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Current

The **Minty Maniacs** are a mint-green team introduced in Hubelino Tournament 2016, and Hubelino Tounament 2018. The Minty Maniacs have competed in both seasons of the tournament as well as Marble League 2018.

After a brief period of retirement, they appeared in the Marble League Showdown 2019 to compete for one of eight spots in the Marble League 2020 Qualifiers. They were able to make it and then qualified for the Marble League 2020, where they medaled in the first three events, the most successful start to a Marble League so far. They started to fall back after that and fell to 4th after Triathlon. They podiumed in two consecutive events and took back the lead, and lost it after performing poorly in the next four events. They would manage to podium in last two events and rose up to 3rd in the standings in the end.

On 5th November 2020, it was announced that the Minty Maniacs will host the first Grand Prix of Marbula One Season 2.

## Team Members

Minty Drizzel, Minty Flav, Minty Fresh, and Minty Swirl are the original members of the team. Minty Mint was added to the team in 2018. Minty Flav became team captain in 2019.

 Minty Fresh | Minty Fresh
 Minty Swirl | Minty Swirl

### Coaches

Note: Events include any kind of events (qualifiers, friendly rounds, other tournaments, ...).

## History

### Pre-2016

The Minty Maniacs are a marble sports team from Herbotamia, a region within Western Asia known for growing herbs and spices. It has also gained a reputation for being the "freshest" place in the world according to Atlas Marbura, an acclaimed travel guide. The five original members of the Minty Maniacs, Minty Drizzel, Minty Flav, Minty Fresh, Minty Swirl and Minty Mint, are all candy fanatics, especially when it's mint flavored.

The five competed together in local "turf tournaments" which featured a variety events that utilized their surroundings. This could include doing a Catwalk along a wooden beam or doing a Quartet Jump down a slope into a lake. These competitions quickly grew in popularity throughout Western Asia as fun outdoor activities and potential professional sports leagues. They were mainly conducted without audiences due to the hot, dry climate of the Western Asian summertime when the land isn't being harvested or planted.

The Minty Maniacs led the first tournament, which featured themselves, the Black Jacks and the Golden Wisps. The next season, more teams from across the region joined them and officially became the Herbotamia Tournament. During the second year, marble sports started to grow in popularity worldwide. The athletes were approached to be in a sports featurette about marble sports, but they declined due to the team always seeing it as a casual activity. The featurette later went on to go viral. The Minty Maniacs later regretted not featuring in it, hesitating to take part due to shyness.

The featurette brought popularity to the Knikkegen Marble League, which began to grow at the expense of smaller leagues like the Fruit Circuit and the Herbotamia Tournament. The cost of maintaining the tournament without sponsorship started to become a problem, which wasn't helped by the announcement of Marble League 2016. The Minty Maniacs decided to retire and go into the food industry, making homemade mint chocolate ice cream. However, just as they were about to retire, the team were approached by Jelle Bakker, who currently runs the Marble League.

Although Jelle was focused on the Marble League, they missed running a regional competition. They offered the Minty Maniacs a sponsorship to keep the Herbotamia Tournament running. After contacting the other teams, the Minty Maniacs accepted, and the tournament was rebranded as the Hubelino Tournament, with the first competition, the Hubelino Tournament 2016, scheduled to start after Marble League 2016.

### 2016–2017

 File:MintyManiacs.png
The Hubelino Tournament differed from the Herbotamia Tournament as it was filmed for the internet, the first time for a regional tournament, so it could reach a wider audience. It also featured artificial Hubelino tracks. However, the lack of in-person audience was kept to preserve the original "friendly round" atmosphere. Eight teams competed in this tournament, including the Minty Maniacs, the Black Jacks, and the Golden Wisps. The Minty Maniacs had a strong start in the Hubelino Tournament 2016, winning three medals in the first four events - two silvers in Funnel Spinning and Halfpipe Crash, and a bronze in Elimination Maze. The team were in 2nd overall at this point, behind the Black Jacks. However, their fortunes started to turn. A fourth place finish in Event 5, the Quartet Jump and a 6th place finish in Event 6, Pursuit Slalom dropped them to fourth overall at the start of 2017. The team continued to finish in the middle to bottom half of the table and, at the end of Event 8, Combination, original ending of the tournament, they were still in 4th.

