Marble League 2020

The logo for the season

**Marble League 2020** was the fifth edition of the Marble League. This edition saw the return of the Minty Maniacs, who originally retired after the end of Marble League 2018. This edition also saw the Hornets, who won the fan voting competition, and the Bumblebees, the winners of the 2018 Hubelino Tournament qualify for the Marble League for the first time in their history. This edition was sponsored by Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, and a $5000 donation would be given to a charity after every event under the winner of each event.

The Raspberry Racers were the defending champions.

## Hosting

The host for 2020 was announced as Team Galactic on 13 September 2019, shortly after the conclusion of the Marble League Showdown 2019. Before the announcement, there was an official teaser from the JMRC hinting to some teams. Following the logic of the post, the fan community theories suggested the host would be "night/star/jungle themed".

These were the 7 finalists to host Marble League 2020:

* Team Galactic **(Host)**
* Midnight Wisps
* Thunderbolts
* Hazers
* Green Ducks
* Jungle Jumpers
* Mellow Yellow

## Qualifiers

*Main article: Marble League 2020 Qualifiers*
The Marble League 2020 Qualifiers were released on 18 June 2020.

These events were included in the qualifier:

* Balancing
* Funnel Endurance
* Block Pushing
* 5 Meter Sprint

### Qualifier Results

█ The team won.
█ The team finished second.
█ The team finished third.
█ The team did not qualify for the Marble League 2020.
\* The Jungle Jumpers were awarded two consolation points due to a track defect that caused them to DNF.

### Friendly Round

*Main article: Marble League 2020 Friendly Round*
On 19 June 2020, a friendly between the host and the pre-qualified teams was held.

## Teams

Sixteen teams would take part in Marble League 2020. A Qualification Round was held to determine twelve of the sixteen teams. The remaining four teams were pre-qualified as they were in the top 3 overall at the end of Marble League 2019 or were the hosts.

## Main Tournament

\*Razzy ran the heat and semi-final while Ruzzy subbed in for the final due to an injury.

## Standings

### Overall Standings

The first, second, and third place teams from this Marble League (Savage Speeders, O'rangers and Minty Maniacs) have pre-qualified for Marble League 2021.

## Showdown

*Main article: Marble League Showdown 2020*
The eight teams that failed to qualify for Marble League 2020 entered the Marble League Showdown 2020, where they competed with the previous year's bottom four Showdown teams. The top eight teams from the competition would be eligible for the Marble League 2021 Qualifiers.

## Trivia

* Marble League 2020 was the first competition since Marble League 2017 where all four prequalified teams have never prequalified for the Marble League before.
	+ This was the first year that the Savage Speeders *had* to qualify in order to appear in the Marble League.
	+ Additionally, the Savage Speeders are the first team to win both the Qualifiers and Main Tournament of a Marble League.
* The tournament was sponsored by Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, and is thus the first season of the Marble League to have a head sponsor. After each event, John Oliver donated $5,000 to a food bank in the name of the winning team. The Savage Speeders got an $20,000 dollar donation in their name to the International Rescue Committee, the overall winner of Marble League.
* This was the first Marble League without the Pinkies and the Indigo Stars since the teams' debut.
	+ The Pinkies, notably, had previously appeared in every Marble League since its inaugural season.
* This was the fourth season in a row that the Rojo Rollers and Kobalts have failed to qualify.
	+ Notably, the Kobalts even failed to qualify for the Marble League 2020 Qualifiers.
* This was the third season in a row that the Jawbreakers, Shining Swarm, and Team Primary have failed to qualify.
	+ This was the third season that the Snowballs have failed to qualify.
* Owing to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Marble League 2020 was the first season with no outdoor events.
* The Savage Speeders were the first team to win multiple Marble League titles after having won in 2016. Interestingly, the Savage Speeders, O'rangers, and Midnight Wisps were the only three teams that were able to win the Marble League title going into event 16: Marble Marathon. All three of these teams are previous Marble League champions (Savage Speeders in 2016, O'rangers in 2017, and Midnight Wisps in 2018). While the Minty Maniacs finished 3rd overall in 2020, they were eliminated from contention for the title before the final event.
* This is the first time that the winner of the overall championship didn't finish on the podium in the final event.
* This is the first Marble League where the Raspberry Racers and Green Ducks finished in the bottom half.
	+ The top 4 teams won a collective 26 medals, marking the first season since 2016 where at least half of the total medals were won by the top 4 teams overall.
* The Hazers were the first team to place top-half in the Marble League while placing 3rd place the year prior, breaking something known as the 3rd Place Curse.

## Gallery

Original TeaserLogoThe artwork revealing seven of the sixteen eventsThe pictograms for the events in 2020
## References

1. ↑ Novawolf (25th November 2019). Team Galactic Through The Years. *The Rollout Issue 3* pp. 7-6.
2. ↑ LastWeekTonight (17th May 2020). Coronavirus VII: Sports: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO).