http://www.jellyneo.net en-us All the latest news on this year's Altador Cup!. Thu, 17 May 2012 16:39:02 PST


Keep in mind that all this is still subject to change, but at present the system appears that it will be as follows.

This year, the tournament is switching to a bracket system. This means that all 18 teams will be split into 3 brackets (6 teams in each). This will be done randomly, not according to team size/strength/alphabet/etc.

The Cup will no longer use a double round robin format. Instead, there will be 4 rounds of play. Each round, your team will play every other team in the same bracket once, and then play a second team twice (according to Viola, but it is unknown exactly how the team you play is determined). That's 6 days of play per round.

Each round, the brackets will be resorted so you are not playing the exact same people, and play will repeat. There are no eliminations this year.

At the end of the 4th round, the Cup will end. There are no finals this year, so the results at the end of round 4 will determine the winners. Sort of like if the Cup ended with just the double round robin results last year.

This means a total play time of 24 days over the entire Cup - less time if you were planning on spreading out your wins towards All-Star, so you might want to keep that in mind.

I hope that's explained it all a little more for you. I'm sure the Altador Cup Committee have more surprises, so keep watching!

]]> http://www.jellyneo.net/index.php?comments=6959 Thu, 17 May 2012 03:20:59 PST UPDATE: The release of the Altador team preview today contains an interesting hint about the nature of the Cup this year. "Trapper" Remis is quoted as saying:

"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."

What new format could he be talking about? Is there a change to the double round robin format coming this year? Or the return of mouse control to YYB? Only time will tell!

In the meantime, let's continue with your regularly scheduled recap.

Dropping out of the first bracket to focus on lower ranked teams from last year, and while we're on the subject of All Star freelancers - let's talk about Terror Mountain.



Last year, a number of All-Star groups were active in the AC. We've already discussed that the main SOTAC group went with Kreludor, and that the Stealth AC Group went with Virtupets, but a smaller third group decided on helping out Terror Mountain. The thing with the group that went to TM is that they weren't quite as impersonal in their choice as the other two. Does this mean that they are more likely to stay? Perhaps.

Team Terror Mountain had long been shadowing Virtupets in the standings. When Virtupets claimed dominance in Shootout Showdown upon release, Terror Mountain followed suit. Four years ago they were just one position behind Virtupets in the final standings, and like Virtupets, they have risen even since - coming from relative obscurity at the bottom of the table to a second bracket finish last year.

Unfortunately, the team sit perilously in 8th position - a rank they held after the round robin closed, and which they failed to capitalise on in the finals. A drop of just one position would put them into an entirely different bracket, somewhere that the team really doesn't want to go.

So can the team keep rising? I wouldn't put it past them, but with so many big teams on strong form, Terror Mountain might find themselves pushed down by the sheer weight of competition. This year, holding on to second tier would be a solid achievement, and a modest goal no team should be ashamed of.

Book of Ages Hub | Dr. Sloth Images]]> http://www.jellyneo.net/index.php?comments=6957 Wed, 16 May 2012 02:51:36 PST

Yesterday we talked about Virtupets, and today we'll focus on Kreludor. Last year, many people were tipping Team Kreludor as the eventual winners, yet they finished in third - so what went wrong?

The answer, quite plainly, is finals.

Kreludor was at the head of the pack in 1st position at the conclusion of the round robin. In the end, one tiny little loss was what cost them the cup - against Krawk Island. On paper, Kreludor should have won - to date they hold a 55% win rate against the Krawk Island team. Even during that year's round robin, they had a near flawless win record against them, only one Yooyuball loss preventing them from claiming a double streak. Kreludor should have won that match. They should have been in the final two.

But they weren't. Kreludor choked in the finals, and it's a startling pattern. The previous year (AC5), they dropped from 1st to 2nd in a match against the Lost Desert. The year before that, Kreludor were again 1st, only to fall to 4th with losses against Shenkuu and the Lost Desert. In the AC3, though they weren't in the top bracket, they fell from 5th to 6th. Kreludor, for some reason, seems to have real difficulty in finals situations. Even having the main body of SOTAC on their team last year didn't overcome this.

