Altador Cup

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The famed trophy that gives the Cup its name.

The Altador Cup is a yearly gaming plot on Neopets which begins on June 1, and continues until the championship is finished. As a sporting event, eighteen teams as 2010 from the lands of Neopia gathered in Altador to compete in the sport of Yooyuball for the Altador Cup trophy. During the inaugural Altador Cup, the tournament took place between June 1, 2006 and August 4. During the second Altador Cup, the plot lasted from June 1, 2007 to July 9. The third annual Altador Cup commenced on June 12, 2008 and ended on July 17. The fourth annual Altador Cup commenced on June 2, 2009, and ended on July 5th, 2009.

Champions

Altador Cup I: Haunted Woods defeated Darigan
Altador Cup II: Darigan defeated Roo Island
Altador Cup III: Roo Island defeated Krawk Island
Altador Cup IV: Krawk Island defeated Shenkuu
Altador Cup V: Lost Desert defeated Kreludor
Altador Cup VI: Virtupets defeated Krawk Island
Altador Cup VII: Kreludor defeated Mystery Island

Yooyuball

Yooyuball is strictly regulated by the referee.

The game played to win the Altador Cup is called Yooyuball. Gameplay appears to be based on jai alai and lacrosse, where players carry a ball in a sling and charge down the field, trying to throw the ball into the other team's net to score a goal. The ball is actually a rolled up Petpet called a Yooyu, a creature native to Altador. There are a variety of different Yooyus used in the game, which gives the sport an unpredictable twist, requiring a team to alter its strategy depending on the type of Yooyu currently in play.

• Normal - The most common Yooyu which behaves like a normal ball of play without any extra effects. This Yooyu was added during the second Altador Cup. This Yooyu was added in the 2007 games.
• Fire - A very fast Yooyu, it moves in a straight line and must be transferred very quickly between team-mates, because keeping it too long could result in burns.
• Snow - Much slower than the Normal Yooyu, the Snow Yooyu also moves in a straight line. It freezes the muscles of those playing with it, making game play quite slow.
• Mutant - Leading to an extremely unpredictable game, the Mutant Yooyu will move in numerous, random patterns, such as beginning to curve at different points in the throw, changing speed, and only rarely shooting in a straight line.
• Faerie - Floating lightly through the air, the Faerie Yooyu curves in flight and leaves players wondering when it will drop down low enough for them to capture and pass it.
• Darigan - A misbehaving Yooyu which flies in a different direction the player holding it is facing, the Darigan Yooyu's flight can be predicted based on where a player is facing in the area. This Yooyu was added in the 2007 games.
• Clockwork - The Clockwork Yooyu is a wind-up robotic toy that will begin to glow red and explode between 1 - 15 seconds if it isn't put into a goal. This Yooyu was added in the 2007 games.

Yooyuball plays as a flash game, where users can play with use of the mouse and keyboard. Before each game of Yooyuball begins, users choose the formation they want their players to stand in and select which direction they would like to move the ball down the field. Using the mouse, users point at the player they want to move around, which will select the player. The selected player can be guided around the field using the mouse. When a player has possession of the ball, clicking the left mouse button throws the ball.

If a user wanted to deselect a player, they pressed the space bar or the S key. When none of the players were selected, they can clicked anywhere on the field to move the closest player to the position they clicked on. To toggle between players, users press the left and right arrow keys (or the A and D keys). Users can activate a player when toggling between them by pressing the space bar. Pressing the Shift key to moves players back to their starting positions.

A new rule was added on June 24, 2006, which would make the Yooyu jump from a Keeper's hands if it stayed there longer than 5 seconds. It is believed this was implemented because too many users were scoring a single goal then letting the Keeper hold onto the ball for the remainder of play, scoring an automatic win.

Between each goal, a cutscene is played, showing either the goal, the crowd, or - added in 2007 - the Yooyuball selection machines beneath the arena. While the cutscene is playing, game time is still used up, but a 'continue' button appears after a short delay allowing the user to skip most of the animation. An animation accompanies the introduction of each Yooyu to the field, also, but this can be skipped using the space bar.

The Committee

Main article: Altador Cup Committee

Team rosters

Teams	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Altador	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Brightvale	✔	✔	✔	✘	✔	✔	✔
Darigan Citadel	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Faerieland	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Haunted Woods	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Jelly World	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘
Kiko Lake	✔	✔	✘	✔	✔	✔	✔
Krawk Island	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Kreludor	✔	✘	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Lost Desert	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Maraqua	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Meridell	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Moltara	✘	✘	✘	✘	✔	✔	✔
Mystery Island	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Roo Island	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Shenkuu	✘	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Terror Mountain	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Tyrannia	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Virtupets	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔

For the first four years, the Altador Cup Tournament consisted of sixteen teams representing the lands of Neopia. Following the introduction of Shenkuu, one team sat out each year to keep the numbers even, until the discovery of Moltara allowed a full roster of eighteen teams to play in Altador Cup V. Users could only support one team at a time, and could only switch between teams in the first competition, between rounds.

