Altador Cup VII

The Altador Cup returns for the seventh year running.

The seventh instalment of the Altador Cup competition was played in the summer of 2012. On the 15 May, the countdown to the sign-ups process began, with information on two teams being released per day. Sign ups opened midday on 25 May.

Teams

All eighteen teams from previous competitions will be make a return in this year's Cup. However, five teams have made changes to their line-up. Team Mystery Island replaced Bertie Shurtz with then-unknown Xweetok Selmon Woulf, while Team Altador swapped Timu for Team Shenkuu's Foltaggio, and Team Brightvale traded "Squeaky" Tressif in exchange for Team Roo Island's Gordo Gunnels.

Biographies

Leading up to the Cup, The Neopets Team slowly released press information on each team, two teams per day:

• Team Altador

  Something New Under The Sun

  Some have said that if Altador invented the game of Yooyuball, surely Altador ought to be good at playing. Yet the team has never made it higher than thirteenth place. How to explain this odd phenomenon? "Never mind explaining it," team captain "Trapper" Remis says grimly. "We've made a few... changes this year. Altador is ready to show our true colours. The new tournament format will help; it's more like the ancient rules we're used to."

• Team Brightvale

  A Statistics Game

  Between the rumoured roster change and new captaincy, Brightvale is taking a lot of risks and making big changes. Is it wise? "Brightvale's brightest scholars have analysed the odds and determined this is the best course, statistically speaking," Kayn Hireck says softly. The Plushie Skeith forward is looking a little greyer, perhaps from too much laundering. "Anyway, my heart tells me it's time to try a different tactic. I try not to ignore it."

• Team Darigan Citadel

  Prankster Central

  Our interview with Darigan Citadel got off to a bad start when our tea turned out to be rancid. We inquired if Tormo "The Terror" was around, but were informed he'd been forbidden to play any tricks. Team Darigan is expecting to place very high this year, despite coming in seventh at last year's tournament. "New strategy, new teamwork," promises captain Layton Vickles. "We're not messing around this time." That remains to be seen; our hats exploded as we left. .

• Team Faerieland

  Getting Down To Earth

  After a biting remark from Tandrak Shaye, the Faerieland team decided to celebrate their status as an earthbound land — with a road trip! As of this report, they have been travelling for six months, seen seven lands, and eaten an astonishing quantity of Chocolate Cloud Cookies. "I never knew the Lost Desert had so many pyramids," Valtonous Rea tells us. Team captain Kakoni Worrill promises that Faerieland has been training while on the road.

• Team Haunted Woods

  Chilling In The Haunted Woods

  The Haunted Woods team is totally committed and ready to win back their title as champions of the Altador Cup, Zo Junior promises. He vehemently denies rumours that Wan Dirx is thinking of leaving Yooyuball to open a soda fountain. "Just because he likes Spooky Shakes a lot and Fanetti is allergic to them doesn't mean the team is fracturing. We can work out our differences. It will just mean a more aggressive playing style on the field."

• Team Kiko Lake

  Kikos Never Get Cold Feet

  How's Kiko Lake these days? Sunny and warm, "Poke" Cellers assures us with an enthusiastic bounce. The Kiko Lake team has taken advantage of the weather with a rummage sale this weekend. They're hoping to raise enough Neopoints for new equipment and transportation to the Cup. "We'll be lucky if the weather holds," the team captain adds, glancing at the puffy white clouds overhead. "We'd like to get in some field practice this week too."

• Team Krawk Island

  They've Got Hearts Of Gold

  Feldon "Dinksy" Collibridge made headlines — and enemies — as the girl who replaced "Dasher" Soley. Has the team accepted her? "Yarr, they thought I was soft," she recalls with a toothy grin. "That first season, I had more riggin' to climb and decks to mop than there rightly be in all Krawk Island. Didn't complain, though. T'were an honour to serve with the team. And this year, we're going for gold. Well, we be pirates, after all. 'Tis our lot."

