Faeries Shine Alongside Stunning Upsets

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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 back denizens of the Altador Cup! We're here with the results from day twenty of the tournament - results that have triggered quite an uproar, much of it celebratory, as the day has brought with it not one, but two major upsets.

 

<img src="https://images.neopets.com/nt/ntimages/447_cup_yooyu_faerie.gif" alt="Faerie Yooyu" style="float:right;margin:5px;" /> Kicking off the day's excitement, Team Faerieland didn't quite manage an upset victory over the Haunted Woods Zombies, but they came pretty close: a win in Shootout Showdown and a spectacularly played draw in Yooyuball put them just one side game behind the Haunted Woods, who took Slushie Slinger and Make Some Noise. This comes only days after Faerieland achieved their first side game win in fourteen matches, and marks the Faeries' first significant Yooyuball result for the entire season, certainly a good sign for the struggling team.

 

"Not to downplay our achievement here, but I'm a bit surprised we managed to keep up at all," admitted Faerieland Team Captain Kakoni Worrill. "The entire match was a bit of blur, things were going so fast it was kinda hard to figure out what was going on. That's partly my fault I guess. In all our training sessions for this season I've been going 'Faster! Faster! Faster!' and I guess this time around we really pulled it off. Heh, I might have to start telling everyone to slow down a bit... With everything as hectic as it was, sometimes I begin to wonder if Team Haunted Woods were going easy on us. But yeah, it was a great match, well played on both sides, and I look forward to doing better in the future. I'm honestly not too hopeful about changing our ranking at this point, but we'll see."

 

<img src="https://images.neopets.com/altador/altadorcup/teams/2008/hauntedwoods_2.gif" alt="Wan Dirx" style="float:left;margin:5px;" /> Normally stoic and relatively terse around the press, hardy Haunted Woods defender Wan Dirx was actually seen cracking a smile when discussing Worrill's statement. "He thinks we were going easy on them? Pah! I tell you, it's the Faeries who have been holding out on us! There's still a good four days left in this competition - that's ninety-six hours of good, hard Yooyuballing. I think Faerieland's got time a-plenty to give this bracket a good shake-up! So stand tall I say, and well played!"

 

<img src="https://images.neopets.com/nt/ntimages/390_space_station.gif" alt="Virtupets" style="float:right;margin:5px;" /> The remainder of Alabriss Bracket's matches were relatively straightforward, as Teams Terror Mountain and Moltara fell to Virtupets' precision play and the overwhelming force of Team Meridell respectively. The Terror Mountain Chillers put up a solid fight however, making Virtupets fight for every inch of control on the Yooyuball field. While they eventually fell behind in the main sport, the Chillers were able to come away with some serious results in the side games, winning Slushie Slinger and Shootout Showdown, and stopping just short of a side sweep with a draw in Make Some Noise. Team Moltara's results weren't quite as impressive, as they suffered an across-the-board sweep, but that was by no means a reflection of their efforts throughout the match - they were, after all, up against a top trio contender.

 

"We've never been up against the Knights in championship form before," remarked a somewhat bemused Tulah Kisner. "Well, now we know what it's like. Overall I think we did okay - would've liked to do better, but we'll work on that. Thanks as always to our supporters - we may not have taken any sides this time around, but you're still what makes this tournament really worth playing!"

 

As intense as Alabriss Bracket was, the real upset action for the day was focused over in Minitheus Bracket, where teams Roo Island and Shenkuu claimed their places in the spotlight with two of the tournament's greatest upsets to date.

 

Stunning analysts and fans alike, the Rooligans not only managed to hold on to Make Some Noise and Shootout Showdown (where they were generally favoured), but also succeeded in breaking Kiko Lake's near perfect Slushie Slinger streak, topping things off with a knife-edge victory in Yooyuball. With all that tallied together, the final result for the day was a resounding sweep in the Roos' favour, an excellent result on any day, but especially against a team as heavily favoured as Kiko Lake.

 

<img src="https://images.neopets.com/nt/ntimages/298_fennyvail.gif" alt="Fenny Vail fan" style="float:left;margin:5px;" /> As one Roo Island fan put it, "We went in this for the fun of it! Kiko Lake are strong contenders, and so the sweep was really unexpected but it was so much fun to go up against a team that enjoys the Cup just as much as we do! All the best to them in their next match and go Rooligans!!!"

 

Kiko Lake forward Meela Kitah shared largely the same sentiments. "Now that's the kind of match I signed up for! A great game, great fun, great supporters behind you, great friends beside you, and FANTASTIC opponents ahead of you! I cannot believe how much I enjoyed that last game! There was just SO MUCH ENERGY bouncing all over! We all played our hearts out, and the Roos absolutely deserved that win today! They're fantastic, super sporting people and I cannot wait to play them again! PAYBACK TIME! Ha-HAH!"

 

Only two stadiums over from the Rooligans, Team Shenkuu were busy carving out their own place in the history books, shattering records and crushing expectations with a victory in Slushie Slinger, strong contention (but ultimately losses) in Make Some Noise and Shootout Showdown, and a Yooyuball game that can only be compared to a peak season hurricane. Even the Brightvale Wizards' impeccable planning couldn't prepare them for the Ninjas' perfect storm, as Brightvale Captain Montecito attested to after the match.

