Do or Die in AC V

Rising up to the ranks of the elite from the forgotten world of the bottom teams is no easy feat. Altador Cup V will be many teams’ first chance to jump up and many teams’ last chance to catch the boat. It’s do or die, my friends.

Kiko Lake entered Altador Cup IV with some already labeling them a cinderella team. The history of teams entering the cup after sitting a  year out would help Kiko Lake, right? Well, Kiko Lake did improve, but not as much as they would have hoped. The kikos played better than they did in Altador Cup III, but still placed only 13^th – well short of most expectations.

Diagnosis: Placing 14^th last year, I’m not expecting any crazy Maraqua-esque surge (PUN!), but Kiko Lake needs to get out of the fourth tier and make their name seen even more in the side game matches against the big boys.

Haunted Woods is stuck in some serious quicksand. Last year, the former champs took a painful dive and placed in the double digits. The Haunties did very good in the side games against teams like Maraqua, Lost Desert, and Mystery Island, but the best teams Haunted Woods beat in yooyuball were Roo Island and Tyrannia.

Diagnosis: Haunted Woods needs to pull together and look at what is happening. With no wins against top eight teams (excluding Tyrannia, who is the exception to every rule), the only feasible option that it looks like Haunted Woods has is to just go berserk. Recruit and go berserk on yooyuball.

Altador Cup IV did not give Meridell the kind of season any of us expected. The team that shot up and placed fifth in Altador Cup III had a horrific fall all the way down to 11^th place. The knights have a ridiculously huge monkey on their back right now. It’s time for them to go to the drawing board.

Diagnosis: What do you do after you fall seven places? Try and make the best of it. If Meridell can go into the shadows and get away from the spotlight while keeping the die-hard Meridellians in Meridell, they have a chance to get back up in the rankings.

Arguably one of the biggest surprises of Altador Cup IV was the uprising of the team from Virtupets. VPETS took the side-game world by storm, dominating most teams thrown their way. Despite the new found power though, Virtupets only placed 12^th. The kids need some yooyuball skills.

Diagnosis: We have no reason to think Virtupets will fall back into the fourth tier; it’s really just a question of can they go up over teams like Roo Island and Meridell. They could, but they would need some help or a serious spike in power. It’s possible seeing as Virtupets was in a positive spotlight all of last year; they just lose power in what they were some dominant in.

Roo Island was expected to fall after winning Altador Cup III; we didn’t expect the dynasty to fall into the third tier. We know this team has firepower, so they can come back, right?

Diagnosis: Roo Island fell hard; there is no questioning that fact. They showed signs of life though. Lilo’s crew tied Darigan, Kreludor, Lost Desert, and Shenkuu in yooyuball in the second half of the double round robin. We know Roo Island knows how to play yooyuball; they just have to be careful about staying the in third tier.