• Team Kreludor

  The Sky's The Limit

  After making a dramatic run to a third place finish in last year's Cup, Kreludor is favoured for a top position this year, but Coco Metrone recently reported taking a minor injury on the practice field last month. She's undergoing the best physical therapy the Grundo moon can provide, but will she be 100% in time for the first game? Teammate Zenor Kevix says yes. "Coco's working really hard. We all are. We won't disappoint our fans."

• Team Lost Desert

  Their Place In The Sun

  After their disastrous fall last year from first place to thirteenth, the Lost Desert team spent this practice season analysing moves and planning strategies. Were they shaken by their defeat? Captain Leera Heggle snorts and says, "Nah, we were expecting that. Every winning team takes a nose dive in the next Cup. But this year the tournament is different. We're pretty stoked by the new format and have strategised accordingly."

• Team Maraqua

  Trouble Bubbles Up In Maraqua

  Last year, reporters were unable to get an interview with Maraqua's star player, Elon "The Black Hole" Hughlis. The Maraquan Acara was convivial in group interviews this time, but said very little, leading reporters to suspect he'd been reprimanded by his teammates. Could there have been a big argument? If so, could there be a new team captain? Lamelle Turow was happy to shed some light. "We're one big happy family here. Really."

• Team Meridell

  Discovering The Champions

  It's been nearly ten years since Neopia discovered Meridell, and you can bet celebrations are planned. Has it affected the team's focus? "We're super excited to represent Meridell in the Cup," says "Wizard" Windelle. The Techo grins. "We've taken fifth place twice. With so much enthusiasm for Meridell in the air this year, we can only get better." But will they be partying when it's game time? "That wouldn't be honourable," Windelle says.

• Team Moltara

  From The Earth To The Stars

  After coming in dead last both years that it has participated, Team Moltara might be understandably demoralised. Not so, promises right defender Zax Bannet. (Captain Aldric Beign was unavailable for comment.) "We were still learning the game back then. We're total pros now. And believe me, we're pretty eager to get up there on the field and prove it." He cites a training regimen involving lava fountains and granite boulders.

• Team Mystery Island

  The Law Of The Jungle

  Because Mystery Island hasn't had a shakeup to their team since Year 10, it came as something of a surprise to hear rumours of a retirement. There's plenty of great talent looking to move up from the jungle Yooyuball leagues, but when asked who on the Mystery Island team was thinking of retiring, team captain Volgoth just grunted and said, "Not now." When reporters pushed for a firm answer, Volgoth growled... and the question was dropped.

• Team Roo Island

  Not Just Chasing Rainbows

  What's better than a rainbow cupcake party? One with all of your supporters! Team Roo Island just threw a giant party for all of their fans as thanks for their enthusiasm. The team was all smiles, but when Fenny Vail was asked if she'd ever leave Roo Island, she burst into tears. Further investigation revealed that the team is considering a trade — just who is still in question. Perhaps it's not all sweetness in Roo Island, after all.

• Team Shenkuu

  Victory: Our Cup Of Tea

  Tea ceremonies or Yooyuball practice? "Why not both," Mirsha Grelinek says with a smile. She and Antola Maeir have extensive duties at the Lunar Temple, but that hasn't cut into their practice time. "We just schedule practice around the tea," Mirsha continues, smoothing the front of her kimono. "Finding a balance is important; we follow a philosophy of moderation to help achieve inner peace. Uh, we still want to win this year, of course."

• Team Terror Mountain

  Looking For A Few Good Fans

  Last year, Terror Mountain went into the Cup with fewer supporters than ever before, but still managed to climb in the rankings to eighth place, their highest yet. This year, they're looking to continue the trend. "We still don't have the numbers that some of the other teams do," team captain Prytariel admits, "but those who do come with us each year are very loyal. It's a good feeling, knowing they're as committed as we are."

• Team Tyrannia

  Fighting Like Gruslens And Yooyus

  Practice has been a little distracted lately — Wila Benne found a whole litter of baby Gruslens abandoned in the bleachers! Loryche was all for handing them off to the PPL, but Harlis Neyhbol insisted that the team could handle raising them. Gruslen-proofing Tyrannian homes doesn't take much work (stone furniture holds up to claws rather well), but Harlis didn't account for the Gruslens chasing the Yooyus around the field. Oops.

