Day Four (4 Jun 2013)

Day four of ACVIII went mostly as expected, with a full two-thirds of the winning teams pulling sweeps, but there were still a few surprises to catch the interest of AC fans. In the Alabriss bracket, defending champions KD recovered from a brutal two-day losing streak to MD by pulling the sweep against LD. MD themselves also earned a sweep, though MI briefly gave them a scare by going up 3-1 in the early minutes of YYB. Like most other rematches so far, KL vs DC had identical results to the first time they played, with only the overall point totals changing.

RI and AD continued their string of dominating wins in the Vaeolus bracket, with both teams sweeping their opponants for the fourth day in a row. The only excitement in that bracket came in the FL vs SK match, where the Faeries managed to recover from two heartbreaking back-to-back losses to earn their first MSN win against the Ninjas. FL, coming off of their surprising YYB win on day three, threw everything they had into extending that streak to two days, and while they never held the lead it at least seemed as though the Faeries would be able to force a tie until FL goalkeeper Valtonous Rea misjudged an incoming shot in the final seconds, thus awarding SK the win. Undeterred, they continued on to the SS match, where the Faeries once again made a critical error at the end of the game, choosing to try to fill another order rather than going for an empty cup. Despite the losses, they resolutely moved on to MSN, where their persistance was rewarded in a close 4-3 battle that saw FL finally avoid making any errors.

Lastly, the Minitheus bracket featured nearly identical results to day three, with both TY and KI sweeping the opposition and MQ dropping YYB to a lower-ranked team but winning all three sidegames. MQ once again got off to a slow start, though they recovered more quickly than they did against TM. Unfortunately for them, HW looked better than they had any day so far in the Tournament, and even an all-out blitz by MQ in the last minute wasn't enough to knock the Haunties off of their game. MQ did manage to eke out close wins in all three sides, which garnered them enough points to maintain their place in third within the bracket.

Bye Day (5 Jun 2013)

The spate of sweeps continues unabated, but day five of ACVIII still contained a few upsets. In the Alabriss bracket, KL finally logged a YYB win after losing two days in a row to DC, yet they dropped all three sidegames to KD, including their best game, SS. The Vaeolus bracket saw RI fall from the ranks of the undefeated, thanks to a stunning MSN loss to the Ninjas. FL earned their first double win of the year, beating VP in a close SS match and a low-scoring SOSD game. Finally, in the Minitheus bracket HW pulled a shocking upset over TM, not only winning YYB but going on to sweep all three sidegames as well. HW started out slowly, allowing TM to go up 3-0 in short order. The Haunties managed to tighten up their defenses, however, and as time went on the momentum slowly shifted from TM to HW, with HW scoring the go-ahead point in the last 20 seconds. Both teams moved on to SS, where the score was tied right up until the very end when HW won in a stunningly close 5-4 fashion thanks to their sending the proper flavor slushie down to a thirsty customer. MSN was never in doubt, as HW held the lead throughout the game, with only a last-minute surge by TM bringing their final tally within a single point of HW's. TM did their best to grab a consolation win in SOSD, matching the Haunties score-for-score in their first four kicks. However, a final missed goal by Evrem Guilako gave HW an opening, which they took full advantage of by sending their final kick into the net and earning the complete sweep.

The rest of the day's matches were mundane affairs, with DC, MD, TY and AD all sweeping their opponants. After the final team left the field, an official from the ACPC walked out and declared what is a new feature of ACVIII, the bye day. The announcement was met with confusion from the gathered crowd, as several of the ACPC's own rules were in contradiction by holding a bye day on the sixth day of a round without all teams having faced each other once, and the official quickly made tracks for the tunnels under the Colosseum, knowing enough from his experience in ACVII to get away before the crowd turned ugly. Inquiries to the ACPC were not returned, and a posting put up outside the Colosseum several hours later simply mentioned all of the activities that would be available to the public during the bye day, and did not address the latest controversy.

With all the teams resting up until the start of round two, speculation as to what the reassembled brackets will be has already started to run rampant. Hard-core fans of the game talk of possible matchups with TY, AD or DC, with KI, RI and MD thrown in the mix as well.

