A ticket to the championship

The old Nathan wanted beautiful games. The new Nathan wanted correct ones. He knew what Upkeep meant in practice, not in theory. He knew when to stay lean and when to pay for the army. He knew that not every game had to be pretty if it could still be won on the last page. When the championship qualifier list dropped, the whole scene went quiet for a moment. Nathan Cole was listed as the North American qualifier winner. There was no splashy note, just a single line. Open Qualifier champion. Very few people wanted to admit it yet, but the washed Human had already fought his way back to the world stage. And that was only the start.