Faeries, Mermaids, and Chillers Aim To Go Out With A Bang

[blaisezabini]

Welcome, folks! This is your ever-effervescent newsroom reporter, Katie, bringing you today's results alongside my co-anchor, Matt, and sans our scheming field reporter, Austin, and his mustachioed doppelganger, Johan. We ought to look into their absences, especially since our producers have been insisting upon meeting our entropy quota each day, but Matt and I need to get on with your results first! Updates on our field reporters will be read as they come in. For now, onto the Alabriss Bracket!

The Alabriss Bracket showed off the steadfast resolve of three teams yesterday, as the bracket consisted of nothing but clean sweeps! Krawk Island, Maraqua, and Roo Island defeated their opponents as the fifth round started to wrap up. Virtupets fell to Krawk Island in Yooyuball, their best game, by a one-point margin; Maraqua bested their higher-seeded adversary, Kreludor, in a suspense-filled match; and Roo Island continues to prove their worthiness for third place in the standings with another sweep over the Natives of Mystery Island.

Many were stunned to see that Krawk Island had taken Yooyuball from Virtupets, as the currently sixteenth-ranked team has one of the best Yooyuball records this season. The Pirates' right forward, Feldon "Dinksy" Collibridge, was attributed the winning goal, juking past the Robots' Keetra Deile and Sela Pretore to score the Snow Yooyu in the lower right-hand corner of the net. Krawk Island's captain, Garven Hale, congratulated his teammate for her quickness on the field and for lifting them to victory. Vying for third has been rendered nigh-impossible at this point, Hale pointed out, and he was still happy for the high finish regardless. The Virtupets team, however, were disappointed that they were unable to beat out the Pirates yesterday. Still, they should be proud of their awesome Yooyuball record!

The Maraqua-Kreludor match-up was exceptionally nerve-wracking for those in attendance, as each game ended with one team edging out in all four: Maraqua! It took a few seconds for the gravity of the situation to be fully realized. The Moons were favored to at least win Yooyuball yesterday, if not the other games. The higher-seeded Kreludor underwhelmed and perhaps underestimated the Mermaids, as Maraqua bounced back from a rough outing against Krawk Island to snag the sweep against the Moons. Elon "The Black Hole" Hughlis, Maraqua's captain, could not be reached for comment, but the mirth that erupted after the clock ran out confirmed that the Mermaids were pleased with their outing yesterday. Kreludor does remain tied for seventh place in the standings, while Maraqua is still tied for ninth place. All in all, both teams are determined to keep fighting until the end!

Mystery Island fell to the Rooligans yesterday, although the Natives ought to be commended for their efforts. Many teams were unable to beat Roo Island this season, and certainly the Natives came close in Yooyuball and Slushie Slinger, in which they lost by only a two-point and one-point margin, respectively. Mystery Island's captain, Volgoth, did agree to say a few words on the performance of his team this season. The underwhelming performance, he noted, was due to the changes they had made pre-season. Despite the fall from last year's second place, Volgoth continued to say, their morale has stayed positive, and that is the most important thing of all. Roo Island was certainly out to secure their podium spot yesterday, and it was a valiant effort by the Natives.

The Minitheus Bracket, on the other hand, saw only one sweep yesterday with the highly-contested clash between Tyrannia and Meridell; the Fossils went all-out in every game to best the Knights by incredible margins. Darigan Citadel and Shenkuu met on the field and fought spectacularly in a close match, with the Ninjas able to edge out in Slushie Slinger in the end. The Minions recuperated with their classic flair and took the other three games, including Yooyuball. The Haunted-Woods–Moltara match-up saw similar results, though the Magmas edged out in Shootout Showdown and left the Zombies with wins in Yooyuball, Slushie Slinger, and Make Some Noise.