Round Two (6 Jun 2013)

While the various YYB teams were resting yesterday thanks to the first of four scheduled bye days, there were still plenty of activities going on at the Colosseum to engage even the most casual of AC fans. Colorful tents were strewn across the grounds surrounding the amphitheater beginning early in the morning, offering such attractions as face painting, lessons in creating custom Slushie flavors at home, and a class on proper Yooyu slinging techniques from retired HW player Chelo Binay. Later on in the day, a free concert was given by the legendary band Jazzmosis, who were apparently attending the Cup as fans of Terror Mountain. Inside the Colosseum visitors were treated to a live-action display of the history of the AC, where various actors re-created great moments in the Tournament ranging from HW's victory in the very first year to KI's stunning upset loss to MT in ACVII. Throughout the day various youth YYB leagues from around neopia competed in a knockout tournament that was free to attend, with an unexpected upset in the semifinals leading to a team from Faerieland beating the heavy favorites from Mystery Island in the finals. Finally, the day closed with a fireworks display honoring all eighteen teams, which could reportedly be seen as far away as Shenkuu.

While the fireworks were being set off, a giant blackboard containing the bracket arrangements for Round Two was set up just outside of the Colosseum's massive double doors. As the fans began streaming away from the Colosseum they were treated to their first glimpse of the possible upcoming matchups, which includes what many hope will be epic battles between TY and KI and AD and RI. In what was obviously an effort at fairness from the ACPC, each new bracket contained two teams from the Alabriss, Minitheus and Vaeolus brackets in Round One.

Upsets and Sweeps (7 Jun 2013)

While the majority of battles on day 7 of ACVIII were once again sweeps, most of the ones that weren't produced shocking upsets. TY earned the only sweep in the Alabriss bracket, overcoming an early 3-0 deficit against the Ninjas in YYB then going on to easily take all three sidegames. KD vs KI was much closer, as the Pirates won two games and KD won two in a heated match that nearly saw the teams come to blows. The first upset of the day came in the last Alabriss match, where VP earned their third YYB win of the year and the first against a top-ranked team. DC held the lead for most of the game, thanks to Tormo "The Terror" Frein singlehandedly scoring four goals in the first minute. VP refused to surrender, however, and the Spacemen began slowly chipping away at their lead, scoring the winning point just before time expired. VP gave a valiant effort in the sidegames, but their energy had been completely spent in YYB and DC went on to win all three.

The Minitheus bracket was the only one yesterday that was upset-free, with MQ, RI and AD all logging total sweeps. There was also a lone sweep in the Vaeolus bracket, where BV fought off a determined FL team that very nearly stole away wins in YYB, SS and SOSD. The majority of the day's upsets came in BV's bracket, with MT taking both YYB and MSN from the Kikos and HW coming a lone SOSD loss from sweeping the Knights. MT earned their first YYB win of the year against KL, preventing the frustrated Kikos from ever taking the lead by answering every goal they scored with a goal of their own. They barely put up a fight in SS, which KL won easily, but the Moltarans roared back with close win in MSN. Finally, HW claimed what was likely the most shocking upset of the day, winning YYB, SS and MSN in quick succession, with MD only halting the Haunties' momentum with a victory in an SOSD tie-breaker kick-off.

Day 8 (8 Jun 2013)

Lopsided victories were the order of the day yesterday, with every single match producing either a sweep or a triple win. In the Alabriss bracket, TY continued their unlikely string of sweeps, besting DC in all three sidegames and posting a season-high 8 points in YYB. VP earned their third YYB win in a row, going from beating ACII champs DC to winning against last season's victors KD, yet they went on to lose all three sidegames by a margin of at least two points each. SK also garnered a single win, this one against the Pirates, but they put up a much tougher fight in the sidegames, losing MSN after taking an early lead and failing to make their final goal in a tie-breaker kick-off in SOSD. RI and AD yet again dominated in the Minitheus bracket, as both teams swept all four games, but RI's sweep was briefly in doubt when MI's Volgoth charged that RI goalie Clutch Billaban had been incorrectly credited with sending the proper flavor of Slushie down to a thirsty customer when he had in fact sent the wrong one. After a few minutes of deliberation from the judges, it was determined that there was not enough evidence to overturn the results, and RI's SS victory was allowed to stand. The only Minitheus game that was not a sweep was LD vs TM, which, despite the close final score was a cordial affair all around. Before the YYB match began the teams shook each other's hands and a few even spent time chatting while waiting for the first Yooyu to come up from the depths of the Colosseum. YYB wound up being a narrow victory for the Pharoahs, as the final Yooyu of the game turned out to be a Darigan Yooyu, which deprived TM the opportunity to score the tying point. After what was also a close SS game, Minae Mitora and Leera Heggle shared one of the leftover Slushies, which turned out to be a mistake on Leera Heggle's part as the Kau suffered an epic throat cramp during MSN and couldn't contribute enough points to prevent TM from winning. "Honestly, that wasn't my intention," Minae Mitora laughed rather sheepishly about it later. "I imagine we're probably just more used to cold things than they are."