Can this be Kreludor's year? The answer, of course, is the same as it has been for the last three years. The round robin should not be an issue - but final performance must be worked on. If they can pull it out of the bag at long last, Kreludor might just triumph.

Book of Ages Hub | Dr. Sloth Images]]> http://www.jellyneo.net/index.php?comments=6953 Tue, 15 May 2012 03:11:10 PST
Let's start with last year's winners - Team Virtupets.



Virtupets proved last year that the days of the obvious powerhouses ruling the roost are well and truly over - in the run up to the AC6, few outside of the team were predicting they would end up in the top tier, let alone win the entire thing.

This may have been partly because of the team's chequered history - Virtupets hit rock bottom during the AC2, finishing in last place. But since then, the team has picked itself up and hasn't looked back, managing finishes of 14th, 12th, 6th, and then last year's victory.

Of course, there is a great deal of debate as to why this happened. There's no doubt that Virtupets were on the rise by themselves, but last year, they had help from a group of All-Stars. Of the freelance All-Star groups, SOTAC (Secret Order of the Altador Cup - a poorly kept secret, at that :P) is without a doubt the most famous. But last year several other groups came to prominence. SOTAC went with Kreludor, but another group, calling itself the Stealth AC Group, joined Virtupets. In the battle of the All-Star groups, it clearly seems that the Stealth AC Group had the most effect last year. It's only one factor out of many, but it will be interesting to see what becomes of the team this year.

So what will happen to Virtupets this year? Will the Stealth AC Group stay loyal, or depart elsewhere? And will this impact Virtupets in a serious way? Of course, no one is expecting Virtupets to repeat the win - the winner's curse is a firmly established pattern now and it would either take something exceptional or underhanded to break it. However, given the dramatic fall of the Lost Desert last year, the real question is if Virtupets can hold on to the second tier without falling further. I'd say Virtupets has a decent chance of staying in the top 8, but then again, it really is anyone's guess.

Book of Ages Hub | Dr. Sloth Images]]> http://www.jellyneo.net/index.php?comments=6950 Mon, 14 May 2012 18:33:09 PST sign-ups. Here you can learn more about each team in the pre-game press and browse through the team freebies.

Show off your team spirit on the Neoboards by using one of our Altador Cup Team Neoboard Fonts.

Show your support on your lookup or petpages with a number of our team support graphics. And don't forget to grab yourself an AC Records image to show off your game rankings!



All the new AC images can now be found on drsloth.com. (including the remaining promotional images for all the teams).

You can change your site team banner by visiting the Site Prefs page and selecting your team from the drop down menu.


Go Team Jelly!

For more Altador Cup Coverage, head on over to our Altador Cup 7 Coverage! Also, while you're here, why don't you bookmark us (and subscribe to our RSS Feeds).


]]> http://www.jellyneo.net/index.php?comments=6948 Mon, 14 May 2012 12:31:58 PST Team Freebies have been released. You can see the team changes in the Desktop Wallpaper images. (You can view them all on our Team Freebies page).










]]> http://www.jellyneo.net/index.php?comments=6946 Sat, 12 May 2012 08:15:49 PST prize points before it is too late.



The ACVII sign-ups will be starting in a few weeks. We have speculated some roster changes for this year's game. Let's have a look at the new team line-up.

Starting with Team Shenkuu's favorite Mynci, Foltaggio will be leaving the team to join Altador. Timu will be leaving Team Altador to take his place on Team Shenkuu.


High Four!

Team Brightvale will be gaining Gordo Gunnels from Roo Island, while sending over "Squeaky" Tressif to the Roo Island Team.



Bertie Shurtz will be stepping out of this tournament, and a new team member will be joining Team Mystery Island.


It was a victorious score, until I took a yooyu to the knee

]]> http://www.jellyneo.net/index.php?comments=6941