The Altador Cup

ALTADOR - Yes, the wonderful world called Altador. Every month, millions of pets come to see the wonderful Hall of Heroes to pay their respects to the Heroes and well, the blown-up statue of the Darkest Faerie, AKA the Sleeper. But one month of each year, even the Hall of Heroes gets overshadowed by a famous landmark behind it. The Altadorian Coliseum! Each Month of Relaxing holds the most famous tournament of all of Neopia, the Altador Cup!

That's right; the Altador Cup is coming back with a new season that's guaranteed to be much more intense, bigger, and better! Should this be a sign that the Altador Cup Committee is saying that the Altador Cup will be running annually now? Time will tell, as we all watch the clock to the 5th of the Month of Relaxing which was previously, the Kick-Off for the Altador Cup.

Of course, Neopians are wondering if Shenkuu, Neovia or even Neopia Central would join the Altador Cup this year, but that is currently top-secret to the Neopian Public, announced by the Altador Cup Committee.

Kiko Lake fans, especially of Holbie Pinnock, are wondering if the blue Kiko would be able to play again this season, but a question answered by the Kiko Lake Team Doctor (Strange how all doctors are green Gelerts...) said that Holbie Pinnock still has minor headaches out of the blue, and a serious case of 'Scream and duck'. This case (which is the first in Neopia) is severe, as Holbie will scream, and then duck. Probably because of the Kiko Lake team mate, Relle Felson. (Please read the Tournament Updates, Pre-Game.)

The Coach and Doctor are pondering currently whether to either keep Helmo Timm or put Holbie Pinnock back on the team. Based on hidden viewings from the Kiko Lake Fans (KLF) Holbie sometimes ducks when the Yooyuball is passed to him. Should the team allow him on, it could cost them the Altador Cup. Stay tuned to your local Neopian Times for more updates on this situation.

New Year and possibly new rules! That would be a handy thing to keep in mind, as the Altador Cup Committee might have made minor changes like in the middle of the Year 8 Tournament, where the Keeper was not allowed to hold onto the Yooyu for five seconds.

Last year, the Neopets Staff was allowed to play and had its own mini tournament, with The Phantom Orange Shirt Guy (TPOSG) finishing in first, Snarkie in second and third DJ Skellington. All of Neopia is curious if the Neopets Team would be allowed to have another tournament.

Looking back at last season, we see there were quite a bit of surprises in the tournament. Who would have guessed that Roo Island would have gotten so far in the tournament? Also that Team Maraqua (who had millions of supporters) with Elon "The Black Hole" Hughlis could not make it past Meridell's speedy forwards to win the game. Also that Team Kreludor was only an inch away from winning the Knock-Out Round, who was against Team Haunted Woods - who won the Year 8 Altador Cup. What might have happened if Kreludor had beaten the Haunted Woods?

Should you be wondering which team got in which place, here is the list:

Knock-Out Round

Faerieland came in 16th; Terror Mountain came in 15th, but only by a few hundred thousand points. Altador shockingly came in 14th. Surprisingly Kiko Lake Team (who had the slightly injured Helmo Timm) came in 13th with Virtupets in 12th. Tyrannia (who had the ugliest uniform in my opinion) came in 11th, with Maraqua coming in 10th, and so close to making it into the Quarterfinals was Kreludor in 9th.

Quarterfinals

Coming in 8th was the rough-housing team Brightvale; coming in the fast lane for 7th was Meridell, (Yippee!) and Mystery Island came in 6th with the so close to making it to the Semi-Finals Lost Desert.

Semi-Finals

Roo Island miraculously came in 4th with the pirate team, Krawk Island, coming in 3rd!

Finals

The purple team Darigan Citadel, so close to touching the Cup, came in second, with the Cup winning Champions of Haunted Woods coming in first!

Congratulations to the Haunted Woods for winning the Altador Cup!

That's all I can say about last year's and next year's Altador Cup tournament, so keep your eyes peeled in the New Features in the Month of Hunting and the Month of Relaxing. And as a special bonus, we have a resident from Meridell's own team having an interview! Here she is, the fastest Eyrie on the Meridell Team, Fiorina!

Me (JL): Hi, Fiorina! What's it like to be on the Meridellian Squad?

Fiorina: It's fantastic; the team and I get along very well, so it's no wonder that we made it into the quarterfinals last year!

JL: Do you hang out with any of your teammates outside the tournament?

Fiorina: The team and I are rarely apart (Except for interviews like these) because we are great friends, and also we practice from the first day of the Month of Gathering all the way to the tournament, so we are quite close.

JL: Where do you practise all this time?

Fiorina: I cannot say, but either in Meridell or in Altador (when the Altador Squad has to practise somewhere else to share the Coliseum!).

JL: Right, those Altadorians are quite lucky! Do you know if Meridell will be in the Altador Cup tournament or did Meridell get cut off this year?

Fiorina: The Altador Cup Committee is top-secret about this, so we could be practising all year for nothing, but the Committee tells us a day before they release the news to the Neopian Public.

JL: Has Meridell ever been cut off before the one thousand year hiatus?

Fiorina: Once, when they wanted to try out the Neovian Team, but then something went wrong in Neovia, something about this Krawk, a potion, and a curse. When you find out, will you tell me?

JL: I'll tell you everything after the interview. Do you plan on going to another club like it says in the description?

Fiorina: King Skarl is very generous for the payment for us! I'd gladly do it for half the amount he pays. I do not plan on leaving the tournament unless King Skarl or the Altador Cup Committee says otherwise.

JL: What's King Skarl's payment?

Fiorina: *strange silence*

JL: Well, that’s all the time we have for this interview! Thanks, Fiorina!

Fiorina: Thank you, and also thanks for the payment for the intervi-

JL: What payment? I didn't pay you! *shifty eyes* Thanks!

Thank you very much for reading this article, and hopefully you now know more about the Altador Cup, and hopefully the questions will be answered around the end of the Month of Hunting! (Holy Kau! That's less than 2 months away!) Good luck and start practicing!

By the way, GO FOR MERIDELL! *coughs* I’m done!

Author's Note: Thanks for reading, and go for Meridell! Have fun in the Altador Cup and remember, Fiorina did not get paid; I wonder where she got that from... *shifty eyes* -Jockylocky