July 4th & 5th Predictions - Finals
Update! We are pleased to inform you that we have successfully predicted all winners of the semi-finals (overall) in Group 1,3, and 4!
Welcome to the Cup final! This is it - a chance for either Krawk Island or Shenkuu to obtain glory for the first time ever. Kreludor and Lost Desert were defeated, and now battle it our in an honor match for 3rd. In Group 2, Darigan and Maraqua will square off for the 5th place, whilst Haunted Woods and Roo Island will face each other for 9th place, in the third bracket. In the last group, but not least, Terror Mountain will battle it out with Kiko Lake for 13th, whilst Faerieland and Altador try to avoid last place, but only one will be able to...
It is with great honor that we unveil our new page for Altador Cup IV's finals. Like last year, everything is neatly spaced out and sorted by groups so you won't get confused. Below, we have included a comment on each group overall and the included teams' possible performance, not to mention the heated matches! The final matchups are ordered: Winner of match 1 vs Winner of match 2, in the semi-finals, and Loser of match 1 vs Loser of match 2, in all groups.
We wish all participants good luck in their respective groups!
*Note: Winners will always be on the left side for convenience and less confusion. There are no draws in the finals.
Group 1 - Glory Awaits!
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Slushie Slinger |
Make Some Noise |
Shootout Showdown |
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This is it. The moment you've all been waiting for. The final match of them all: Krawk Island vs. Shenkuu. An epic match between Pirates and Ninjas to finally settle the dust on this yearly competition, crowning the winner and also deciding who is the best! We'll start off with a bit of history of these two Cup contenders:
Krawk Island
Krawk Island came into this competition like a savage animal, willing to sweep any team. They dealt with their first week opponents, which were terribly tough, but still managed to come out of it unscathed. It was only until Lost Desert took the Pirates seriously in Round 1 that KI got their first loss of the competition. They managed to hold this up, until the second-to-last week, where in 3 decisive matches, they only mustered 1 win, failing to beat Mystery Island and especially Kreludor, which gave them a sweep. This shattered their morale, which showed in matches such as Kiko Lake and Terror Mountain (which they didn't manage to sweep). It was only until Maraqua showed up that Krawk Island finally got back into the game, won the match against a team that had never lost until then in the second round, and proceeded to win their last match majestically, with a big sweep to Haunted Woods. This let them enter 2nd into the semi-finals, which, after a very intense match with Lost Desert, took Yooyuball, winning them the match and guaranteeing a slot into the Cup final.
Shenkuu
Shenkuu also wanted to get revenge for last year's unappealing fourth place. As such, they entered the tournament well, but their loss to Krawk Island right on the 2nd day threw some doubts into the playing field as whether Shenkuu really did have their karma "gone walkies" again. Still, they managed to hold up reasonably well, but remained in 5th after the end of the first round, even with Darigan starting to falter at this point. In the second round, Maraqua beat them, causing a huge upset, as they had seemed to lost their "comeback karma" altogether. Nonetheless, Shenkuu ignored the petty comments about them and continued on their path. With Darigan out of the picture, Shenkuu finally rose to 4th, staying there until the finals came around. They faced Kreludor, who also had an amazing run, and pulled off one of the biggest upsets of Cup finals, beating them once more (like Round 2 in the DRR), even though at a disadvantage. This gave them the golden ticket to the finals, occupying the last and only available spot to face Krawk Island.
Anyways, comments on that match itself now. Both teams don't want to give out a loss, and so we'll see two days of intense Yooyuballing to reach that coveted Cup and gain fame and glory. Krawk Island know the drill, they've been denied this the year before, and refuse to lose again, so we'll see major dedication from them, which might actually get them the Cup. Considering that KI beat Shenkuu both times this year, they have the advantage. Despite this, Shenkuu have beaten the best team in their previous match, so they might pull a big upset once more here. With draws out of the picture now, who will win this and become AC IV champion?
Unfortunately, Lost Desert and Kreludor are out of their road to gold. However, bronze is still up for grabs, so the winner of this match will still gain tertiary glory. Judging globally, Lost Desert have the same capacity to cause upsets in their matches (being extremely good at YYB). They've already done it once, and are willing to do it again. If so, LD will win 3rd once more, whilst Kreludor gain a small upgrade from last year's 5th spot. However, you never know what Kreludor may do, but they seem to recover badly from losses (e.g. the last week of the double round robin - losses to LD, SK and DC).
Group 2 - Reputation Duels!
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Slushie Slinger |
Make Some Noise |
Shootout Showdown |
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Mystery Island is no pushover. They may have failed entering Group 1, but they still live up the name of secondary powerhouse, and showed it in the semis, beating Darigan Citadel. Now, they must face Maraqua. The fishies are doing wonderfully in these final stages, and if they concentrate like they did in the second round, they'll get 5th place, which is living up to Meridell's surprising position last year. They'll probably take YYB and SS, their signature sports. Don't rule MI out yet though - the coconuts may have awaken.
Tyrannia is a pretty unfortunate team in this group. Not because they don't deserve it, but due to their sub-par performance in the main staple, Yooyuball. The problem is that this is the only game that counts at this stage, so they must win it all costs. Still, we're sorry to announce (for TY's sake) that DC is quite better at this game, so even if Tyrannia win all the side games (which they might just and is pretty likely), they still won't win the match, getting them 8th place. Which, all things considered, is better than the 11th place last year.
Group 3 - The Unfortunates
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Slushie Slinger |
Make Some Noise |
Shootout Showdown |
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Haunted Woods have been able to beat Virtupets, and now face Roo Island. The (still) champions have the chance to mark position and gain the 9th place, but Haunted Woods seemed to have taken enough of lackluster performances, and simply can't drop more than 9th. They've constantly dropped in subsequent ACs (7th > 8th > 9th-10th), which isn't a good sign. Still, this will turn out to be quite a close match.
This match won't be as head-to-head, but instead pretty predictable. Meridell are quite better than Virtupets in Yooyuball. Like Tyrannia, they are the black duck of their group. They make take most of the side games (like they usually do), but that isn't enough, I'm afraid.
Group 4 - Avoiding Dead Last...
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Slushie Slinger |
Make Some Noise |
Shootout Showdown |
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A bit of mismatch here. Terror Mountain has enough class to beat Kiko Lake in nearly all games. In fact,we might even see a sweep here, as TM counters KL in SSD (both are good here). Still, 14th is good for Kiko Lake, whilst TM should be happy with topping their group.
Here is an interesting match. The worse contenders trying to avoid last place. We believe Faerieland might beat Altador again (like in round two of the DRR) to escape from last, and humiliating the hosts at their competition. If they play hard enough, it's what will happen, as Altador haven't won a single Yooyuball match this year.