• Team Virtupets

  Victory Has Been Programmed

  Perhaps no one was more excited last year than Virtupets themselves when the team took first place in the Altador Cup. "Kreludor makes excuses about gravity," intones XL Striker 3.8, one of two robots on the team. "Virtupets has demonstrated that irregular gravity does not impede performance." But will they break the cycle and prove that returning champions can do well? "Virtupets is superior," XL Striker 3.8 adds. "We need prove nothing."

Story

Round One

• Alabriss Bracket

The Alabriss Bracket was composed of a mixed bag; while we had some top contenders, including Kreludor and Meridell, along with Tyrannia, who hit their peak last year, there were some bottom floaters, including Brightvale and Kiko Lake, and most so of all, Altador. Altador met with the unfortunate fate of being outclassed by every member of the bracket, causing them to be swept on all six days of the round and thus the worst team overall. However, Kiko Lake was a surprise shock when they defeated Meridell on the first day. Meridell started slow, with consecutive defeats to Kiko Lake and Kreludor before climbing back with a sweep against Tyrannia. Tyrannia had mixed success; while they were able to defeat the lower teams, Kiko Lake, Meridell, and Kreludor proved to be too much for them. Brightvale got the ball rolling with a sweep against Altador on the first day, but middling results afterwards caused them to slow down. Kreludor was powerful the full way through, steamrolling the other teams in the bracket. Kreludor fittingly finished 1st in the bracket, while Meridell slid into 2nd, and Kiko Lake's gargantuan effort placed them in 3rd. Tyrannia's inconsistency placed them in 4th, while Brightvale stumbled to 5th. Altador's lack of wins in anything put them down in last in the bracket.

Standing	Team	Points Earned	Points Total	Overall Standings
1st Place	Kreludor	13	13	1st
2nd Place	Meridell	9	9	4th
3rd Place	Kiko Lake	6	6	7th
4th Place	Tyrannia	4	4	10th
5th Place	Brightvale	2	2	13th
6th Place	Altador	1	1	16th

• Minitheus Bracket

The anticipated bracket of the first round, the bracket included middle-tier teams of last year's Altador Cup. The forerunner was Terror Mountain, who had finished 8th last year, and the bottom contender was Mystery Island, who had come in 14th. In between, we had Roo Island (finished 9th), Shenkuu (finished 10th), Haunted Woods (finished 11th), and Lost Desert (finished 13th). Lost Desert was a team to watch out for, though; years of high ranking made them a serious contender, assuming they shrugged off the effects of the "Winner's Curse". Lost Desert proved to be a formidable power, but much more surprising was Mystery Island's sudden rise to power. Defeating Haunted Woods with a sweep and crushing the hopes of Shenkuu, Lost Desert became worried of what might happen, and sure enough, Mystery Island defeated Lost Desert as well. Meanwhile, Terror Mountain's overall lackluster performances were doing them no favors. Haunted Woods too performed dismally, claiming not a single win in Yooyuball, though managing to draw even with most teams, even Lost Desert. Shenkuu and Roo Island too had many draws, and thus couldn't quite get up to speed. Mystery Island's newfound skill skyrocketed them to first in the bracket, while Lost Desert had to settle for 2nd. Roo Island jumped their way to 3rd, and Terror Mountain's draw-heavy matches landed them in 4th. Shenkuu slid their way into 5th, and Haunted Woods, with no Yooyuball wins to their name, crawled into 6th.

