes a round today, that's already overperformance." "I keep saying it: Human is too fragile in this version if you lose the anti-harass timing." "Three percent was generous." His first opponent was a young European Orc, the kind of player who hit hard early and tried to force Human into a bad opening with Grunts and Shadow Hunter pressure.