Altador and Kiko Lake Rock Day One

[Lydia Trebond]

Welcome back to another exciting Altador Cup season! This is Lydia, reporting to you live from the newsroom after a great first day on the field.

Let's start with the podium from last year. Historically, the previous year's winner has not done well while the rest of the top tier has continued to do well. This year, Kreludor and Mystery Island went head to head right from the start. The teams were fairly evenly matched, with both still riding the wave of excitement from last year's first and second place finishes. The Natives managed to keep up with Kreludor until the last minute in the games. Even so, the Moons pulled out a solid sweep against the Natives. Perhaps Kreludor won't fall as hard as previous victors in the year following their gold.

Meridell, having come in third last year, faced their old adversaries, Darigan Citadel. The Minions nearly managed a side sweep of the Knights, losing Shootout Showdown and Yooyuball to the Knights. The rookie on the team, Ethel Boortz, was excited about her first Yooyuball match in the tournament.

"Most other players still think that they shouldn't tackle me as hard as the rest simply because I'm older than most, well... all, of the other players on the field. The look on their face when they get pummeled into the ground never gets old though," she said before having to dash off to today's match.

With Brightvale and Terror Mountain both being solid third tier teams, the result was another even matchup, Brightvale coming out ahead with wins in both Yooyuball and Make Some Noise, at the cost of Slushie Slinger and Shootout Showdown.

We'll go to AA out in the field for some of the closer matches.

"Thanks Lydia.

Now, management has informed me that my reports have been taking up too much air time, so I'll be keeping things more to the point from now on. Without further ado: today's results!

Matches of note. LD versus KL. YYB, six-five to KL. SS, seven-four to KL. MSN, five-four to LD. SSD, five-four to KL. HW versus TY. YYB, six-five to- hmm? What's that? (incoherent mumbling) Too short? But I thought- (more incoherent mumbling) Not doing my job properly? Hey! (angry mumbling) All right, all right.

*ahem*

My dear fellows, on this grand, luxurious, most fine and loquacious occasion of the eighth official season of the Yooyuball Sporting Association Colosseum Committee of Altador's International Athletic Tournament and Exhibition, colloquially known by the numerous and enthusiastic aficionados of the prestigious sport of Yooyuball (gathered in great, raucous quantities upon the observation stands of the Yooyuball Sporting Association Colosseum of Altador) as "the Altador Cup", it is my duty, pleasure, speciality, field of expertise, and great honour to present to you- oh drat, he's figured out what "loquacious" means.

Uh, right- *click*

(static)

*click*

…

*ahem*

Finishing in fifth and sixth place respectively at the end of last year's tournament, Teams Lost Desert and Kiko Lake went head to head once more in this year's opening match. With the Lost Desert Mummies led by veteran netminder Leera Heggle, and Kikos under the leadership of resolute defender "Poke" Cellers, this was one match right out of the textbooks: two teams of practiced professionals, both arrayed in the balanced two-plus-two formation, both with a slight preference for defensive play; one team steely and disciplined, the other flexible and aggressive. And this time around, it was the adaptable Kikos that emerged victorious, edging out a Yooyuball victory after several hours of delicately choreographed "interweave" play from scoring duo Meela Kitah and Holbie Pinnock.

"I've gotta admit, I pretty much figured old Poke was crazy when he started spouting off those crazy ideas about us forwards playing defence half the time," remarked Pinnock after the match. "Genius, though, if today was anything to go by. We've still gotta see if it holds up when it's not the crazy new idea, but I'm happy we got to start out strong. And I've gotta say, great play from the Lost Desert, especially Vonde and Derbi. That was the most intense game I've ever had to play through, I ain't kidding."

Teammate and fellow forward Meela Kitah also had a few words to say, adding somewhat drily, "You say that every match, Holbie. But seriously, kudos to the Lost Desert. It's been a long time since we've all been pushed that hard out there, and I'm not just talking about the off season. Vonde almost gave me a heart attack when he flipped that fire Yooyu over my head in the third quarter. He must practice with pancakes or something."

Elsewhere on the scoreboard, Team Lost Desert maintained a solid lead in Make Some Noise for most of the day, with last minute efforts from the Kikos unable to turn the tide in their favour. Those efforts had considerably more effect in Shootout Showdown however, and coupled with high spirits and a fresh advertising campaign for their slushie stands, the remaining two side games went definitively to Kiko Lake.