Standing	Team	Points Earned	Points Total	Overall Standings
1st Place	Mystery Island	13	13	1st
2nd Place	Lost Desert	9	9	4th
3rd Place	Roo Island	6	6	7th
4th Place	Terror Mountain	4	4	10th
5th Place	Shenkuu	2	2	13th
6th Place	Haunted Woods	1	1	16th

• Vaelous Bracket

This bracket was full of the Altador Cup's famed superstars...and Altador Cup's famed bottom-barrel teams within the mix. While teams like Krawk Island, Darigan Citadel, and, last year's winners, Virtupets, groveled in the limelight, teams Faerieland and Moltara had a shadow cast over them. Maraqua nestled neatly between the two groups, though Maraqua proved a worthy foe as last year's runner up for the podium. Both Darigan Citadel and Krawk Island gave each other their all, resulting in very similar results in their matchups, and draws being abound when they fought twice in this bracket. Moltara shone brightly in their two matches against Faerieland, the second of which resulted in a sweep in Moltara's favor. Maraqua too fared well, but poor matchups against Krawk Island and Darigan Citadel proved to be a vital component to their loss. Virtupets stumbled out of the gate, losing against the powerhouses they had worked so hard to defeat last year, clearly now under the effects of the "Winner's Curse". Meanwhile, Faerieland's results were dismal at best. In the end, it was Darigan Citadel who inched ahead of Krawk Island to get the win. Maraqua fell to 3rd, while the preceding champions had a piece of humble pie and ended 4th. Moltara, due to their repeated success against Faerieland, who landed last.

Standing	Team	Points Earned	Points Total	Overall Standings
1st Place	Darigan Citadel	13	13	1st
2nd Place	Krawk Island	9	9	4th
3rd Place	Maraqua	6	6	7th
4th Place	Virtupets	4	4	10th
5th Place	Moltara	2	2	13th
6th Place	Faerieland	1	1	16th

Round Two

• Alabriss Bracket

Things were doom and gloom in this bracket in the second round, with current 1st place leaders Kreludor and Darigan Citadel facing off against the losers of the previous Alabriss Bracket and Minitheus Bracket, Altador and Haunted Woods. Also with so far lackluster results were Brightvale and Virtupets, finishing 5th and 4th in their respective brackets. The leaders started off their matches with a bang, Darigan Citadel pulling off a successful sweep against Brightvale and Kreludor sweeping Haunted Woods. Altador got their first non-sweep against Virtupets, and from there picked up steam, preventing sweeps here and there. Kreludor remained as powerful as ever, even nearly sweeping Darigan Citadel. Virtupets was still failing to meet expectations, though still able to defeat Haunted Woods and Altador. Haunted Woods was able to upgrade their performance a tad with the help of bonus games and side-games, though still generally remaining weak in Yooyuball. Kreludor was still top dog, keeping 1st position, while Darigan Citadel dropped a slight bit to 2nd. With help from chance, Haunted Woods managed enough to end the bracket in 3rd, while Brightvale followed up in 4th. Virtupets got ahead enough to edge Altador out for 5th, leaving Altador in the 6th place dust for the second time.

Standing	Team	Points Earned	Points Total	Overall Standings
1st Place	Kreludor	17	30	1st
2nd Place	Darigan Citadel	14	27	3rd
3rd Place	Haunted Woods	11	12	10th
4th Place	Brightvale	8	10	12th
5th Place	Virtupets	5	9	13th
6th Place	Altador	4	5	16th

• Minitheus Bracket

This bracket featured the Altador Cup's two success stories, Mystery Island and Kiko Lake. Tyrannia and Maraqua were the middle-floaters in the bracket, as Moltara and Faerieland faced off again. Kiko Lake's victory against Maraqua in a total sweep on the first day of the round came as a testament to Kiko Lake's power, and they were able to keep up the trend against Moltara and Faerieland, making for three full sweeps in a row. This put them at odds against Mystery Island, who even though did very well against these teams, were unable to seal the sweeps on all three of them. As the match between these two teams approached, Mystery Island and Kiko Lake were each served a defeat, the former of which had their first loss so far, against Tyrannia. Finally, when it came to the two teams, they drew even, with Mystery Island winning Yooyuball while Kiko Lake side-swept. Still, all things considered, Mystery Island claimed the lead once again to match up to Kreludor, while Kiko Lake jumped into 2nd. Maraqua came in 3rd after fairly difficult matchups, while Tyrannia fell in 4th once again. And, as before, Moltara still won their matches against Faerieland, once again placing them in 5th and 6th, respectively.

