antiaircraft Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 Obligatory disclaimer: This news report was written to inform you all of the latest Altador Cup results in as entertaining a manner as possible. The rest of its content is largely fictional, composed from various fan comments and the whims of our imagination in an attempt to inspire a sense of realism through our reporting. While we do our best to keep things reasonably neutral, this report is in no way intended to be a completely bias-free listing of the day's results, nor does it claim to provide critical analysis of past and potential outcomes from qualified Altador Cup experts. Please note that the opinions formulated in this report are from a full team of different reporters, and in no way represent the views of only a single faction. If you're looking for 100% unbiased performance data, take a look at our standings page. If professional analysis tickles your fancy, you want our predictions pages (global/daily). The first day of the Altador Cup's second round has certainly been a long one, with teams now on their eighteenth straight day of almost twenty-four hour play. It's been a particularly long day for some fans, who opted to go for some early endurance training and pull their usual all-nighters without pizza. Whether or not this practice have an impact on their performance later in the tournament remains to be seen. Moving right on to our first match match of the day, Maraqua's- "measly band of Yooyuball hacks was completely crushed after bumbling through one of the most pathetic-" (scuffling noises) *ahem* Apologies for the interruption. We've been having some trouble with our new automated analysis robot (my fault I'm afraid, I'll have to remember to avoid programming while on a sugar high). Anyway, Maraqua's fans will be looking more than a little miffed when they see yesterday's results, as the Krawk Island Pirates managed to reverse the results of their last meeting with their old rivals, sweeping the Mermaids with a win in every game. The Pirates' Yooyuball play was especially spectacular- "Spectacular my foot! Not only are you blatantly overusing that adjective at a rate that's nothing short of agonising, but you're not even bothering to mention how painfully horrendous the Pirates' play was! Why, if the Yooyu hadn't luckily flown itself into the goal-" Oh for goodness' sake! Where did I put that wrench... (loud impact noises) There, that should do it. Moving on, the Yooyuball play from both teams on the field was nothing short of spec- brilliant. While neither team brought out any especially new tricks, the strategies and gimmicks developed over the Cup's first round have by now been honed to perfection, making for an impressive display of what may very well end up becoming the textbook gameplans for the next generation of Yooyuball. However, Maraquan forward Elon Hughlis and his supporting players were clearly having difficulty right from the match's outset, unable to push their goals past Krawk Island's hardened goalkeeper, Garven Hale. Further compounding Maraqua's difficulties was constant pressure applied by aggressive tackling from Krawk Island's field players, and as the match progressed, the Maraquan squad frequently found itself overextended and unable to fall back to its trademark defensive line. Despite the best efforts of Maraquan keeper Tonie Plessix, new Krawk Island forward Feldon "Dinksy" Collibridge proved herself once again on the field, exploiting the match's numerous scoring opportunities to bring the Pirates into a comfortable lead. After some quick strategic shifts, the field play shifted back in the Mermaids' favour, as they employed a series of rapid passes to bypass much of Krawk Island's defensive plan, but nevertheless the Maraquans were unable to equalise the score by the end of the match, leaving Krawk Island's freshly energised supporters to complete the team's sweep. <img src="https://images.neopets.com/altador/altadorcup/2011/teams/virtupets_3.gif" alt="Weldar Xupenfarb" style="float:right;margin:5px;" /> It was much the same story on the Yooyuball front in the Mystery Island versus Virtupets match, as the Robots' sound strategy and flexibility allowed them to outmanoeuvre and put a stop to Mystery Island's legendary offensive charges. Despite the Robots taking the victory in Yooyuball and out-cheering them in Make Some Noise, the Mystery Island Natives were hardly ready to tolerate any of this 'sweep' nonsense, countering with a draw in Slushie Slinger and a Shootout Showdown win. "Well hey, Virtupets is a great team, and we're not sore at all about being outplayed by them," remarked one Mystery Island fan with a shrug. "Mark my words though, it's only a matter of time before we get our Yooyuball strategy sorted out again, and when we do, they'd better watch out." Elsewhere (after a rather interesting randomisation fluke), Teams Tyrannia and Roo Island went into a direct continuation of their previous match, facing off on the pitch for the second time in two days. In the previous match, the Tyrannian Fossils emerged victorious, winning Yooyuball and one side game while losing the remaining games to the Roos. This time around, it was the Tyrannians left with two of the side games, while Roo Island surged ahead to win Yooyuball and Shootout Showdown. While the Fossils are still better off in the standings for now (although they have slipped down the leaderboard a little), these results have the rather odd effect of leaving the final outcome of the teams' clashes at a total draw, and most analysts are doubtful that they'll end up ranked in the same tiers for the finals. It looks like these two teams might have to wait until next year to settle their score. <img src="https://images.neopets.com/altador/altadorcup/2011/popups/terrormountain/logo.png" alt="Terror Mountain Logo" style="float:left;margin:5px;" /> <img src="https://images.neopets.com/altador/altadorcup/2011/popups/moltara/logo.png" alt="Moltara Logo" style="float:right;margin:5px;" /> Meridell and Terror Mountain ended the day with much more decisive results. The Knights were riding high as they charged into fourth place with their second sweep in a row, counteracting Team Shenkuu's never-ending stream of new tactics with plenty of solid scoring and the occasional improvisation. Terror Mountain, meanwhile, was especially focused after their surprise loss to Kiko Lake the day before, recovering convincingly to roll in the points as they swept Team Moltara. Tensions between the two teams' fans were understandably a little elevated after the match, but once Team Captains Aldric Beign and Prytariel were seen chatting amicably over a drink at the slushie stands, any pending disputes rapidly cooled off (or thawed out, depending on your perspective). <img src="https://images.neopets.com/items/slu_autumnberry.gif" alt="Autumnberry