Marble League 2023 Qualifiers

The qualifiers for Marble League 2023 were held on 13 October 2023. For the third consecutive year, 24 teams entered the qualifiers, competing for 12 spots in the main tournament alongside the four auto-qualified teams from Marble League 2022.

The Pinkies, Shining Swarm, Team Galactic and the Bumblebees did not participate in the Qualifiers, as they were auto-qualified for the tournament. They instead competed in the Friendly Round.

The Hazers, Kobalts, Solar Flares and Oceanics were ineligible to participate in the Qualifiers, as they finished in the bottom 4 in the Marble League Showdown 2022, auto-relegating them to the 2023 Showdown.

The qualifier format from the 2021 Qualifiers was retained for the third consecutive year; teams were split into groups of 12, with the 6 highest ranked teams in each group after four events advancing to the main tournament.

## Draw

All 24 teams eligible to qualify for Marble League 2023 were randomly placed into 1 of 2 groups, Group A and Group B. The groups were determined by a random draw held on 6 October 2023. It was held in the Buzzbowl Training Center.

### Draw Procedure

The 24 teams were split into 12 heats of two teams each, based on the previous year's performances.

The two teams of each heat were sent down into a halfpipe before entering an orange funnel. The first team to exit the funnel was assigned to Group A, while the other team was assigned to Group B.

## Event 1: Honeycomb Team Pursuit

### Link

Marble Race: Marble League 2023 Qualifiers 🐝 Jelle's Marble Runs

## Medals

### Winners

A: Crazy Cat's Eyes
B: Turtle Sliders

### Runners-up

A: Snowballs
B: Savage Speeders

### Third Place

A: Green Ducks
B: Midnight Wisps

The first event of the Marble League 2023 Qualifiers was held on the 13th October 2023, featuring the first event, **Honeycomb Team Pursuit**.

### Event

   In Honeycomb Team Pursuit, 4 teams of 4 marbles each race down identical tracks made out of Gravitrax pieces. A team's timer stops when 3 of their marbles finish the course. The team with the fastest time wins.

## Event 2: 5 Meter Sprint

### Link

Marble Race: Marble League 2023 Qualifiers 🐝 Jelle's Marble Runs

## Medals

### Winners

A: Snowy - Snowballs
B: Thunder - Thunderbolts

### Runners-up

A: Yellow - Mellow Yellow
B: Saucer - Purple Rockets

### Third Place

A: Mandarin - O'rangers
B: Rapidly - Savage Speeders

The second event of the Marble League 2023 Qualifiers was held on the 13th October 2023, featuring the second event, the **5 Meter Sprint**.

### Event

   In the 5 Meter Sprint, one marble from each of four teams rolls down a sloped 5 meter long track as quickly as they can. The winner is the marble to cross the line in the shortest time.

## Marble League 2023 Qualifiers Event 3: Legion March Wave

Heat 3 of Group B between Team Primary and Turtle Sliders

### Link

Marble Race: Marble League 2023 Qualifiers 🐝 Jelle's Marble Runs

## Medals

### Winners

A: Gliding Glaciers
B: Team Primary

### Runners-up

A: Team Momo
B: Thunderbolts

### Third Place

A: Crazy Cat's Eyes
B: Team Plasma & Rojo Rollers

The third event of the Marble League 2023 Qualifiers was held on the 13th October 2023, featuring the third event, the **Legion March Wave**.

### Event

    In the Swing Wave, two teams of five marbles each roll down a wave-shaped track. There are 10 waves numbered from 1 to 10, with a red catch tray at the very end. Unlike the Hubelino Tournament variation, there is no 12-point strip, and there is a single lane in the track.

A marble scores points equivalent to the numbering of the wave it stops in, with the following exceptions:

1. Falling into the red catch tray scores 0 points.
2. Leaving the waves results in the individual marble being disqualified. This results in the marble scoring 0 points for the heat, but does *not* automatically drop the team's event points to 0.
3. If a marble is stuck at the peak between 2 waves, they will score the amount equal to the greater amount. For instance, a marble stuck between troughs 4 & 5 will score 5 points.

A teams' score in the event is the sum of their total score across both of their runs. The team with the most points wins. Ties are broken by best single-run scores.

## Event 4: Funnel Endurance

### Link

Marble Race: Marble League 2023 Qualifiers 🐝 Jelle's Marble Runs

## Medals

### Winners

A: Sheet - Gliding Glaciers
B: Fearo - Team Plasma

### Runners-up

A: Mo - Team Momo
B: Rezzy - Raspberry Racers

### Third Place

A: Kinnowin - O'rangers
B: Wespy - Midnight Wisps

The fourth and final event of the Marble League 2023 Qualifiers was held on the 13th October 2023, featuring the fourth event, **Funnel Endurance**.

### Event

    Funnel Endurance is an solo event where the objective is to stay in the funnels for as long as possible. The track consists of 5 green MaBoRun funnels, and all 12 teams in each group compete in a single round.

## Trivia

* With the Savage Speeders, O'rangers, and Mellow Yellow all partaking in the qualifiers, the 2023 season marks the first in which none of the autoqualified teams have competed in every previous Marble League.
	+ All 3 of these teams would eventually advance to the Main Tournament.
* The Legion March Wave was the first five-marble team event in a Marble League Qualifier.