Meridell had their hands full yesterday against the mighty team Tyrannia, who has beaten powerhouse teams without batting an eye. Unfortunately for the Knights, the Fossils did not relent their amazing numbers. Tyrannia's numbers were in the double digits for all four games, and poor Meridell did not stand a chance. The Knights' gallant efforts were not in vain, as they retained their decent sixth place showing in the standings. As for Tyrannia, gold is certain for Loryche and his teammates. For having such a strong presence the entire tournament, it seems folly for the team not to get the glory for the eighth Altador Cup. There's still one day left to upset the brackets for Meridell, even if there is only a sliver of a chance of doing so. It is the Altador Cup, after all!

Darigan Citadel was another team that bounced back from a brutal match the previous day, managing a near-sweep against Shenkuu. With wins in Yooyuball, Make Some Noise, and Shootout Showdown, they were able to keep Meridell at bay in their bracket. The Minions' captain, Layton Vickles, did not speak with a forked tongue when he said that his team would do well this season. Trumping Meridell in the bracket, he noted, was one of the highlights of the season. Shenkuu, however, was unable to reach their potential this year. Currently tied for twelfth place with the Lost Desert, the Ninjas have had a decent season overall. Their Yooyuball record was below average and could definitely be improved upon next year. The Slushie Slinger win did prove that Shenkuu is still in the tournament to cause some damage, which is a good thing indeed.

The Haunted Woods steamrolled Moltara yesterday, taking Yooyuball, Slushie Slinger, and Make Some Noise from the Magmas. The Magmas did have some steam left in them, however, and managed to pull off the Shootout Showdown win. Moltara has suffered under the bracket system, despite their decent numbers this season. With little hope to overtake Virtupets and Faerieland to climb out of eighteenth, the Moltarians have to keep plugging along against Tyrannia today. Additionally, the Zombies have little hope of surpassing Meridell to advance past their tie for ninth place with Maraqua. However, neither team ought to be discouraged over their standings this season. As the old Altador Cup saying goes, there's always next year!

Since neither Johan nor Austin appear to have checked in from the Colosseum yet, we'll swivel our cameras over to my co-anchor, Matt, to hear him give his riveting rendition of the Vaeolus Bracket results.

Thanks, Katie, for your excellent report! Now, let's continue on with the results from the Vaeolus Bracket! It was an intense day today, to say the least, and... what are these FURRY THINGS doing under my desk!? Are they... multiplying? What are these things!? Somebody get them out of here!

(loud crashing and clattering noises)

*ahem*

As I was saying, it was a very intense day and many teams were able to do very well! We didn't see any sweeps in this bracket, which was very surprising!

Lost Desert and Brightvale faced off against each other yesterday. Lost Desert was able to take control of the whole match, only letting the Wizards score a few goals. The Mummies were able to take the win in Yooyuball with a score of four to two. This marks their first win in Yooyuball in this bracket, but with today being the last day of actual gameplay, it won't make much of a difference in the Mummies' overall standing - however, many fans appreciated the morale boost as we move towards the end of the season. As for the rest of the side games, the Wizards were able to cleanly side sweep the Mummies.

For our next match we have Kiko Lake against Faerieland. The Faeries were able to pull off an upset today as they were able to claim Yooyuball from the Kikos, but the Kikos were able to side sweep the Faeries. The Kikos have been doing relatively well in their bracket, but it seems that they underestimated the true power of the Faeries, who took advantage of that. This is the Faeries' fifth Yooyuball win, and we'll see if they can pull off another upset against Lost Desert!

Our last match of the day, Terror Mountain versus Altador, was the match to watch! The Scary Terrors definitely showed us that they're a powerful team! The Suns and Chillers went head to head on the field, and despite the Chillers’ best attempts, the Suns were able to get the better of them. With a score of thirteen to eleven, the Suns were barely able to win. The Chillers were able to obtain a win in Slushie Slinger, and their score of thirteen to five definitely isn't something to scoff at. Terror Mountain wasn't going to stop there, however - they went on to claim a win in Shootout Showdown! Amazing! No team has been able to win more than two games from the Suns beside Tyrannia, so the Chillers have achieved what no other team except one has done. The Suns were able to claim the remaining side game, and are hoping these two losses don't hinder their performance today as they go against Brightvale.