Standing	Team	Points Earned	Points Total	Overall Standings
1st Place	Mystery Island	17	30	1st
2nd Place	Kiko Lake	14	20	6th
3rd Place	Maraqua	11	17	8th
4th Place	Tyrannia	8	12	10th
5th Place	Moltara	5	7	15th
6th Place	Faerieland	4	5	17th

• Vaeolus Bracket

This bracket was a mixed bag of winners and losers. Krawk Island, Meridell, and Lost Desert were the favorites going into the round, but Roo Island, Shenkuu, and Terror Mountain had very little against these teams. Meridell ended up being the forerunner, slamming most of the teams in the bracket with a sweep or close to one, even against Krawk Island and Lost Desert. With this, Meridell's failures in Round One were a thing of the past. Krawk Island had very good results as well, while it was becoming clear that Roo Island was slowing down. Meanwhile, Shenkuu and Terror Mountain had incredible trouble, were completely eradicated by the powerhouses and Roo Island. The overall power that Meridell demonstrated against the other powerhouses put them in 1st, while Krawk Island's power was enough to push them up into 2nd once again. Lost Desert, though faced with some serious competition, landed in 3rd. Roo Island's overall lacking performance put them in 4th while Shenkuu slid into 5th. Finally, Terror Mountain, saddened by their lack of ability when compared to last year's performance, landed last.

Standing	Team	Points Earned	Points Total	Overall Standings
1st Place	Meridell	17	26	4th
2nd Place	Krawk Island	14	23	5th
3rd Place	Lost Desert	11	20	6th
4th Place	Roo Island	8	14	9th
5th Place	Shenkuu	5	7	15th
6th Place	Terror Mountain	4	8	14th

Round Three

• Alabriss Bracket

Round Three was both a blessing and a curse for some teams. While Mystery Island was proving to be a serious threat to all the teams in the competition, they faced stiff opposition from other powerhouses, such as Krawk Island and Meridell. Kiko Lake, also in this bracket, had made it known that they weren't to be taken lightly. Which left the two remaining bottom-dwellers, Terror Mountain and Faerieland to survive on their own. While Mystery Island and Meridell each dominated the competition, leaving Krawk Island in the dust, Kiko Lake had slowed down even more considerably. Faerieland, who had been swept in almost every round of competition thus far, only pulled off a single win against Kiko Lake. Terror Mountain's results were very lackluster, but as other teams have been able to do so, Terror Mountain made quick work of Faerieland and swept them as well. Both Mystery Island and Meridell steamrolled the other teams in the process, hardly losing more than one side game at most. As a result, the two were fighting it out for the top spot, which was totally in the air at the time. Krawk Island, though unable to defeat these top two threats, their matchups against the lower teams ended considerably well. The results saw Meridell just inching out ahead of Mystery Island, who came in 2nd. Krawk Island slid comfortably into 3rd, while Kiko Lake's decreasing momentum placed them in 4th. Terror Mountain, with the clear advantage of Faerieland, came in 5th, while the Faerieland team saw themselves in last once again.

Standing	Team	Points Earned	Points Total	Overall Standings
1st Place	Meridell	22	48	2nd
2nd Place	Mystery Island	18	48	2nd
3rd Place	Krawk Island	14	37	6th
4th Place	Kiko Lake	12	32	7th
5th Place	Terror Mountain	8	16	14th
6th Place	Faerieland	7	12	17th