 File:MintyManiacsRelay2016.jpg
The tournament was suddenly extended by four more events, and the Minty Maniacs continued their middle to bottom half finishes. By the end of Event 10, the Relay Course, they had dropped to 6th. During the tournament, the eight teams had become close and so, during the short break from the tournament, they all went to watch Marble League 2017. The Minty Maniacs had never seen a competition like it and were inspired to work harder. Unfortunately, they finished the Hubelino Tournament 2016 with two bottom half finishes, dropping them to 7th overall. Some have said this is the earliest known example of the Host's Curse. However, the team were not disappointed, as they had already set their sights on training for Marble League 2018. Jelle offered all eight of the Hubelino teams a chance to compete in the Marble League 2018 Qualifiers. The Minty Maniacs, along with the Black Jacks and the Golden Wisps (who renamed themselves to the Golden Orbs), accepted the offer, and were joined by the Raspberry Racers (who revealed that some of their members had competed for the Valiant Violets and the Bluefastics).

### 2018

#### Marble League 2018

 File:MintyManiacs2018Quali.jpg
The Minty Maniacs were seeded in Group A of the Marble League 2018 Qualifiers. Minty Drizzel performed very well in the second event, Snow Race, and finished second. The team also came third in the final event, Halfpipe. They did well enough in the other two events to come 3rd in their group and qualify for Marble League 2018. All the other Hubelino teams, except the Raspberry Racers, failed to qualify. The Minty Maniacs' hopes of a good start to Marble League 2018 were crushed after Minty Fresh finished last in the first event, 5 Meter Ice Dash. This was followed by some more middle of the table results, taking them up to 14th by the end of Event 4, Bobsled. Two fifth place finishes in Event 5 and 6 suggested the team might be on the rise.

 File:MintyManiacsMidnightWisps2018.jpg
Unfortunately, they stumbled again with two twelfth place finishes in Event 7 and Event 8. Things got even worse for the team when they again came last in Event 10, Biathlon, dropping the team to 15th with only two events to go. The next event was Ice Hockey.The team managed to surprise everyone by making it to the final, only to lose to the Midnight Wisps there. As a result, the Minty Maniacs won their first medal, a silver, and the team rose to 13th overall. They managed to stay there at the conclusion of Marble League 2018.

After Marble League 2018, the Minty Maniacs were acutely aware how the Hubelino Tournament had not prepared them for the Marble League. The team took part in the 100 Meter Water Race and had Minty Drizzel represent them. Unfortunately, they failed to finish. The Minty Maniacs decided to retire from the Marble League, which was announced during the Amazing Maze Marble Race. They were joined by the Black Jacks and the Golden Orbs. They all decided to not take part in the Marble League 2019 Qualifiers in favor of the Hubelino Tournament 2018.

#### Hubelino Tournament 2018

 File:MintyManiacsRelay2018.jpg
The Minty Maniacs' experience may not have helped them in Marble League 2018, but it did help them in the Hubelino Tournament 2018. The team won five medals, two golds, two silvers and one bronze. They only missed the podium in three event, Swing Wave, Halfpipes and the final event, Big Tower. They had been on the top of the standings going into the final event, but unfortunately they finished sixth in the event. Meanwhile, the Bumblebees, who took the place of the now-retired Team Phoenix, won their fourth gold medal and the championship in an underdog upset. The Minty Maniacs dropped to 2nd at the end of the tournament.

After their successes, fans were calling for the Minty Maniacs to take part in the Marble League 2019 Qualifiers, but the team were looking forward to the next Hubelino Tournament. Unfortunately, it never came. Rumors of teams such as the Green Gang and the Valiant Violets retiring, coupled with a lack of ticket sales and interest from the fans, led to the disbandment of the Hubelino Tournament, despite Jelle's best efforts.

### 2019

With no competition available for them, the Minty Maniacs decided to disband in early 2019 as they returned to Herbotamia. During this time, they collaborated with the Chocolatiers to produce a Marble League-branded mint chocolate ice cream flavor name "Mint Chocolate Condition". The proceeds went to support regional marble sports tournaments around the world. When the Marble League Showdown 2019 was announced, the Minty Maniacs regrouped and had a discussion about the tournament, deciding whether to come out of retirement and take part. They were guaranteed a spot in the tournament due to their second place finish in the Hubelino Tournament 2018. With the encouragement of the Black Jacks and the Golden Orbs, the Minty Maniacs decided to reunite and compete. Minty Flav was voted to be team captain, and Minty Hint joined the team as their coach.

