News Archive

The play-off round results have been announced, and the team are half-way through the final round. Just one more day of games stands between Krawk Island and ultimate victory, but can they beat the Roothless Roos?


Fourth place Shenkuu faced first place Krawk Island, in what was expected to be a clean sweep for the KI team. Shenkuu served slushies to the bitter end to get a Slushie Slinger win, but the KI team were just no match for them in Yooyuball and Make Some Noise, leaving Shenkuu to battle it out for third place in the final round.


Third place Lost Desert were looking forward to their games against Roo Island. The LD team entered the colosseum with captain Leera Heggle's words of encouragement ringing in their ears: "our skill and agility is what got us here, and we're going to stick with the tried and tested way of winning. Believe me, Roo Island won't know what hit them!" The LD team proved their skill and agility with an easy Slushie Slinger win, but the Roos replied with a win for Make Some Noise. Both teams knew they needed to win the Yooyuball match in order to get a chance for first place overall, but the Lost Desert just didn't have the stamina to beat the Roos.


Following their absence from the cup last year, Kreludor were going all out to be at the top of their group. Their opponents, the Haunted Woods, had crafted plans for a play-off round win, inviting Edna, the Esophagor and the Brain Tree to the colosseum. The Scorchio referee, however, forbade the three from entering, stating the play-off round ruling that no Neopian who runs a quest of any kind may be permitted to enter. The Haunted Woods were undeterred by this, winning the Slushie Slinger and Make Some Noise games with ease. As the Yooyuball match was due to start, the Kreludor team knew it was their last hope of getting 4th place overall. The HW team had several attempts at the goal, but found the Kreludor goalkeeper  Jurin T. impossible to get the Yooyuball past. By the end of the match, the HW team had not succeeded in scoring one single goal, leaving Kreludor the winners of the play-off round.


Meridell were up against last year's winners Darigan Citadel, who were intent on getting the highest placing possible.  Layton Vickles lead the Citadel team in a rousing cheer to win their Make Some Noise contest, hoping that the team would stay keyed up for the other 2 games. Unfortunately, the Darigan Citadel team had exhausted themselves with all the cheering, and were unable to stop the Mighty Meridell team from taking the Yooyuball win. The final game of the play-offs was Slushie Slinger, but by then, the Citadel team knew they had no chance of winning overall. Layton Vickles and his team stood by the sidelines and watched the Meridell team serve slushies like there was no tomorrow, saying afterwards that he was conserving the team's energy for the final round against the Haunted Woods.


Mystery Island succeeded in the only clean sweep of the play-off rounds, against 12th place Terror Mountain. TM captain Prytariel said that the team weren't too disappointed with their play-off round results, as they still have the chance to get to 11th place overall. The Mystery Island team went back to the Island to celebrate after the play-off rounds, leading to rumours that Maraqua might have an easy win in the final round.


Maraqua may well be "the best team in Maraqua" but they also proved their skill and agility in their play-off games against Tyrannia. Maraqua started the play-offs with what seemed to be an easy win in Make Some Noise, after the Tyrannian fans were found to be suffering from Ugga-Ugga. Unfortunately for the Tyrannian team, the referee couldn't understand Tyrannian, resulting in a disqualification for not cheering in a suitable language. The Tyrannian team had a secret plan for Slushie Slinger though. They added a helping of Sporkle Syrup into their slushies in an attempt to cure their fans. Unnoticed by the referee, the Sporkle-Syrup-enhanced slushies proved the most popular, leading Tyrannia to a well-earned Slushie Slinger victory. Maraqua had the last laugh, however, with a clear win in Yooyuball resulting in an overall Maraquan win for the play-off round.


16th place Faerieland faced Virtupets in what the space station team had decided would be an easy win across all three games. Virtupets got off to a flying start, when the Faerieland goalkeeper failed to turn up. With the Yooyuball game in full swing, the referee set off to investigate, discovering goalkeeper Valtonous Rea sitting in the Faerieland team neohome, suffering from a severe case of NeoPhobia. One quick dash to the pharmacy for a pair of Step Out Shoes later, and Rea willing entered the colosseum. The referee restarted the Yooyuball match, stating that the Virtupets team had been given an unfair advantage, but even with the fresh start, Faerieland were unable to beat Virtupets.
The second game of the day was Slushie Slinger, and both teams were frantically serving as many slushies as they could lay their paws on, in a bid to be crowned Slushie Slinger Supreme. By the end of the contest, the Virtupets team had dropped more slushies than they had been able to serve, leaving the Faerieland team as the winners. Faerieland's fans were buoyed up by their win, and maintained their successful run with a Make Some Noise win. Unfortunately, those two wins were not enough to allow Faerieland an overall play-off win, leaving them to face Brightvale in the battle for 15th place overall.



The final set of matches in the play-off rounds saw Brightvale against the home team. Both teams have struggled with their form this year, resulting in a disappointing set of results overall. Nevertheless, the teams both entered the colosseum with a heightened sense of purpose, neither wanting to be in the battle for 15th and 16th place overall. Brightvale took an early lead with a set of splendid Slushie Slinger servings, leaving the Altador team staring in disbelief. The home team managed to recover for Make Some Noise, proving that although they haven't managed a particularly high placing this year, the home team still know how to shout the loudest. With one win for each team in the side games, it all came down to the Yooyuball match. All the fans were perched on the edge of their seats as they watched the 14th and 15th placed teams battle it out for that all-important final round against Virtupets. Altador captain "Trapper" Remis was the hero of the day, expertly scoring the final goal that gave Altador the overall play-off round win.