• Minitheus Bracket

This bracket was more of a mixed bag than the other two. This bracket was composed of Lost Desert, who performed well in the last two rounds, mid-packers Tyrannia, Brightvale, and Virtupets, and bottom-dwellers Altador and Moltara. Altador got the round going with a great surprise, drawing Lost Desert in Yooyuball in an effort to raise their position. After this, Altador was still able to pluck minimal wins here and there, even winning Yooyuball against Moltara. Lost Desert had very impressive results, despite their shaky start at Altador's hand. Virtupets, Brightvale, and Tyrannia too were each able to meet them even in Yooyuball, but their side game skill was an important component in their victories. Tyrannia lacked sweeping material, but they too were fairly evenly matched with Lost Desert. Brightvale proved to be a tough bug to squash, holding their own very well against the primary threats of Lost Desert and Tyrannia. Though the two matches between Brightvale and Virtupets both ended in a Virtupets victory, as the Brightvale team's results against the powerhouses of this bracket were stronger, Virtupets sank to mediocrity. Moltara's results were very similar to that of Altador's, plucking wins here and there that proved to be enough to keep up with their rivals. The results had the Lost Desert easily on top, while Tyrannia hung on for 2nd. Brightvale's impressive results against more powerful teams landed them 3rd, while Virtupets, unable to keep up with the demand, finished 4th. Moltara edged out Altador for 5th, leaving Altador in last for the third time in a row.

Standing	Team	Points Earned	Points Total	Overall Standings
1st Place	Lost Desert	22	42	5th
2nd Place	Tyrannia	18	30	9th
3rd Place	Brightvale	14	24	10th
4th Place	Virtupets	12	21	13th
5th Place	Moltara	8	15	15th
6th Place	Altador	7	12	17th

• Vaeolus Bracket

The third bracket of the third round was very similar with the Alabriss Bracket, composed of powerhouses, midrunners, and bottom-dwellers. The powerhouses to be watched out for were Kreludor and Darigan Citadel, who were in 1st and 3rd overall, respectively. The middle-dwellers, in 8th and 9th overall, were Maraqua and Roo Island, respectively. Finally we had our bottom-dwellers, two teams that have seen very little luck, Haunted Woods and Shenkuu. Kreludor got to sweeping right from the get-go, sweeping their first four opponents, Shenkuu, Haunted Woods, and Maraqua twice. Finally, Kreludor's perfect Yooyuball record was stopped by Darigan Citadel in a valiant effort. However, alongside that match ending in a draw, Kreludor still managed to side-sweep. Aside from that one match, Darigan Citadel's matchups went strong, defeating almost all who stood in their way, though not to the same extent as Kreludor. Haunted Woods's fight started incredibly shaky, losing hard to Roo Island and being side-swept by Shenkuu. However, their resistance to being swept to anyone but Roo Island and Kreludor gave them a little push in the right direction. On the other hand, Roo Island, despite sweeping twice against Haunted Woods, fared terribly in other matches, as did Shenkuu. Maraqua pulled ahead of Roo Island in this sense, managing to take some wins despite being swept twice by Kreludor. The results had Kreludor easily in 1st and Darigan Citadel easily in 2nd. Maraqua swam up to 3rd, while Haunted Woods defied expectations and landed a 4th place finish. Roo Island took a disappointing 5th place finish, while Shenkuu was thrown back down to last.

Standing	Team	Points Earned	Points Total	Overall Standings
1st Place	Kreludor	22	52	1st
2nd Place	Darigan Citadel	18	45	4th
3rd Place	Maraqua	14	31	8th
4th Place	Haunted Woods	12	24	10th
5th Place	Roo Island	8	22	12th
6th Place	Shenkuu	7	14	16th

Round Four

• Alabriss Bracket

With Meridell residing in this bracket, hope was lacking for the remainder of the teams here. It was do or die for Terror Mountain, as multiple rounds of bad results had them cast down to 14th, much lower than last year's 8th. Faerieland had one more chance to escape the bottom, while Virtupets was struggling to shrug off the "Winner's Curse". Haunted Woods, being troopers, managed to hold on to middle positions, but stiff competition was not what they needed. Finally, there was Moltara, who have been no strangers to a major upset. Meridell easily wiped out the competition; 5 out of 6 matches in the bracket resulted in a sweep, with the only team escaping this fate being Haunted Woods. On that subject, the Haunted Woods performed admirably, taking more wins here than in any other round. But perhaps more impressive was the competition that Virtupets and Terror Mountain displayed. Terror Mountain proved to be a terror in this bracket, claiming landslide wins everywhere except against Meridell and Virtupets. While Virtupets were victorious in a majority of their matches, perhaps more so than Terror Mountain and Haunted Woods, their results didn't get anywhere near sweeps. Faerieland continued to have to deal with harsh opposition, though they managed to pull a few more wins here. Unfortunately for them, even with Moltara once again facing big trouble, it still wasn't enough. Furthermore, Moltara's past record against Faerieland held up again, with Moltara taking the win, though to a lesser degree than their previous encounters with Faerieland. Despite this, the results were fairly straightforward; Meridell took 1st with little opposition to them, while Terror Mountain impressively rose to the occasion to take 2nd. Haunted Woods, with their increased ability in this bracket, took 3rd. Virtupets was strong, but not strong enough to take the lead on the teams, went into 4th. This left Moltara and Faerieland, and despite the greatest efforts by the latter, Moltara still went on to claim 5th, which left Faerieland in last, effectively meaning that they claimed last place in all four rounds of the tournament.