Slushie" style="float:left;margin:5px;" /> Neither the Haunted Woods, Darigan Citadel, nor Kreludor were able to complete their sweeps today, as they were all countered solidly by their opponents in Slushie Slinger. Team Altador and Team Brightvale were able to dominate the slushie stands against the Haunted Woods Zombies and Kreludor Moons respectively, while Team Lost Desert stood its ground against Darigan Citadel to bring the side game to a draw. Over in the Colosseum's second section, underdogs Faerieland and Kiko Lake duked it out in what was (once again) one of the season's most closely fought matches. While there weren't quite as many draws as before on the scorecard once the dust settled, both teams once again finished perfectly even in Yooyuball, and once again the overall outcome was decided in favour of Kiko Lake by a margin of one side game, as Faerieland took Slushie Slinger, while the Kikos won Make Some Noise and Shootout Showdown. <img src="https://images.neopets.com/altador/altadorcup/2011/teams/faerieland_1.gif" alt="Kakoni Worrill" style="float:right;margin:5px;" /> "If you recall, Kiko Lake was able to clearly outperform one of this season's top teams only yesterday," Faerieland Team Captain Kakoni Worrill reminded reporters during a press conference, "so by extension, this means that we should at least be able to hold our own against this year's top-ranked teams. Now, we might still have a few kinks to work out, but I'm confident it won't be long before we reach that level of performance." And that's all that we have for yesterday's matches, but don't let that dampen your spirits, as the day ahead of us looks like it'll be chock-full of matches worth keeping an eye (or both) on. Maraqua and Tyrannia, two teams still reeling from the impact of fairly significant losses, will go head to head with Kreludor and Meridell, two teams that are running strong with plenty of momentum. Failure to recover or maintain their performance could see any of these teams having a hard time staying in contention for the championship, and with the top-tier point margins tighter than ever, every single match point counts. Additionally, we'll also be seeing adjacently-ranked mid-tier teams Shenkuu and Brightvale facing each other for the second time this year, while Teams Lost Desert and Moltara look set to meet in the most heated clash of the tournament. Well, that's all for now. As always, we'd like to wish all teams the best of luck! Uh... hang on a moment. Where did that robot go? Uh-oh, this doesn't look good... AA, reporting from Altador, out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viridian Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 Ouch! As much as I tried to help Maraqua yesterday, we seemed to have failed. It's especially painful since my boyfriend is on Krawk Island, and I told him I was going to beat them easily... Haha I wonder what a big mouth he'll have today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liad4 Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 Well... meridell was/is a tough team to beat and an even tougher team to draw with but shenkuu we tried out hearts out and thats what counts... Well done KI and The KNights for your sweeps and well done to moltara, brightvale and LD for stopping the sweeps. And finally Bring it on Brightvale and im more determined than ever to get some points on the board for shenkuu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathanjoseph99 Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 (edited) I hate getting swept. MD did a good job in beating us. :/ I was focusing so much in YYB that I forgot that we had a better chance in the sidegames. T.T I'm not gonna be content unless we sweep a team! :P or enter tier 2. XD Brightvale.. We can sweep 'em. GO SHENKUU NINJAS! :P Edited June 19, 2011 by jonathanjoseph99 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devilhunterkai109 Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 Can anyone who's good with numbers make a guess at whether Darigan has a chance of entering tier 1 before this ends? It seems we're either medal material or stuck at seven during the off years :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Ryan Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 I just wanna say that yesterdays match against LD... That was the most fun i've ever had during the Altador Cup. I made one of SoLiD's boards and it sparked an invasion on the DC Minions. We spent like a full hour chatting at eachothers board, and after that settled they still couldn't get rid of me. I love that team so much now. xD Anyway, nicely worded report, AA. ;D I don't think i've ever seen more suprising results in the AC short of the first week of last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Person335 Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 Duuuude! We're facing Lost Desert today, and I'm in no condition to play until Monday! Aww, and I really wanted to play against them. They're the top team I look forward to facing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blurrz Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 Needed that rebound after KL. Congrats to KI on the dom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piximon Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 Well then... x) lol I'm really happy for my awesome Pirates ^_^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antiaircraft Posted June 20, 2011 Author Share Posted June 20, 2011 Can anyone who's good with numbers make a guess at whether Darigan has a chance of entering tier 1 before this ends? It seems we're either medal material or stuck at seven during the off years :P The entire top half of the leaderboard is very close this year, so basically if you're in 9th place or above, you have a chance of making tier one. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voteforpedro333 Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 I just wanna say that yesterdays match against LD... That was the most fun i've ever had during the Altador Cup. I made one of SoLiD's boards and it sparked an invasion on the DC Minions. We spent like a full hour chatting at eachothers board, and after that settled they still couldn't get rid of me. I love that team so much now. xD I haven't gone to the boards myself (like you said, I might just spend hours there) but I'm glad to know the team's been treating you well. Now that we've faced off early we can wish each other good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Lyuba Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 Well, I knew this was going to happen, that us Mermaids would eventually get pushed back into fifth place. But, I doubt it will be for long! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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