So finally getting around to posting a little something about this. Day started off kind of rough, bunch of organisational and communication issues but ultimately I think things worked out. I'm really happy people stuck around to check out the end of the tournament as we got to broadcast some really great matches there to close it out. It did get very late and I was pretty exhausted for it but I think that Ray and I managed to keep our energy up regardless and I hope y'all at home were entertained. Of course congrats to the top three placers (Luke, Aaron and Ben) and extra congrats to Ben for a dominating last three sets (Going 6-0 to win the tournament? Incredible). It was really great to see everyone, especially people like tad who I won't get to see next week at Regionals (Regionals? Next week? YAMS) and those that I don't normally get to spend a lot of time with at an event like Nationals and completely new people that I've never really interacted with even online (MikeDec, etc).
I really appreciate everyone's feedback on the commentary portion. I'd like to take a moment to sort of talk about where I was coming from in this (and really most) tournament. Since unlike the Nugget Bridge Major or International Challenges Nugget Bridge has been covering we would be catering to an audience that was much larger than our friends, I wanted to make sure that we focused on some of the things that seem like second nature to those of us on Nugget Bridge or other sites (I think weather wars was brought up re: this and I actually had people talking to me before the tournament that they didn't know the slower weather ability got their weather set up so I made a point of talking about that) to keep people in the loop. Also, I was casting alongside Ray. I don't think I'm as terrible a player as i (repeatedly) let on in the cast, but I am compared to Ray. There was no way any of my insight would match whatever Ray had, so I focused on letting him talk about the deeper aspects of the game while I made sure that some of the newcomers could keep up, either by filling in the gaps or prompting Ray to explain himself a little more thoroughly. I think it worked out very well and Ray was a true champ throughout.
Also, I can't even begin to explain how amazing Chibo and Clash Tournaments' setup was. Multiple cameras and professional gear (though those headsets ruined my hair!!!) and Chibo being behind the boards meant that Ray and I could focus on the games and casting and not worry about anything else. Scott and I talked about this a little bit during the International Challenge w/r/t the work Cathadora was doing, but I seriously cannot overstate the importance of a "producer" type role for these casts. Only thing I would have changed would be to place the players farther away so that they couldn't hear us, but that only became a problem at about 2 AM when everyone else had already left and it was probably unreasonable to assume that we would make it all the way to 2AM anyway.
I think that about wraps it all up for me. Please continue to let me know any comments you have on the cast/ways I can better myself going forward.
And don't forget to follow @NBplaid!!!!!!!!!!!