The stadium has emptied out and the dust has settled for a month now. There’s been enough time to reflect and reevaluate strategies and gameplay that may have worked or not. And of course, that transition back to Virtupets and Other Worlds take a toll on your soul. This is basically a summary of how the teams finished and how they performed to get their standing, as well as a comparison between TNT’s standings and the weighted standings and my predictions for the season.
1. Tyrannia
Overall Strength: 1st
Predicted: 7th
Tyrannia has had quite the newsworthy year. The War of the Obelisk gained Neopia-wide attention while many independent factions fought to claim the wasteland of Tyrannia. The other event, the Altador Cup, redeemed Tyrannia’s reputation. The team is one of the best to claim the golden trophy, only losing 2 separate games throughout the whole cup and sweeping the rest of their matches. However, Tyrannia’s reputation is also ruined by cheaters who helped boost their scores. I was going to predict Tyrannia 3rd until I changed it last minute. Why? I thought that they were perfect potential for an all-star group because of their balance. I was right, in a way, just in a different sense of all-stars that shouldn’t even be called the title. Nevertheless, Tyrannia’s dedicated supporters solidified after eight years carried away the Altador Cup in triumph.
2. Altador
Overall Strength: 2nd
Predicted: 17th
It’s safe to say that nobody saw this coming. Stealth joining a low-tier team wasn’t unprecedented, but Altador? Altador’s never found much success and will always bring freeloaders simply because of their hosting duties. But Stealth changed that. Altador got silver, and it was deserved. The team wasn’t immortal like Tyrannia but they have records to rival them. The fact that a team that was going nowhere fast being rejuvenated into a powerhouse means that Stealth has a lot of power and can change the game instantly. The downside to Altador’s podium spot also means that next year they’ll likely plummet to the bottom of the standings, especially with increased interest.
3. Roo Island
Overall Strength: 3rd
Predicted: 8th
Interestingly, all of the podium teams this year placed in the bottom half of the standings last year. Roo Island has historically placed high, but this happened early. Roo Island re-visited the podium with the help of SOTAC, the most famous all-star group. It was an interesting choice, because Roo Island is simply not a powerhouse without a group. They’re not bad, but they don’t have the oomph to get into the trophy race.
4. Krawk Island
Overall Strength: 5th
Predicted: 2nd
This year saw no traditional powerhouses. Besides the podium teams that sometimes seemed unbeatable, everyone else was much worse in comparison. Some say that Krawk Island would have won if the groups did not exist, but you can’t say that. It is what it is, and they’re all undeniably a part of this now. Krawk Island climbed from their off-year last year, and my yo-yo theory shared with Darigan Citadel still stands. They won’t get as much attention as the teams ahead of them, but they’ll still likely fall all over again.
5. Darigan Citadel
Overall Strength: 9th
Predicted: 4th
Contrasting Krawk Island, this was Darigan’s down year. Yes, even though Darigan placed 5th, they didn’t actually deserve it. The team started off strong but then seemed to give up part-way through and skate by with scores that a low-tier team could rival. They actually placed 9th based on the old scoring system, which is pretty terrible, but the yo-yo will rise next year.
6. Meridell
Overall Strength: 10th
Predicted: 1st
Meridell gets a lot of heat for their placement this year. You can see why. I thought Meridell was going to win this year with an all-star group by their side, but they disappointed and angered many. The team is accused of giving up through-out the cup but still reaping the benefits. They lost in a lot of brackets, and losing to lower teams like Terror Mountain, Maraqua and Kiko Lake, but still managed to top the brackets and rack up points. Not the golden goose I was predicting.
7. Terror Mountain
Overall Strength: 4th
Predicted: 14th
You know when my predictions are authentic when you see Terror Mountain massively underrated. They’re my team, and I’m always the pessimistic person when it comes to predicting them. I truly thought Terror Mountain was going to bomb with a lot amount of players and not enough initiative, but I was wrong. Of course, cheaters are to blame for help too. But not all of it. The cheaters performed off and on and didn’t gift impenetrable scores daily. Terror Mountain usually got 5s daily, which is above average and suitable for their ranking. They were even placed lower than they actually performed, but still got their highest ranking ever. And they haven’t reached their peak yet.
7. Kreludor
Overall Strength: 8th
Predicted: 11th
All hail Kreludor, mother of Grundos and breaker of curses. Seventh isn’t unusual for the reigning champions to fall back on, but it hasn’t been seen in a few years. I even considered Kreludor’s consistency when predicting them, but they were better than I thought. It’s puzzling as to why they didn’t fall harder. They’re small, so they could have been affected like Virtupets. They’re also quiet, but not as quiet as Virtupets. It seems like Kreludor’s core is just strong in general, and not likely to fall any harder anytime soon.
9. Haunted Woods
Overall Strength: 6th
Predicted: 15th
Haunted Woods got a lot of flak from their standing in the last tournament. They also got 9th in that one. They were the first notorious team where the brackets gave them an edge though, and they were less strong in the weighted standings. Haunted Woods ended another year in 9th, but this time it’s really something to celebrate. They’ve played their best year that they’ve ever had and were close to becoming contenders, especially if the tournament was extended. Haunted Woods has finally pulled it together after disappointing since their initial championship, and I would officially not count them out if there’s to be a repeat winner.
9. Maraqua
Overall Strength: 7th
Predicted: 5th
Another year of brackets and another year of Maraqua still being unable to surface. It seems like Maraqua was just becoming a yearly powerhouse before the system was changed. The team has undoubtedly been affected by it. They aren’t bad by, but they lack the powerhouse numbers to stand out in the middle of the pack. Maraqua may not get any big changes next year, but they can ride the wave of the shifting standings to benefit themselves.
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