Finally, there were sweeps aplenty in the Vaeolus bracket, with both MD and HW managing to completely shut out their opponants, though both MT and FL put up surprisingly tough fights before ultimately succumbing. The only minor surprise came in KL vs BV, where the Kikos won YYB yet dropped all three sidegames, posting a season-low four points in SS and barely managing even two points in MSN.

Triples (9 Jun 2013)

Day 9 of ACVIII was relatively sweep-free, as for the first time this season fewer than half the matches produced quadruple wins. What was perhaps the lone true upset of the day was also the very first battle, where both KD and DC were looking to snap a multi-day YYB losing streak. It was unclear whether KD was simply better prepared or DC was exhausted from their match against TY the previous day, but whatever the reason KD's defense was a nearly impenatrable wall for most of the game. In fact, the score might not have been even as close as it was had KD forward Zenor Kevix not accidentally slung a Darigan Yooyu into his own goal. DC staged a brief rally in SS, posting a team-high 7 points in that game, but KD had already had a taste of victory and they weren't about to let the win slip through their fingers. Both MSN and SOSD went to tiebreaker rounds thanks to team captain Derlyn Fonnet's heroic efforts, and SOSD even had to have a double tiebreaker as both KD and DC missed their initial shots. "We may have been too far behind in points for the results to make a difference in our standing today," Fonnet said later, "But this win should at least give us motivation in future rounds."

The other Alabriss matches were more predictable, as TY swept KI after a hotly contested YYB battle and VP extended their YYB winning streak to four yet went on to lose all three sidegames. The Minitheus bracket was even more lopsided, with both AD and RI once again sweeping their opponants, but TM vs MQ did provide a little excitement as the Mountaineers crushed MQ 9-5 in a YYB game that wasn't even as close as the final score would indicate, then went on to deny MQ a shot at redemtpion by winning SS as well. Finally, each match in the Vaeolus bracket saw the winning teams take three games apiece, with losing teams KL returning to their SS-winning ways, BV taking a surprising MSN win after posting relatively low scores in that game over the past five days, and FL failing to repeat a YYB win against MT and settling for a victory in SS.

Sweeps with a Side of Upsets (10 Jun 2013)

It was mostly back to business as usual yesterday, with two-thirds of all matches ending in a sweep. Every single Alabriss battle was a total victory for the winner, though SK did their best to break the trend, coming a single point short of tying DC in each of the four games. The Minitheus bracket had almost identical results, with only TM vs MI not producing a sweep. The Mountaineers once again repeated their unlikely nine-point showing in YYB, but the energy expended in that win left MI just enough of an opening in SS, which the Islanders took full advantage of. Each player filled cups and slung Slushies with the maximum efficiency, with Teylor Nix even performing the unlikely feat of quickly pouring a Slushie, sending it to a customer then rushing two lines down to catch an empty cup just before it fell off of the table. Once the final drink had been slung, both teams glanced up to the scoreboard, which proclaimed MI the winner by a 5-4 margin. The entire team was so excited to finally get their first SS win of the year that they broke out into a celebratory Hula, with many in the crowd dancing along with them. Unfortunately, that good feeling didn't last very long, as they went on to lose both MSN and SOSD to TM.

The two big upsets of the day both occured in the Vaeolus bracket, with BV staging a come-from-behind victory over perennial rivals MD, and FL having their best day ever in a near-sweep of KL. YYB was going abysmally for the Scholars, trailing by 4-1 with less than a minute left to go, when BV forward Kayn Hireck noticed MD defender Ilsa Ellits favoring his left side. Armed with this knowlegde, BV began attacking Ellits' side of the field, and the unfortunate Ixi was overwhelmed by the onslaught_ eventually allowing enough of BV's shots through to award them the victory. As for the unfortunate Kikos, they had one of their worst showings thus far in ACVIII, losing every game but SS and only managing a maximum of four points in their YYB game against the gradually improving Faeries. The final match of the day saw normalcy restored to the Colosseum, with HW posting a perfect sweep of MT.