Shut Outs, Short Outs, and Burnouts

[livvy]

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).

 

Hello once again everyone, and welcome to today's Altador Cup report. Things are looking relatively quiet overall, as the brackets have mostly settled down for this round. However, this doesn't mean there wasn't any action out on the field - far from it, yesterday's matches were as intense as ever. Lets go over to Emily for more.

 

<img src="https://images.neopets.com/items/acs_rooisland_megaphone.gif" alt="Roo Island Team Megaphone" style="float:left;margin:5px;"> "Thanks AA. In an ending few could have predicted, the Roo Island Rooligans pulled off not just a draw in Slushie Slinger yesterday, but also a win in Make Some Noise against heavy-hitters Darigan Citadel. After some tough luck going into the second round, the Rooligans seem to have rallied the energy they showed at the beginning of the tournament. Darigan has also been struggling with inconsistencies and one must ask, do they still have what it takes to finish among the best?

 

Some more bad news for Maraqua fans, as the Mermaids were swept by the Kreludor Moons yesterday. Maraqua, it seems, has become the example of how the new tournament style is proving to be quintessentially biased. They have faced a tough combination of the top-tier teams from last year mixed with the emerging powerhouses of this year’s tournament. Barely being allowed a breather thus far in the tournament, it is quite possible that the Mermaids are simply burning out.

 

<img src="https://images.neopets.com/images/frontpage/ac_teaser_06.gif" alt="Fanetti" style="float:right;margin:5px;"> Another somewhat surprising outcome in the Shenkuu and Haunted Woods match yesterday: fans watched as the fifteenth-placed Ninjas nearly swept the tenth-placed Zombies. Haunted Woods managed to pull off a draw in Yooyuball, while Shenkuu stole the rest of the competition. After being plagued in the second round by powerhouses Meridell and Krawk Island for half of their matches, the tides may have turned for Shenkuu. Keep an eye out for a mad race to the Cup!

 

AA, how are things going over in the Minitheus Bracket?"

 

Thanks Emily! Yesterday's Minitheus Bracket pairings resulted in plenty of hard fought matches all over the Colosseum, with the final results holding no sweeps to speak of - not an especially rare occurrence for a bracket, but certainly an uncommon one. It was the Tyrannian Fossils who were closest to managing an across-the-board victory, taking Yooyuball, Slushie Slinger, and Make Some Noise from Team Moltara. Still, the Moltarans weren't about to go down without a fight - holding fast in Shootout Showdown and maintaining their position throughout the day, they were able to come out of the match with a draw. Team Altador did one better however, as not only did they manage a Shootout Showdown draw against the Virtupets Robots, but they were also able to outmatch their opponents in Slushie Slinger.

 

While both Moltara and Altador still suffered an overall loss despite their efforts, the Brightvale Wizards managed to one-up them both, winning Shootout Showdown, drawing in Slushie Slinger, and even managing to even the score against Team Lost Desert's outstanding Yooyuball squad, ending the overall match in a technical draw. While many observers (rightfully) point out the heavy toll that fatigue is beginning to have on team performance, the day's result also reinforces Brightvale's growing reputation as an 'assassin' team, holding mid-tier performance on most days, but capable of incredible force when matched up against a stronger team. The Wizards' presence in Minitheus Bracket will certainly spice things up during round three, as it appears bracket favourites Lost Desert will be having a somewhat less comfortable ride than analysts predicted.

 

In contrast, the tournament's Alabriss Bracket teams had quite a sweep heavy day yesterday, with the bracket's three more powerful teams each taking on one of the bracket's weaker teams. Perhaps the closest match of the day was played between the Mystery Island Natives and Kiko Lakers. While the Kikos weren't able to dominate the side games as they did last time they met the Natives, they were still able to weigh in and claim a victory in Slushie Slinger, and continued to fight hard in the face of Mystery Island's significantly stronger Make Some Noise and Shootout Showdown performance. Kiko Lake goalkeeper Erli Quinnock was even able to shut down some of Mystery Island's legendary scoring runs, a feat thought by many to be impossible until now. Nevertheless, the remaining three games ended solidly in the Natives' favour, with an overall loss holding the Kikos back from top trio contention for the moment.

 

<img src="https://images.neopets.com/altador/altadorcup/2011/teams/meridell_0.gif" alt="Yoris Obbles" style="float:left;margin:5px;"> The remaining two underdogs in the bracket were in significantly worse shape for their matches - Team Terror Mountain's much vaunted field innovation was heavily hampered by slower reaction times and general fatigue, something which definitely didn't do them much good against the Krawk Island Pirates. Meanwhile, a rather bedraggled looking Team Faerieland faced down bracket leaders Team Meridell. Both Meridell and Krawk Island ended the day with across-the-board sweeps over their opponents, but the general lack of energy sapped a little of the enthusiasm from the victorious teams' supporters. There's a widespread feeling that this year's new tournament format downplays the effects of day-to-day results far too much, leaving teams struggling to fight their way through brackets that don't ever seem to change based on their performance. In fact, this sentiment has even begun to extend to some of the tournament's players (who are traditionally much more accepting of the Altador Cup Rules Committee's fiddling), as Feldon "Dinksy" Collibridge of Krawk Island highlighted during a brief interview she was kind enough to give us.

