Knights March to Victory in Moltara Heat

[Midtime]

Good morning, fans! This is Brooke, welcoming you once again to The Daily Neopets' Altador Cup coverage. And this time, I'm actually coming to you from inside the newsroom! At the desk, and everything! We've got another day of interesting results to show you, so let's get started with the Alab-

[Matt storms into the newsroom on crutches, and walks over to Brooke at a surprisingly quick pace.]

Oh, Matt! You're bac-

[Matt proceeds to lift one of his crutches and push Brooke off her seat. She flails wildly, hitting her head on a conveniently placed rock. Matt drags her limp body out of the newsroom. A distant thud can be heard and Matt reappears in view of the cameras moments after.]

I'll be taking over the results of the Alabriss Bracket for my lovely co-anchor Brooke, as she seems to be having difficulty maintaining a state of consciousness at the moment. The Alabriss Bracket was host to some fierce albeit one-sided competition today, as the powerhouse teams of the bracket showed once again why they're at the top of the pack!

The Citadel and the Kikos met on the Yooyuball fields once again in an epic match. The Kikos' proficiency in handling Yooyus showed today, as they put up close scores in Yooyuball and Shootout Showdown. The Citadel, coming off their impressive victory against Lost Desert with record scores of 9 and 10 in Slushie Slinger and Make Some Noise respectively, clearly dominated today's matchup and were able to cleanly sweep the Kikos on all fronts.

Haunted Woods, the one team almost certainly bound for victory this year, faced off against the Mummies today. Lost Desert put up a valiant effort in today's match; however, the Zombies inevitably swept them, and look to still be heading towards victory. If the Zombies are able to maintain this level of play consistently over the upcoming matches, they'll be guaranteed the Cup.

The Knights and the Magmas clashed on the Yooyuball field today. It was a fierce game, both teams holding their own. The Knights were able to manage a draw in Yooyuball with Moltara today, focusing on a game that the Moltarans have a noticeable weakness in. With the Knights' attention on Yooyuball, Moltara was easily able to side-sweep the Knights. The Knights currently stand in 5th place in the Alabriss Bracket, and 9th place overall. They're having some noticeable trouble with this bracket, and seem to be running out of steam. If they can't pick up their slack, they're going to end up in 9th overall, a situation the Knights won't be happy to see.

Anyways, that wraps up the matches in the Alabriss Bracket. Now, let's turn our attention over to the Minitheus Bracket, where the Mermaids were able to pull off a surprising swe-

[A high-heel shoe comes flying from just out of shot and clocks Matt squarely in the head. He topples from the chair, his crutches flying rather comically into the air. Brooke walks casually back in front of the camera, adjusts her glasses, and takes her chair back.]

[Dead-pan.] Oops. How clumsy of me.

It would appear that my dear colleague has... erm... fallen down on the job. So I'll be taking the results of the Minitheus Bracket.

Last year's victors were swept in our first match, as Virtupets took on Tyrannia. The Fossils' scores have been somewhat erratic this year, and the Robots managed to catch them on a low day, beating them by a wide margin in all events. It looks like Tyrannia will be forced off the podium this year, and Virtupets has a secure place on it. But there's always room for surprises in the final days of the Cup!

Next up, the Pirates met the Ninjas on the field of (yooyu)battle, and found themselves well-matched. Their game on the field ended in a draw, as did their Slushie Sling-off. They split the remaining events, with very close scores. Krawk Island is currently in eighth place; with the right scores, they could pull ahead of Kreludor, but they could just as easily slide behind Meridell. Time will tell!

In a confidence boosting match against Mystery Island, Maraqua summoned up the strength for their third sweep of the year. The Mermaids rallied for an epic eleven points in Make Some Noise, and their scores in the other games were high as well. The Natives' scores have dropped somewhat of late, and in the end it may cost them some positions before the Cup is over. Maraqua's success has pulled them out of the three-way tie and put them solidly in thirteenth. They may yet pull ahead of Roo Island for twelfth before the end.

Now, seeing as how Matt's still... less than conscious, I think I'll just move right on to the Vaeolus Bracket. The Altador Suns ma-

[A door opens in the background and Brooke is suddenly buried under an avalanche of cardboard rock cutouts. A few minutes pass while cleaning staff busily clear it away, leaving nothing behind.]

[Midtime enters shortly after.]

Is any one in here? No? That's strange. I was told to come up here and do the Vaeolus Bracket because we were short-staffed...

[He hurries over to the desk and leafs through a stack of papers.]

Ah, here we go. Greetings, every one. Interesting results in the Vaeolus Bracket today, aren't they? Let's start off.

In a break from the ninth Cup's broom-infested quotidian, Altador's score in Slushie Slinger leaped to a surprising seven in their match against Roo Island. While Altador have been known to pull off the occasional upset, their performance today far exceeded any other they have given this year. Despite the shock of the occurrence, the Suns' Yooyuball performance did not improve as drastically as their slushie formulae, and Team Roo Island, unshaken, took the rest of the events.

[Some one whispers something to him.]

Yes? Yes, I am aware that the slushie-making process involves stirring. What has that got to do with anything?

Never mind. A tense game between Kreludor and Brightvale ended in a magnificently frustrating draw. Fortunately, the side-games resolved the results - the Moons taking Make Some Noise, the Wizards taking Shootout Showdown, and Slushie Slinger going to neither team - such that the draw extended to the entire match. Brightvale captain Montecito looked on the results positively, noting that "this was an opportunity. We could have done more with it, but we didn't let it go, either."

Faerieland have claimed a Yooyuball win against Terror Mountain, followed by a draw in Slushie Slinger - a better showing than they gave in their last match against the Chillers. Although Terror Mountain still took the remaining two side events, the exuberance of Faerie supporters is not difficult to justify. Ah, I know! Let's have an interview with one. I'll just pop outside with a microphone and camera, and grab some one.

Hallo, there! I'm Midtime, from The Daily Neopets. I'd like to ask you a few questions about -

Oh! Are you a reporter, then?

Er - well, yes. Do I look like I'm filming a documentary about used microphone salesmen?

That's perfect! So are we - from the Altador Sunshine - and you're just the person we were looking for. Are we live? Excellent. First question: How do you feel your working environment has affected your unhealthy obsession with rocks and wanton violence?

I'm terribly sorry. You must have the wrong person.

[After a smoke-bomb, some frantic running, and several shouts of 'Fire! Fire!', the camera feed cuts to the newsroom again.]

Are we clear? I think so. Where were we? Um, all right. That wraps up the results for the Vaeolus Bracket. On to the matches to watch!

Today Faerieland will be facing Altador once again. The two teams haven't met since their first face-off at the very start of the season. The Faeries swept that time, but Altador's recent good fortune may give them the advantage they need to come out on top. Maraqua's match with Krawk Island will be the test as to whether they can keep up their miraculous performance; and the Lost Desert may have a shot at taking a game from champion-league Moltara if they put their heart into it.

That's all the Altador Cup news for today. This is Midtime, on behalf of The Daily Neopets crew, thanking you all very much for listening, and signing off.

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).