Standing	Team	Points Earned	Points Total	Overall Standings
1st Place	Meridell	27	75	2nd
2nd Place	Terror Mountain	24	40	11th
3rd Place	Haunted Woods	18	42	9th
4th Place	Virtupets	16	37	13th
5th Place	Moltara	11	26	15th
6th Place	Faerieland	10	22	17th

• Minitheus Bracket

Once again, the prevalence of midrunners made target practice for the major threats of the bracket. Mystery Island saw this bracket as very important, as there was no telling what might happen if they failed to take the lead. Lost Desert came up on them as well, hoping to overtake some positions for a strong retaliation to last year's dismal 13th place finish. Brightvale was hoping to see their matchups continuing to hold up well in this bracket, while Kiko Lake was worried about suffering from further descent after slowing down in the third round. Finally, we had Roo Island and Shenkuu, both of which suffered major losses in the last round. It was safe to say that Mystery Island had a strong hold on their lead and thus their skills could not be matched, even by Lost Desert. That said, both Mystery Island and Lost Desert had impressive wins, while Kiko Lake, after suffering a major case of beginning stumbles, managed to come back and take some wins, though none in Yooyuball. Brightvale was a little on the shakier side; while they were able to take down Kiko Lake once, they could not match up with the skills they demonstrated in the third round. Shenkuu had very little to offer in this bracket, being defeated by every team, though not doing so without taking a few wins here and there. With the last round on the line, all the teams were pumped in trying to keep up with their average, or even exceed it. Likewise, four out of the six teams in the Minitheus Bracket of the fourth round improved on last year's scores, the first three being massive. Finishing 1st in the bracket was Mystery Island, who took a huge leap forward after last year's 14th place finish to a tie for 2nd. Kiko Lake did enough to hold 2nd in the bracket, also taking a huge jump from 16th to 6th. In 3rd, Lost Desert came up a little short, but their year proved to be much more usual of them, improving vastly over their 13th place finish last year to a 5th place finish this year. Finally, in 4th, Brightvale came up a bit short, but still improved a single position, holding 11th place in a tie with Terror Mountain. While all was happy for those teams, Roo Island, finishing 5th, and Shenkuu, claiming last, each had a descent. Roo Island, normally a midrunner, fell to the depths of the standings and finished the tourney in 14th. Meanwhile, Shenkuu, who faced massive opposition this year, stumbled down to 16th.

Standing	Team	Points Earned	Points Total	Overall Standings
1st Place	Mystery Island	27	75	2nd
2nd Place	Kiko Lake	24	56	6th
3rd Place	Lost Desert	18	60	5th
4th Place	Brightvale	16	40	11th
5th Place	Roo Island	11	33	14th
6th Place	Shenkuu	10	24	16th