 

<img src="https://images.neopets.com/altador/altadorcup/2012/freebies/msnicons/micon_brightvale.gif" alt="Montecito" style="float:right;margin:5px;" /> "We went into this game confident, as we usually are, having carefully assessed our opposition's strengths, weaknesses, and playing styles. We came out a little shaken, to be perfectly honest - Team Shenkuu blew us right off our feet, and didn't give us any room to recover. We were nicely favoured too, statistically speaking. Just goes to show you, statistics won't do you a whole lot of good. As my old mentor used to say, 'There are three kinds of lies: lies, darned lies and statistics.' In any case, full credit to Team Shenkuu for a good game on all counts. We look forward to testing out some new countermeasures, should we meet again within the season."

 

Shenkuu's goalkeeper, Xana DiLanche, earned herself quite a few accolades over the course of the match. Under the new rules introduced into the tournament prior to AC VI, goalkeepers have found their roles reduced to little more than that of a third goal post, as heavy timing-based movement restrictions made it nigh impossible for them to manage more than the occasional save. DiLanche, however, demonstrated incredible consistency in her team's match against Brightvale, allowing only one in twelve scoring attempts past her defences, with that ratio dropping to one in thirty for long-range shots. Speaking at Shenkuu's post-match press conference, the netminder seemed a little shy of the limelight, saying:

 

<img src="https://images.neopets.com/nt/nt_images/501_xana_shenkuu_cup.gif" alt="Zana DiLanche" style="float:left;margin:5px;" /> "The credit goes to Mirsha for this one. To be honest, I haven't done all that great this year - none of us have really- I mean, the others have done fine, really good even, but not championship good if you know what I mean - and I've just been terrible, barely any saves at all, low focus grades and everything. Anyway, Mirsha sat us all down before that match, and she said that there was no way we were going home without at least one Yooyuball win this year. She said a bunch of other stuff as well, but I kinda... zoned out at that point. Anyway, it was really inspirational stuff, and she was right! We all played really well, and I even managed to get a save or two when we needed it. But boy, did Brightvale look scary out there! We had a whole bag of tricks lined up to stop our opponents from figuring us out, and we used them all up in just one match! Those guys really catch on fast... I wouldn't want to go up against them again. Actually never mind, I would love to go up against them again... just, maybe not for the championship if you know what I mean. Heh, I had to drink quite a few slushies during half-time just to keep my cool. I wonder if that's why we won Slushie Slinger..."

 

<img src="https://images.neopets.com/altador/altadorcup/2011/freebies/msnicons/micon_lostdesert.gif" alt="Leera Heggle" style="float:right;margin:5px;" /> Unfortunately for Team Lost Desert, there was no upset in sight for Leera Heggle and his squad. The Mummies fought long and hard in Yooyuball and every side game, but were inevitably overwhelmed by Mystery Island in all but Shootout Showdown, where they managed to hang onto a draw. Considering the records of the two teams this season, the outcome wasn't much of a surprise to supporters of either team, and the atmosphere remained generally calm and friendly throughout the match.

 

"Oh. I mean, we've always had a rivalry against MI," noted one Lost Desert supporter. "It's a little less fun this year because of all the new tension, so it's almost as if it's not just rivals vs rivals, but... I dunno, it's always been a friendly rivalry."

 

Rounding off the day's matches, the "Bracket of Death" seems to be living up to its nickname, playing host to a triple sweep despite the involvement of some fairly serious heavyweight-on-heavyweight clashes. Capable as they were, neither Tyrannia nor Krawk Island were able to make a mark on the mighty Darigan Citadel or Vaeolus Bracket leaders Kreludor, their respective opponents. Even the indomitable Altador Suns found their fiercest efforts quenched by Team Maraqua - Maraquan supporters put quite a bit of effort into patching up their well known weakness in Slushie Slinger, re-tiling their slushie stands with brand new high-friction surfaces to minimise the risk of slips and falls.

 

<img src="https://images.neopets.com/altador/altadorcup/freebies/2009/msnicons/micon_darigancitadel.gif" alt="Layton Vickles" style="float:left;margin:5px;" /> "The end of the sssseason always brings the most exciting matches with it," acknowledged Layton Vickles of Team Darigan Citadel in his closing comments for the day. "I'm pleased to ssssee that the new tournament format has not changed this. I look forward to the days ahead, and wish the besssst of luck to all involved."

 

Vickles isn't the only one looking forward to the tournament's coming matches. As we proceed into the next day of the tournament, all eyes will be on yesterday's stars, Roo Island and Shenkuu, watching eagerly to see if they can uphold their performance against Minitheus Bracket heavyweights Lost Desert and Kiko Lake respectively. Meanwhile, bracket leaders Mystery Island take on the Brightvale Wizards, known for their adaptability and excellent performance when faced with overwhelming odds.

 

Over in Alabriss Bracket, ice will meet fire as the Terror Mountain Chillers and Moltaran Hotheads clash for the first time this season. The remaining games in the bracket are both rematches, with the Haunted Woods looking to settle the score against the Virtupets Robots, while Meridell will have to hold their ground against one more determined challenge from Team Faerieland.

 

The tension certainly isn't letting up in the Bracket of Death, headed up by the third match between championship veterans and tournament powerhouses Krawk Island and the Darigan Citadel. Meanwhile, tournament leaders Kreludor will be hoping to sweep Team Maraqua for the third time this season, and our last match sees Altador ready to turn the tables once again, this time against the hard-hitting Team Tyrannia.

 

Well, that's it for today's report. Best of luck everyone! This is AA, reporting for The Daily Neopets, signing off.

 

[voteforpedro333]

Wow MI! Somehow you guys are just always prepared to take down LD's strategies. I used to always think it was because Leera had a soft spot for Bertie Shurtz, but now I don't know what it might be. I think Woulf deserves Rookie of the Year!