The first team to cancel participation was Kreludor for Altador Cup II - in a statement by Derlyn Fonnet, this was due to a malfunctioning gravity generator leading to reduced "muscle and bone" density. The following year they returned to the competition, but Kiko Lake could not participate due to travel issues. Brightvale was unable to participate in Altador Cup IV as King Hagan thought it would make the country harder to govern.

An additional team is available each year as the practice team, from Jelly World. While the members of the team are unknown, it's known the Goalkeeper is a Jelly Kougra and the forwards a Jelly Kau and Usul.

So far Lutari Island has not participated in any of the Altador Cups, though two Lutari have.

Slushie Slinger

Slushie Slinger featured as an alternative to Yooyuball matches.

Added in the 2007 games, Slushie Slinger is an game users could play for lower points besides playing Yooyuball. Users play the role of a Red Tuskaninny waitress at the Slushie Concession Stand, and must serve impatient fans (Red Nimmo, Purple Tonu, Yellow Ogrin, etc.) their slushies while Yooyuball games play. Depending on what team the user joined, the Slushie Concession Stand would be the team's official slushie stand. Players would lose a life every time an empty slushie bottle fell to the floor or if the customers reached the end of the counter without being served.

Make Some Noise

A further alternative to normal game play, this game featured recurring character the Techo Fanatic.

Added in the 2007 games, Make Some Noise is an game users could play for lower points besides playing Yooyuball. Assuming the role of the Techo Fanatic, users must cheer as loud as they can by tapping two randomly chosen keys together, raising the sound meter, for as long as they can in 30 seconds, then (though this is not necessary) pressing the spacebar before the time runs out. Depending on what team the user joined, the Techo Fanatic would be seen wearing that teams shirt, and cheering for them.

Shootout Showdown

Shootout Showdown is a new game in the 2009 games. You take control of a Yooyuball player, trying to score goals against the opponents Keeper. The aim is to score 5 goals as quickly as possible, within 60 seconds, without missing or letting the keeper save your shots.

Plot participation

Main Articles: Altador Cup 2006, Altador Cup 2007, Altador Cup 2008, Altador Cup 2009, Altador Cup 2010

Unlike regular plots where the plot was written by The Neopets Team, the plot was directed by the collective users on Neopets, and how well they played together in each of their selected teams. A plot summary was written after play to act out who won in each cause. Also, each year had their own methods of participation, and how the plot would progress.

Staff Tournament

As another part of the Altador Cup, The Neopets Team participates in a tournament play of their own. They did this in 2006, and only again in 2010.

Altador Cup Tournament items

Along with the release of the Altador Cup on June 1, 2006, a new Shop called Altador Cup Souvenirs opened, which sold sports team merchandise for each of the teams playing. Rather than Altador Cup Tournament items have a single use, they can be used for many different things. Hands and bottles are used as toys, pennants can be placed in Neohomes, and the jerseys are Clothes.

Annual Results

The final rankings of each team for that year.

Teams	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Altador	14	13	13	15	17	17	17
Brightvale	8	12	16	-	13	12	12
Darigan Citadel	2	1	7	7	3	7	4
Faerieland	16	15	15	16	15	15	18
Haunted Woods	1	7	8	10	12	11	9
Kiko Lake	13	14	-	14	16	16	6
Krawk Island	3	4	2	1	7	2	7
Kreludor	9	-	6	4	2	3	1
Lost Desert	5	5	3	3	1	13	5
Maraqua	10	9	10	5	5	4	8
Meridell	7	8	5	11	8	5	3
Moltara	-	-	-	-	18	18	15
Mystery Island	6	6	9	6	14	14	2
Roo Island	4	2	1	9	4	9	14
Shenkuu	-	3	4	2	11	10	16
Terror Mountain	15	10	12	13	9	8	11
Tyrannia	11	11	11	8	10	6	10
Virtupets	12	16	14	12	6	1	13

Trivia

• The first Altador Cup appeared to coincide with dates and times of the FIFA World Cup in Germany of 2006, and the golden orb, seen in the preview trailer, of the trophy bore a remarkable resemblance to the actual World Cup.
• Noted advertisements shown in North America within the 2006 tournament were a new Dragon Ball Z game being released in July 2006 and a new Garfield movie. For 2007, Evan Almighty was advertised.
• During Yooyuball game play when the Ixi and Grarrl news presenters are making their remarks about the teams, were a user to refrain from clicking the "continue" button, they would begin to ask the user to carry on, mention they see Tarla and need to hurry and catch her or reminding the user that sitting and watching them does not earn them points. A Spyder may also come down from the ceiling.
• Because there used to be 17 possible Altador Cup teams, and only 16 spots available for participating, every year, TNT had to choose one team to not participate, and choose a clever reason for it. The addition of Moltara City in 2010 made for an even total of 18 and thus no team was left out on the sidelines.
• Coincidentally, from 2006 to 2009, the winning team for each year's Altador Cup was the runner-up team for the previous tournament.
• Each of the 54 Neopet species is represented by at least one Yooyuball player.

See also

• Plots: Altador Cup I, Altador Cup II, Altador Cup III, Altador Cup IV, Altador Cup V, Altador Cup VI
• Shops: Altador Cup Souvenirs

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