Faerieland Dodge Sweep Amidst Fierce Contention

[antiaircraft]

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).

 

Welcome one and all to our daily update for day seventeen of the Altador Cup. As of now there are less than twenty four hours left before the brackets are locked for round three - that means contenders only have one more critical match to work with this round. However, as important as the final match of the round is, the match on the second-to-last day counts for just as much (if not more) when it comes to each team's final standing. With that in mind, let's dive into the day's results.

 

<img src="https://images.neopets.com/themes/010_acp_6ffcb/rotations/2.png" alt="Volgoth" style="float:right;margin:5px;" /> The big story in Alabriss Bracket was the match between established top trio contenders Mystery Island and the rising stars of Team Meridell. Both teams being renowned, offence-heavy powerhouses in their own right, their first meeting of the season was marked by skyrocketing slushie sales and endless deafening roars of support from the stands, not to mention the explosive Yooyuball game at the centre of it all. For once however, it wasn't Mystery Island's legendary offensive might that won them the day. Instead, it was the Natives' new balanced formation that was their saving grace, with their improved defensive capacity granting them that critical edge against the Knights' relentless play. With the Yooyuball victory securely in their hands, a surge of enthusiasm pushed Mystery Island's supporters to claim Make Some Noise for a decisive overall win, though the Knights counterattacked with wins of their own in Slushie Slinger and Shootout Showdown.

 

In a brief statement just before the beginning of her team's match against the Terror Mountain Chillers, Feldon "Dinksy" Collibridge of Krawk Island promised an interesting game, confident that Terror Mountain would prove to be capable opponents despite being at a significant disadvantage. True to form, the Chillers did not disappoint, coupling creative strategy with lightning-fast execution in a potent combination that kept them ahead of the Pirates for more than half of the match. It took extensive counter-planning, and a concerted effort by Collibridge herself, to put Krawk Island back in the lead and secure them the Yooyuball win. Even then, the Chillers weren't ready to give up in the stands, nor in the penalty box, as they drew even with the Pirates on both counts, and fell just short of that in Slushie Slinger.

 

<img src="https://images.neopets.com/altador/altadorcup/2011/teams/kikolake_1.gif" alt="Poke Cellers" style="float:left;margin:5px;" /> Perhaps the most impressive match of all was played between Teams Kiko Lake and Faerieland, a match which most analysts expected to be an open-and-shut case, as the Kikos are a far more formidable team than the Faeries by all accounts. Indeed, while Team Faerieland put up a valiant fight on the Yooyuball field, they were no match for the Kikos' energy and sheer tenacity; nor were the Faeries able to keep up with their opponents in Slushie Slinger or Make Some Noise. Shootout Showdown, however, was a very different matter, as Faerieland upended all projections with the help of their freshly developed 'Post-it' scoring technique, claiming their first win in fourteen days in a fantastic barrage of unstoppable goals. The Faeries still have a long, tough road ahead of them this season, but as right defender Ciona Broan put it, "It's a start."

 

Things were hardly any less intense over in Minitheus Bracket, where Team Lost Desert dominated the side games against the Virtupets Robots. Team Virtupets didn't hesitate to hit back however, taking a page out of Altador's book as they blended a few classic Yooyuball strategies into their ultra-modern, highly methodical play style. The unorthodox mix took the Mummies completely by surprise, allowing the Robots to level the score with their much stronger opponents, ending the day with a draw in Yooyuball.

 

Interestingly enough, Team Altador themselves found their adaptations of classic Yooyuball strategies significantly less successful than the Robots, as the Brightvale Wizards seemed to be one step ahead of them every time they got close to a scoring opportunity. It was revealed after the match that this was largely due to careful planning in advance by the Wizards.

 

<img src="https://images.neopets.com/altador/altadorcup/head_shots/brightvale_3.gif" alt="Reb Weemelott" style="float:right;margin:5px;" /> "We're generally confident in our field strategy," explained Brightvale forward Reb Weemelott, "but from the moment we saw Altador unveil those absolutely beautiful new techniques, we knew we'd need something radically different to counter their adjustments. We put a lot of work into adapting our own play over the past few days, and I think you can see that it's paid off. All credit to Altador however - even with all that preparation, they were still able to throw us off our game more than once, and that's something that doesn't happen often."