 

<img src="https://images.neopets.com/altador/altadorcup/2011/teams/krawkisland_1.gif" alt="Feldon Dinksy Collibridge" style="float:right;margin:5px;"> Good morning Miss Collibridge, and thanks for giving us this interview. I'm sure you'd much rather be out preparing for the next match with your teammates, especially given who you're up against.

Feldon Collibridge: Aw, s'no trouble. Prep doesn't take *that* long, the boys just like to drag it out a bit. Think it makes 'em seem more manly or somethin'. Besides, Hale knows that talking about important stuff is, well, y'know, important. So I'll give Windelle and his crew a bit of a sportin' head start, hmm?

 

Better not give them too much of a head start... I'm sure you're aware that Meridell leads you considerably in the standings right now.

Collibridge: Hah! That's the whole problem with this system, standings don't mean nothin'! Whoops, double negative - *hate* it when I do that. Not to snub those Knights or anythin', Windelle's got a mean crew and I can't wait to get on the field with 'em again. But the crazy standings stuff is a real problem. Look at Shenkuu and the Roos - they did awesome out there these past two matches. Last time I checked, that was s'posed to be a good thing. But instead of climbin', they're still stuck at the bottom of Vaeolus. Again, not sayin' the guys and gals above 'em aren't great ('cos they are), but if Shenkuu managed to bring the hurt down on the Haunties, why the Dickens are they still under 'em? Even Zo thinks it's crazy, and the man's half-patriot!

 

Just to focus a little extra on your last statement: I'm sure you've considered the common belief that, despite their overall loss, Team Haunted Woods ranked higher due to their calculated score tally being higher? What's your take on this?

Collibridge: Well that's the thing ain't it? The committee's not tellin'. They ain't tellin' us the scores, they ain't tellin' us where the scores come from, and they sure ain't tellin' us how they calculate 'em.

 

That's a very goo-*crackle* *FZZZT*

 

<img src="https://images.neopets.com/nt/ntimages/337_kadoatie_labray.gif" alt="Resident Kadoatie aka Hunny" style="float:left;margin:5px;"> Huh? What the... Hunny! Just because the transmission box is warm doesn't mean you can sit on it! … Okay, with that face, you can sit on it. But stop messing with the wires! Darn those big kad eyes... Hm, looks like I'll need a new red pen too... Wait, where's the backup reporter? We always have... and the backup backup... Am I the only one left in the studio? Oh gosh, three days without sleep, and you want me in front of a camera. Fine.

 

Hello everyone, Livvy here, with an exhilarating look at the upcoming matches.

 

Over in Alabriss Bracket, the Faeries will be rallying their strength for a face-off against the Mystery Island Natives, while Kiko Lake and Terror Mountain fight to establish their place in this tough bracket. Meanwhile, major cup contenders Krawk Island and Meridell will be duking it out in what is sure to be a thrilling match.

 

Minitheus Bracket leaders Lost Desert will be struggling to hold their place at the top of the bracket against Team Tyrannia, while Altador and Moltara engage in a similar struggle to stay out of the bottom. The Virtupets Robots will be taking on the Brightvale Knights in a battle of new technology against ancient wisdom.

 

The Vaeolus Bracket is dominated by largely polarised matches today, with powerhouses Darigan Citadel and Kreludor up against Shenkuu and Haunted Woods respectively. However, there should be plenty of competition in the match between the Maraquan Mermaids and Roo Island Rooligans. Expect exciting results at the end of the day.

 

And that's it for today's report. This is Livvy, signing off to go crash into my stack of papers... or maybe a big vat of coffee. Yes, coffee sounds good. Coffeecoffeecoffee...

 

What? Predictions? No, I'm done, I am not writing predictions like this. Besides, AA already wrote them. I think they're... oh. *coughs* Predictions may be delayed due to technical difficulties, namely that I am too tired to move that menace - I mean sweet adorable kadoatie - off the predictions paperwork.

 

[voteforpedro333]

More Dinksy! I can't believe that they haven't even told the players how the brackets works, that's just not fair. >.>

[demon_aj]

Traitor eyrie on roo islands team. :shiftyeyes_anim:

 

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[antiaircraft]

More Dinksy! I can't believe that they haven't even told the players how the brackets works, that's just not fair. >.>

Heh, that's kind of always been the way the Committee does things, they like to keep their secrets. The players are usually okay with it too - but that's conditional on the system actually working. xD

 

Hopefully I'll get a chance to finish up that interview with Dinksy - there were a few more questions that the kad menace adorable kad managed to stop us from getting out.