Match of the Millennium

The following clip, taken from the NFG Afterparty, has been posted on the NFG website alongside an article containing the same information. It features Tom, Lou and Lyraelle on-stage in front of a screen on the wall, the former two handling most of the talking. "Speaking of which, we should probably go ahead and explain the draft. Lou, would you do the honours?" Tom asks as information appears on the monitor behind the pair. Lou chugs some water from his glass before nodding. "Absolutely. So! The draft will begin on May 31st and will be taking place in the conference room across the hall from here. First off, for those who haven't had a sneak preview already, there are going to be four sponsor teams. Those teams are Team Blaze, Team Frost, Team Metal, and Team Thunder." "Think of these teams as alliances of like-minded sponsors who've been grouped together to provide their combined support for a group of prospects," Tom chimes in. "We've interviewed several of the sponsors and will be posting their interviews online over the next few days." "So, the draft is going to take place in rounds. Each round, starting with the first sponsor team, the sponsors will take turns choosing who they'd like to draft," Lou continues. "But! Just because a sponsor chooses a prospect doesn't guarantee that they get that prospect. At the end of each round, if more than one sponsor team has chosen the same prospect, each sponsor team that has a bid on that prospect will get a chance to pitch to that prospect why they should join their team." "Then, it's up to the prospect which of the sponsor teams that have bid on them they want to join," Tom contributes. "Yep - otherwise, at the end of the turn, any uncontested picks automatically join the team that picked them," Lou states. "So, it's actually possible for the last team on the round to guarantee they get a pick if they're willing to give up contesting any of the picks the other teams have made that round." "Which makes last pick potentially even more valuable than first pick," Tom remarks. "Of course, each round, the pick order will rotate in order to ensure as much fairness as possible." "So, as far as I see it, the sponsors might wanna go for the high-point prospects like Nixie, Hawksley and Tamaki first, but if three sponsors all want the top prospect, the fourth could come in snag the second prospect guaranteed. It's a bit of a strategic game. It'll be interesting to see who the sponsors favour," Lou comments. "In fact, they might even go for the prospects that haven't done as well in the tournament just 'cause they see some potential in them, or think they'll be more trainable, or they think their values will align. After all, a lot of these sponsors are looking for long-term recruits for their organisations and dojos." (Continued in next post!)

(Continued from previous post) "So, without further ado, here's the list of sponsor teams!" The teams appear on the screen as they're announced: -==TEAM BLAZE==- GOUKI MITSURU TOKUGAWA YURI SAKAZAKI ZOG THE HAMMER "On team Blaze, we've got the powerful and mysterious fighter Gouki. We've also got Mitsuru Tokugawa and Yuri Sakazaki, two Southtown high schoolers who've had more than their fair share of fighting experience. Yuri's representing the storied Kyokugen dojo. We've also got a wildcard in Zog the Hammer. Nobody's really sure who he is, but I think he might be from Illyria," Lou remarks. -==TEAM FROST==- JURI ABIGAIL GOLDLEWIS LYNX "And team Frost is an interesting one. Here we've got a Tae Kwon Do expert with a possibly shady past, a scrap-smashing giant with a possibly shady past, the Secretary of Defense of the United States," Tom continues. "With a possibly shady past," Lou chimes in. "And a shamanistic Russian-American fighter with a possibly shady past," Tom finishes. "Some people are saying this team has no theme, but I'm seeing a definite throughline," Lou says. -==TEAM THUNDER==- PENG YOU AYAME ICHIJO PRINCESS LYRAELLE LIGHTHEART ARIASTRA "So, this team's a bit of an enigma. We have a sensei called Peng You, a shrine maiden, the last Neo League champion in Princess Lyraelle, and the mysterious Ariastra," Tom comments as the names come up. "To be honest, I mostly know Lyraelle out of these four. She's probably the face of the team, what with her recent historical media fame and her victory in the Neo League." "Hey, what do you mean historical?" Lyraelle says with a scowl from the side of the stage she's been occupying. -==TEAM METAL==- MINAL PANESH ZEL KATHERINE FLAKE VERONICA SULLIVAN "So, if you were looking for 'Team Corporate Sponsorship,' look no further. Tech giant Arctel has supplied most of the sponsorship for Team Metal, including lending the expertise of their security team for training," Lou continues. "And aside from those members, the odd one out is Minal Panesh. On top of being an ex-Marine, she's a well-known face on the fighting circuit. If any team is likely to have the technological edge, it's Team Metal," Tom declares. "And that's what you can expect from the draft! Some of the sponsors are here right now, so this might be a chance for you prospects out there to get to know them," Lou finishes, gesturing broadly as the lights come up. "Thanks, folks!" (Additional OOC information in next post!)

The draft will begin tomorrow and will be be handled as an IC scene with team strategizing handled OOCly (by @mail, page or Discord as preferred). Each round, in turn order, each team will have a representative announce their team's pick for the round ICly. At the end of the round, if any picks are contested, the teams contesting the pick will have up to 24 hours to pose their pitch. The prospect then has up to 24 hours to respond with their choice of team. Once all contests are resolved, prospects will be assigned to the teams that have drafted them and the next round will begin. Teams have 24 hours to choose their pick each round; however, this is to account for availability, not intended as an extended deliberation period, and teams are expected to discuss draft pick strategy ahead of their turn. During the draft I (or a designated deputy) will be overseeing things and providing updates in a thread in the NFG chat. The draft should be able to proceed without direct supervision as long as players understand the rules. Once the draft has concluded, AP expenditure on NFG prospects will be unlocked! I will announce when this is the case. Here is the list of the NFG participants and their current NFG point totals. Remember, at the end of the year, placement in the final postseason tournament will be based on NFG point scores, and there will be IC prizes for the team and individual with the highest NFG point totals. NIXIE - 11 Points HAWKSLEY - 10 Points TAMAKI - 9 Points DJAMILA - 8 Points COCO - 8 Points SARAH - 7 Points BUFORD - 6 Points ICHIKA - 6 Points GENIE - 6 Points KENZO - 6 Points AYALA - 5 Points JOHN DOE - 5 Points CHEVY - 5 Points IRIS - 4 Points BUCK - 4 points BRIAN STORM - 4 Points