Rocks, Weather Mark Penultimate Match of AC IX

[Midtime]

Greetings, viewers, and welcome to our report! This is Midtime, at the TDN newsroom, excited to bring you today's results, unhindered by random rocks, interpersonal feuds, or large amounts of random rocks travelling at high speed.

[A large stone flies past the reporter, hitting the desk with a crash.]

As you can clearly see. I'll start off with the Alabriss Bracket, in which we see at least one surprising result!

The Zombies, still first in the standings, cleanly outdid the Minions on the field and swept them by large margins in the side games. Though Darigan Citadel have been performing remarkably well, it seems there are few teams that can stand up to the Zombies at all at this stage, and with only one day left, their position as champions is all but certain.

Moltara seem to be back on their feet, putting on a strong performance in the side games after seeming momentarily to lag behind in the last match. The Magmas' strong defence left the Kikos little opportunity for one of their famous upsets, and the game ended conclusively in their favour. Nonetheless, fans still hope to see Kiko Lake go out with a bang in the final match of the round.

The Knights came back from their near-sweep at the hands of the Minions with a total sweep against the Mummies, including an exciting 6-5 victory in Yooyuball. Many attest that Team Meridell has seen a significant improvement in performance over the course of the Cup, and after some hard matches against high-tier opponents like Moltara and Darigan Citadel, this is a welcome opportunity to demonstrate their abilities. Captain "Wizard" Windelle of Meridell remarked: "I would like to give Leera Heggle my gratitude for not mentioning my unsportsmanly attempts to kick a Yooyu into his face, all six of which failed miserably". He went on, in his usual fashion, to thank the Lost Desert team for the match.

I'll pass the report on to Hanna, who is in the field with the Minitheus Bracket results.

[Another rock comes flying past. Midtime ducks.]

Ah, can some one help me clear up the pile of rocks in the corner?

"Thanks, Midtime. Hanna here, bringing you today's results from the Minitheus Bracket!

Maraqua bumped heads with Shenkuu today. As Shenkuu's biggest weakness was Yooyuball, they made up for it with ninja-like moves in the side events. Shenkuu took the majority of wins today, side-sweeping the Mermaids, and came extremely close to snatching their first sweep since the end of Round One. With Shenkuu and Maraqua hovering around 12th place, this round will no doubt shake up the final standings. Only time will tell who comes out on the top!

Tyrannia and and Krawk Island are my two favorite teams, and being as close to the end of the Cup as it is, this game was especially exciting for me. I wish I could say Tyrannia pulverised the Pirates today, but the Yooyuball and Slushie Slinger matches were extremely close. For a while, it looked like Krawk Island was going to take the Yooyuball win but with a minute left in the game, and the Pirates exhausted from keeping Tyrannia's offence at bay, the Fossils did manage to slip in two more goals, taking the wins.

The results of today's match between Virtupets and Mystery Island shouldn't come as too big of a surprise for anyone, especially since Mystery Island hasn't lived up to their fans' expectations this year. Virtupets was basically a feather duster and Mystery Island, well, a dust bunny in their way. The biggest question on everyone's mind is whether or not Virtupets will catch up to Team Haunted Woods, which is currently the only team standing in their way to first place and a shiny gold trophy. Virtupets and Haunted Woods fans cling to the edge of their seats in anticipation of tomorrow's final game.

Now onto Brooke with the weather -- Vaeolus Bracket!"

Thank you, Hanna! I suppose I could present some weather, though I'm not sure I'm qualified. Erm... it was sort of breezy today. Not enough to have an effect on Yooyus, or anything. Um. Tomorrow it... might rain? Or it might not. We have umbrellas, so...

[A nervous-looking crew member in a headset approaches and whispers in Brooke's ear, before scurrying back offscreen. Brooke blushes slightly.]

I have just received an important message from my boss. She apparently said, and I quote, "GET ON WITH IT," followed by some things I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to say on camera. I will therefore bring you the results of the Vaeolus Bracket without further delay.

The Suns and the Moons started things off yesterday with a vicious battle on the Yooyuball field. Altador performed very well, and were defeated by only a single point. Encouraged by the close match, the Suns pulled off a win in the slushie tents. Kreludor quickly rallied, however, taking Shootout Showdown and Make Some Noise by rather larger margins. Altador seems more or less resigned to their last-place finish this year, but they pulled off some pretty interesting wins, and have learned a few things for next year.

Terror Mountain and Roo Island are caught in the middle of a three-way tie for thirteenth, but the Rooligans were having no part of any draws in yesterday's match. Though the events were close, Roo Island swept the Chillers with reckless abandon, hoping to snag a last-minute advancement in the standings. The Rooligans certainly have improved since the last time they met the Chillers on the field!

In the last match of the bracket, on the penultimate day of play, the Brightvale Wizards earned themselves their third sweep. Faerieland put up a reasonably good fight, but just couldn't quite hold their own against the Wizards. They've managed to stay out of last place overall, however, with a few well-placed upsets.

Today's the last day of play, and we've got our eye on some potentially fascinating matches. Shenkuu and Mystery Island will have us all on the edge of our seats, as they're fairly evenly matched. As the Magmas face the Minions, there's the potential for a sweep, but also a very real possibility that they may draw on the Yooyuball field. Stay on your toes for upsets and surprises today as we wrap things up!

On behalf of the whole reporting team here at The Daily Neopets, thank you for joining us! We'll see you tomorrow, one last time. This is Brooke... [sniffle] ...signing off.

[Brooke pulls a large box of tissues from beneath her desk and blows her nose loudly before the screen cuts to black.]

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).