 File:MintyManiacsFunnels2019.jpg
The Minty Maniacs were the only team to compete in the Marble League Showdown 2019 that had competed before and had never failed to qualify, as well as the only team to come out of retirement. Despite this, the team faced fierce competition from old teams and newcomers alike. Halfway through the competition, the team were in 11th overall after an eighth place finish in Sand Rally and a last place finish in Collision. They realized they needed a good result to qualify.Then came Event 3, Funnel Race. Minty Swirl was chosen to represent the Minty Maniacs in the event due to their expertise in funnel spinning. True to their name, they swirled around in mint condition, winning them a silver medal. The team jumped to 6th. This also made them the first team to have earned a medal in the Marble League, Marble League Showdown and the Hubelino Tournament.

Despite their best efforts, the Minty Maniacs could not get back to their Hubelino 2018 form in the final event, Balancing. They finished in ninth place, two centimeters ahead of Shining Swarm. The Minty Maniacs ended the Showdown with 22 points, the same as the Shining Swarm, but their silver medal put them just ahead. The team finished in 8th overall and thus qualified for the Marble League 2020 Qualifiers in the final spot.

### 2020

#### Marble League 2020

The Minty Maniacs were ready to start fresh in 2020 with the Marble League 2020 Qualifiers and were feeling confident going into the final event, the 5 Meter Sprint. All they needed to do was maintain their position and hold on. Minty Fresh came in last in the heat, with a time of 5.259. Things were looking grim, but somehow, Minty Fresh came in 5th for the team which bumped up the Minty Maniacs' position to 6th overall, and they had qualified for the 2020 Marble League.

 File:MintyManiacsBalancing2020.jpg
Their start to Marble League 2020 has been the best start in Marble League's history. They got 1st in the first event Balancing, and got two medals in the next two events. By the fifth event Minty Maniacs are top of the Marble League with a record-high 83 points. However, their form began to get worse, and disappointing 14th and 10th place finishes left them 4th with 99 points. Then Minty Flav managed to clinch a bronze at the Sand Mogul Race, which is the 9th event. This bronze sent them to second in the Marble League, just 10 points off leaders O'rangers.

A gold in the 5 Meter Sprint skyrocketed them into 1st with a nine point buffer, but an abysmal 16th in the very next event, Black Hole Funnel, followed up by a 15th place finish in the Relay Race, caused the Maniacs to fall to 3rd, 20 points off from leaders, the O'rangers with 4 events left to go. Unfortunately for the Minty Maniacs, despite a 3rd place finish in the Collision event, they were unable to win Marble League 2020. However, Minty Fresh managed to clinch a gold at the final day of the 2020 season, finishing 3rd, just one point behind 2nd place O'rangers, and therefore qualifying for the 2021 Marble League.

With their impressive season, the Minty Maniacs were invited to participate in the second edition of Marbula One, which they accepted, and they sent out Minty Drizzel "Rainmaker" and Minty Fresh "Long Lasting" for the tournament.

#### Marbula One Season 2

 File:MintyDrizzelMintyManiaS2.jpg
On 5th November 2020, they were announced to host the season opener at their home track, Minty Mania. However in their first Grand Prix, hosted at their own stadium, Minty Drizzel stumbled on the 180-degree turn during the qualifiers, and finished the qualifiers with a time of 18.430 seconds, getting overtaken by Razzy who started shortly behind. This caused the Minty Maniacs to finish dead last in the qualifiers despite being the hosts, and will not participate the first Grand Prix of the season. The Maniacs didn't qualify for the next GP either. Minty Drizzel finally managed to qualify in Honeydome Grand Prix and scored their first points by finishing 8th, jumping to 16th on the leaderboard. Minty Fresh failed to qualify again at Aquamaring GP. Minty Drizzel qualified in Tumult Turnpike GP and scored 1 point, getting 7 points in half of the season. Minty Fresh again did not qualify for Arctic Circuit GPwhich means that Minty Fresh has yet to qualify for a single Grand Prix. Minty Maniacs are in 19th after halfway.

### 2021

#### Marble League Winter Special

 File:MintyManiacsBobsled2021.jpg
The Minty Maniacs were invited to participate in the Marble League Winter Special and accepted. The team got off to a slow start, Minty Drizzel only managed to get 10th in Ice Dash and Minty Flav getting only 11th in Snowboard Cross. The tables turned after Minty Fresh delivered a score of 30.24 sec in Speed Skating, which was enough to get 3rd, elevating the team up to 8th in the standings. In the next event, Bobsled, the team managed to get 2nd and moved up into 5th, being one of the seven teams eligible for the championship with only one event left. Minty Maniacs faced former Ice Hockey champion Midnight Wisps in the round of 16 and managed to move onto the quarter-finals and lost to the O'rangers. They placed 7th in this event and finished 6th this season.