• Vaeolus Bracket

This bracket was a wild party of powerhouses going at it with no mercy. Kreludor was the obvious leader here, and to seal their lead, they would have to get past their fellow powerhouses, Darigan Citadel and Krawk Island. Midrunners Maraqua and Tyrannia were ready to keep a hold of what they had, which left but one dismally placed team, Altador. Likewise, prospects weren't looking too good for Altador, especially after being swept on the first two days of competition. However, when Altador faced Krawk Island, everyone was surprised when Altador took a win in Yooyuball! From that point on, Altador could not be swept. Kreludor was unstoppable once again, beating down threats repetitively, sweeping both Tyrannia and Krawk Island. However, Tyrannia fought Kreludor twice, and the second time, they were ready. Despite Kreludor still side-sweeping, Tyrannia dealt Kreludor its first (and only) loss in Yooyuball. Still, Kreludor continued strong, nearly sweeping Maraqua before finally sweeping Darigan Citadel, which came as a major loss for the team. Up to that point, Darigan Citadel had been performing at par with Kreludor, which made them very serious threats. Krawk Island once again found themselves overshadowed by the top two threats, but much more so, as Darigan Citadel was also able to sweep Krawk Island on their second encounter, with their first encounter ending as a win on the Krawk Island team's part. Aside from those two sweeps, Krawk Island had a very respectable performance overall. Maraqua also faced being overshadowed, but they too were able to take down teams of their own, despite their overall weakness in comparison. Tyrannia did not meet up with expectations, taking major losses being swept, and aside their burst of glory against Kreludor, they were generally underwhelming and could not handle being with the powerhouses well. Altador, as a bottom-floater, naturally were dealt with loss after loss, though they managed that single win against Krawk Island, but generally were swept. Kreludor took the top spot, which effectively made them the only team to win their bracket in all four rounds, which made them the winners of Altador Cup VII. Coming up behind them was Darigan Citadel in 2nd, followed by Krawk Island in 3rd. Maraqua fell into 4th, while Tyrannia took a dismal 5th position. Like Faerieland, Altador fell into 6th in every round, so they were placed in last alongside Faerieland in a tie.

Standing	Team	Points Earned	Points Total	Overall Standings
1st Place	Kreludor	27	79	1st
2nd Place	Darigan Citadel	24	69	4th
3rd Place	Krawk Island	18	55	7th
4th Place	Maraqua	16	47	8th
5th Place	Tyrannia	11	41	10th
6th Place	Altador	10	22	17th

2nd Place Tie-Breaker

As for Altador Cup VII's new rules, to determine who would win the silver and bronze medals, there needed to be an extra day of play for the two teams involved. Note that this did not apply for any of the other ties, so Terror Mountain and Brightvale's tie for 11th place, along with Faerieland and Altador's tie for 17th place would remain ties. In order to resolve the tie, the two teams in 2nd place with 75 points each, Meridell and Mystery Island, faced each other once more. After a whole day of matching each other, hoping to defeat the other, Mystery Island came out on top, which gave them the 2nd position, while Meridell claimed 3rd.

Participation

On 18 May, it was revealed that the tournament format would be changed this year. Since Altador Cup II, the tournament was a double round-robin (that is to say, each team played every other team twice) and culminated in a finals contest.

For the 2012 competition, the eighteen teens will be randomly assigned to three brackets (six teams per bracket). There will be four rounds of play, and no finals bracket. The competition will last 24 days, six days per round. All teams will be able to play every day whatever their score. The Neopets Team explained that this would give historically low-performing teams a better chance at taking the Cup. Another factor was tournament length: they decided that asking people to dedicate a month and a half of their time to the event was unfair.

Users were able to sign up for a team from midday on 25 May. Doing so earns them 100 Neocash.

Results

Standing	Team
1st Place	Kreludor
2nd Place	Mystery Island
3rd Place	Meridell
4th Place	Darigan Citadel
5th Place	Lost Desert
6th Place	Kiko Lake
7th Place	Krawk Island
8th Place	Maraqua
9th Place	Haunted Woods
10th Place	Tyrannia
11th Place	Terror Mountain
11th Place (tie)	Brightvale
13th Place	Virtupets
14th Place	Roo Island
15th Place	Moltara
16th Place	Shenkuu
17th Place	Altador
17th Place (tie)	Faerieland

Prizes

• Altador Cup Sticker
• Team Pillows
• 8-Bit Power-Up Potion

External links

• Editorial: #546
• Altador Cup