 

Despite their efforts in Yooyuball, Shootout Showdown, and Make Some Noise being effectively locked down, sales at Altador's slushie stands soared tall and proud, adding a little more green to the underdog team's tally, and upholding their record as one of the tournament's most sweep-resistant teams.

 

Concluding the bracket, Team Moltara exceeded most expectations as they crossed guards with heavyweights Team Tyrannia. While the Tyrannians put a solid foot down on Yooyuball and their traditional bastion, Slushie Slinger, Moltara were not only able to draw even in Make Some Noise, but also hit back hard in Shootout Showdown, claiming another win for their gradually improving tally.

 

<img src="https://images.neopets.com/template_images/babaa_mutant_roar.gif " alt="Mutant Babaa" style="float:left;margin:5px;" /> The Haunted Woods were another team that managed to pull off a far better outcome than anticipated. Most of their match against top trio contenders Darigan Citadel didn't go their way, as they fell to the Minions in Yooyuball, Shootout Showdown, and Slushie Slinger. However, against all odds the Zombies managed to cheer their way to a surprise victory in Make Some Noise, no mean feat against a top grade powerhouse.

 

<img src="https://images.neopets.com/altador/altadorcup/freebies/msnicons/shenkuu.gif" alt="Mirsha Grelinek" style="float:right;margin:5px;" /> As Roo Island and Shenkuu crossed paths (and drew in Yooyuball) for the third time this year, the two teams have begun to develop something of an amused friendly rivalry, with bets and jokes based not around which team will win, but rather on how many more times the teams will meet this season, and on which of of those occasions the streak of Yooyuball draws will be broken (if at all). Still, despite this match's results being the closest of any of yesterday's matches, it ended in favour of the Roos, who were able to snag two side game wins (Slushie Slinger and Make Some Noise) over Shenkuu's one (Shootout Showdown).

 

In stark contrast to the Ninjas' and Roos' knife-edge results, the Kreludor—Maraqua match ended in the sole sweep for the day, with the Maraquans not quite able to hold up against Kreludor's overwhelming firepower in any of the games. Now solid championship favourites alongside Mystery Island, Team Kreludor are looking nigh-on unstoppable as they sit firmly atop the tournament's performance ratings - fans and impartial observers alike are eager to see what happens when these two teams finally go head to head.

 

We won't be seeing that for at least a while yet however, as tournament contenders still have one more match to play in their current brackets. In the day ahead, the Maraquans and Haunted Woods Zombies will meet for the first time this season, while Roo Island and Shenkuu face top powerhouses Kreludor and Darigan Citadel respectively.

 

Minitheus Bracket seems to be proceeding with a similarly polarised set of matches, as Altador, Moltara and Brightvale tackle their respective (higher ranked) opponents, the Tyrannian Fossils, Lost Desert Mummies, and Virtupets Robots.

 

It's an almost identical situation up in Alabriss Bracket, as sixth-ranked Faerieland take on second-ranked Mystery Island, fifth-ranked Terror Mountain face bracket leaders Meridell, and fourth-ranked Kiko Lake are up against third-ranked Krawk Island.

 

That's all for this report. Good luck everyone!

 

[Shiny Vulpix]

Hmm,ok well our rank is 12th place.Wonder if anyone is really in Virtupets...WOW 13 GUESTS ARE READING THIS NOW...

[jonathanjoseph99]

Surprised it's only our third time playing against Roo Island. I actually thought it was like, our 6th or something. XD

 

I'm guessing if we meet at the final day of the cup(I hope not though) Shenkuu will probably take the overall win. :)

[Rebecca~]

Wow, awesome job to Faerieland and Haunted Woods! :D -high fives-

 

Yay, we are finally facing a new team. Bring it on, Rooligans! :D