#### Marbula One Season 2

The second half of Marbula One Season 2 turned out to be much better than the first half as Minty Fresh not only qualified for the Grand Prix for the first time this season, they were also ableto gain their first points by finishing 8th in Raceforest Grand Prix. Minty Drizzel was able to qualify for the Momotorway Grand Prix but failed to score any points. Minty Fresh again qualified for another Grand Prix by placing 10th in qualifiers. Minty Fresh proved themselves a force to be reckoned with as they climbed from the back to a 5th place finish, which elevated themselves to 28th in the standings. Minty Maniacs also jumped into 17th place in the standings with three races to go.

## Hubelino Tournament 2016

主条目：Hubelino Tournament 2016

The Minty Maniacs finished this season in 7th despite having a great start.

\* Exact participant is unknown

## Marble League 2018

主条目：Marble League 2018

 File:MM2018.png
### Qualifiers

 File:Minty.jpg  The Minty Maniacs qualified for Marble League 2018.

### Main Tournament

The Minty Maniacs finished this season in 13th.

## Other 2018 Competitions

The Minty Maniacs took part in the 100 Meter Water Race.

## Hubelino Tournament 2018

主条目：Hubelino Tournament 2018

Minty Maniacs eventually finished 2nd after getting passed by Bumblebees in the last event.

## Marble League Showdown 2019

主条目：Marble League Showdown 2019

The Minty Maniacs qualified for the Marble League 2020 Qualifiers.

### Qualifiers

The Minty Maniacs qualified for Marble League 2020.

### Main Tournament

Minty Maniacs finished 3rd this season after a strong start and a strong finish.

## Marble League 2021

主条目：Marble League 2021

The Minty Maniacs automatically qualified when finished in 3rd in 2020.

## Team Members' Individual Scores

### Marbula One

 Minty Fresh | Marbula One S2 | O'raceway GP (S2)Aquamaring GP (S2)Arctic Circuit GP (S2)Raceforest GP (S2)Palette Park GP (S2)Midnight Bay GP (S2)

## Trivia

* In the current Minty Maniacs logo, the M is depicted as two leaves, whilst the white spike in the center represents a stem.
* The Minty Maniacs are the first team to return to the Marble League series after retiring from the ML to focus on the Hubelino Tournament 2018.
* The Minty Maniacs are the only team in the Marble League Showdown 2019 that had never failed to qualify for any Marble League edition they have participated in so far, unlike the eight unqualified teams, and they have been in the Marble League before, unlike the Bumblebees, the Hornets, and the Turtle Sliders.
* The Minty Maniacs are the only team to have won a medal in the Marble League, Marble League Showdown, and Hubelino Tournament.
* The Minty Maniacs have the record for best three-event start, besting the total of 61 set by the Balls of Chaos in 2018 with their own total of 65 in 2020; and the best five-event start with 83 points.
	+ They are the first team to medal in the first three events of a Marble League.
	+ They are the third team to get two golds in the first three events. The first two teams were the Balls of Chaos in 2018 and the Savage Speeders in 2019.
* They are the only non-2016 team to be on the overall podium in Marble League 2020.
* They are the second team to get 4 gold medals in one Marble League. The first was the Savage Speeders.
* The Minty Maniacs are one of the only two teams, along with the Bumblebees, to compete in the Marble League, Hubelino Tournament, Marbula One and Marble League Showdown.

## Gallery

MintyManiacsTP.jpgTeam Profile 2020MMM1S2.pngThe team's poster for M1S2MintyFlav2020.jpgMinty Flav, the captain of the Minty Maniacs.C27D20FC-8566-4CD3-941A-E65BE05B64F7.jpegMinty Hint, Minty Maniacs' coach.MintyMania.pngMinty Mania, the home stadium of the Minty Maniacs.MintyManiacsTeam.pngMinty Maniacs' silver medal in ML2018 Ice-Hockey
## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Stynth (5th June 2020). RetRollSpective – Minty Maniacs. Marble Sports.
2. ↑ Skystrykr (2nd January 2019). The teams not participating in 2019 MarbleLympics Qualifiers.. Reddit.