Now let's wrap this report up with the matches to watch!

Today we'll see Roo Island and Kreludor face off against each other! It'll be an exciting match to watch considering that Roo Island swept Mystery Island yesterday while Kreludor was swept by Maraqua. Kreludor will be looking to prove themselves on the last day, so we'll see if the Rooligans will be able to hold their ground for one last day.

Underdogs Faerieland and Lost Desert will be facing each other today, and with both of them claiming wins in Yooyuball against their opponents yesterday, we'll see if their strategies will change. Lost Desert will be also trying to make a final push to move ahead of Brightvale, who is currently third in their bracket. Will the Mummies be able to do it?

This concludes our report! This is Matt, with my co-anchor Katie, signing off! We'll see you tomorrow for what may be our last day of coverage!

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).

[Finn the Human]

Score senders on TM are back. I just can't see them scoring so high. :(

[siniri]

It'll be interesting to see if Meridell can wrest second place in their bracket back from Darigan. It can't be based on number of points in the bracket, because Meridell has ~9 points more than Darigan. And it's obviously not based on wins in the bracket, either. All Meridell can do is rack up as many points as they can in each game today, and hope it's enough, whatever formula TNT is using. Maybe it's based on overall performance up to this point, and not just performance within that bracket? Still, that wouldn't explain why Darigan started behind and then moved ahead.

[Clumsy rockyroad1]

It'll be interesting to see if Meridell can wrest second place in their bracket back from Darigan. It can't be based on number of points in the bracket, because Meridell has ~9 points more than Darigan. And it's obviously not based on wins in the bracket, either. All Meridell can do is rack up as many points as they can in each game today, and hope it's enough, whatever formula TNT is using. Maybe it's based on overall performance up to this point, and not just performance within that bracket? Still, that wouldn't explain why Darigan started behind and then moved ahead.

 

Maybe compensation for their higher than performance rankings for the first 3 brackets?

[AgJu]

Yay Terror Mountain! We went up against Altador and held our own!

[voteforpedro333]

The downfall of this bracket system is how anticlimactic the last day feels. Though I'm certainly not done playing (YYB all the way out!) there seems like there's so few chances for teams to change where they are, unless a Brightvale loss and a Lost Desert win swaps our places.

 

But the real question is: how is Loryche going to hold that trophy up? XD

[sasarahsept]

I just hope my team (Maraqua) will break the tie and at least come in eighth.

[blaisezabini]

The downfall of this bracket system is how anticlimactic the last day feels. Though I'm certainly not done playing (YYB all the way out!) there seems like there's so few chances for teams to change where they are, unless a Brightvale loss and a Lost Desert win swaps our places.

 

But the real question is: how is Loryche going to hold that trophy up? XD

 

Hear, hear! I definitely liked DRR + Finals better. More competitive through the end, really. Oh well.

 

Ha! Just like the some of the customers do in Slushie Slinger, I'd reckon. :P

 

I just hope my team (Maraqua) will break the tie and at least come in eighth.

 

Terror Mountain and Kreludor are technically vying for seventh and eighth place, so Maraqua and the Haunted Woods would be vying for ninth and tenth place. Unfortunately, I hate to be the bearer of bad news... Viola, a TNT staff member, posted on the boards earlier and said that tiebreakers are only for first, second, and third place. :sad02:

 

Ridiculous, though. So they're just going to leave four ties in the final standings (TM/KD, MQ/HW, LD/SK, FL/VP)? Ugh.

[AgJu]

maybe they'll break those ties via who has the better record? Because TM is sitting ahead of KD in the rankings as part of the tie. On further inspection though, maybe not cuz Faerieland is ranked ahead of VP in their tie.

 

Either way...this'll mark the third year in a row that a team led by a female captain will have won. Hopefully Terror Mountain is next. :p