While the Kiko Lakers topped Alabriss Bracket with a solid opening victory, over in Vaeolus Bracket, it was tournament hosts Team Altador that stole the show. Barely thirty seconds into their clash with Team Faerieland, it was clear that the Suns weren't exactly following their old playbook. Twenty-four hours and several broken tournament all-time records later, it seemed fairly certain that quite a few new playbooks would have to be written. In fact, rumour has it that Altador Team Captain "Trapper" Remis has already signed a contract to do just that.

The Suns weren't just shining in Yooyuball yesterday: with their team blazing trails on the field, Altador's supporters redoubled their efforts and surged to victory in all three side games, earning the team a spectacular opening sweep over the Faeries.

Slipping through the post-match revelry, I was able to grab a pair of supporters from Teams Altador and Faerieland to get their opinions on the day's events.

So, it's been quite a day hasn't it? Winning a sweep is always a good start to the season for any team, while being on the receiving end of a sweep isn't exactly the greatest way to enter the tournament. No hard feelings, I hope?
Faerieland Supporter: Hah! No way! It might not have been the best outcome for us, but it was still a fantastic match to watch, and I'm always happy to see underdogs do well!
Altador Supporter: Yeah! That was an awesome game! Faerieland played really well, but they were no match for my efforts!
Faerieland Supporter: Heh, right! It wasn't just the Yooyuball team that was incredible to watch (although I do have to get that Wocky's autograph sometime). Just look at Altador's fans! They were INCREDIBLE! So much enthusiasm, so much support for their team, and such good sportsmanship to boot! With all of them working together, there was no way we could have stopped them!
Altador Supporter: Yeah! It was mostly me! They couldn't stop me!
Faerieland Supporter: And it was so nice of them to let us join in their celebrations, too! We're going to have to invite them over someday. Of course, we might have to beat them first. (wink)
Altador Supporter: I put the entire team on my back and CARRIED US TO VICTORY!
Faerieland Supporter: Heh, like Atlas of old, huh?
Altador Supporter: Like Atlas of old! AND HIS MIGHTY MOUSTACHE!
Faerieland Supporter: I think you've had a little too much punch, Austin...

Wait, Austin? Hey! Austin! Aren't you supposed to be in jail? And what's with the fake moustache? HEY! Get back here! *click*"

… Well then. I hope AA gets ahold of Austin, with or without the moustache, since I have his press badge. I'll try to wrap this up quickly.

To round off the rest of the teams, we had the Mermaids taking on the Pirates. Krawk Island managed to take Slushie Slinger and Shootout Showdown, with Maraqua coming out on top in Yooyuball and Make Some Noise.

The last two matchups of Vaeolus Bracket, Roo Island against Virtupets and Shenkuu against Moltara ended in decisive victories, both Roo Island and Shenkuu sweeping their opponents. The Rooligans managed to dominate the net in Shootout Showdown; Virtupets was unable to keep up with the madness, though they put up a good fight in the rest.

Also amongst the sweeps was the Haunted Woods, with Tyrannia barely squeaking out ahead in all of their games today. The new goalie they signed on at the end of last season seems to be working out well for them.

With five sweeps, the tournament is off to a great start for fans and team members alike.

For today's matchups, definitely keep an eye on Kreludor and Meridell. Their first matchup of the season is today. Meridell is one of the strongest contenders for the Cup this year, but Kreludor has already come out swinging.

Another matchup to watch is Moltara and Virtupets. Both teams just suffered from a sweep, but both are also known to pull upsets.

This is Lydia, for The Daily Neopets, signing off. Good night and good luck.

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).

[husker]

I don't know what you're talking about.

 

Who is this mysterious moustached man? It's certainly not me. :whistle:

 

The report is amazing! I love it!

[Xepha]

Now, management has informed me that my reports have been taking up too much air time, so I'll be keeping things more to the point from now on.

 

 

^Your management totally woke up at 6am looking for the report and wondered if AC team reporters had choked on you guys ;P

[voteforpedro333]

I was worried that Vonde would be playing bloated with his newfound love of cooking, but hopefully this first day loss will wake up the team. Darigan can certainly be a nightmare.