Marble League 2016

Marble League logo for the 2016 edition.

**Marble League 2016** was the first edition of the Marble League. 16 teams participated in 12 events. This season had no Qualification Rounds, and thus no teams were cut. Along with the Sand Marble Rally 2016 it was an early catalyst of growth for Jelle's channel. The Savage Speeders were victorious, while Mellow Yellow and Thunderbolts finished in second and third respectively.

## Main Tournament

### Event 1: Balancing

The first event of the Marble League 2016, Balancing, was composed of a long, straight track made of clear plastic blocks. Marbles were awared points for how far down the track they could go before falling off. The team with the greatest cumulative score won the event.

### Event 2: Relay Race

The Relay Race was a set of four identical tracks made of Skyrail plastic tracks. This event featured all four marbles from each team. One marble from each team rolled down part of the track as quickly as they could. They crashed into the next marble setting them off to complete the next part of the race.

\*All teams who ran on the upper lane received one extra point because of a defect on the upper lane. The Pinkies, Team Galactic, Rojo Rollers, Kobalts and O'rangers were awarded an extra point each since they were all placed on that top track. Note: In the video Team Primary were mistakenly awarded a bonus point even though they were not on the defective lane

\*\*The Snowballs DNF'd in the final while running in the upper lane. They received an extra point like the other teams that had to run on the upper lane and were later received a bronze medal after the podium ceremony.

\*\*\*The Balls of Chaos were disqualified for pushing a white relay block off the track.

### Event 3: Collision

Collision was an event that featured a course made of glass blocks and dominoes. Two teams crashed into each other after rolling down two ramps onto a flat square with dominoes on the side. The team with the most marbles still on the square won the round.

Rankings for 5th-8th based on result in the quarter-final.
Rankings for 9th-16th based on results in group stage.

### Event 4: Sand Rally

The Sand Rally is one of the most iconic events of the Marble League, and featured the marbles rolling down a long, smooth course carved into a sloped, sandy hill.

### Event 5: Long Jump

The Long Jump is another staple of the Marble League, and has a single marble from each team jumping into a pit of mini-marbles with a tape measure on the side. The marble that jumps the furthest wins.

### Event 6: Water Race

The Water Race was one of the most unique events of the Marble League because it took place in a stream with two waterfalls that proved hazardous to the marbles rolling downstream. This was a gruelling course with many hazards in the form of debris, the stone walls, and the aforementioned waterfalls.

\*Rojo Cuatro was disqualified for purposefully blocking other marbles after one of the waterfalls.

### Event 7: High Jump

The High Jump was another jumping event that had one marble from each team launch off a ramp and attempt to go over a bar. If they hit the bar or passed beneath it they were eliminated. The last marble to be eliminated was the winner.

\*Standings based on video analysis - highest jump.

### Event 8: 10 Meter Sprint

The 10 Meter Sprint was a sprint race. The fastest marble across the line was the winner.

### Event 9: Team Pursuit

Team Pursuit, similar to the Relay Race, was a racing event that featured all four marbles from each team. This event features an oval-shaped track that featured two teams racing at one time. Each team had to stay within 4 inches of each other, or they were disqualified. The first team to have a marble cross the line (on the Blue Block) advanced to the next round.

### Event 10: Precision Slalom

Four teams rolled down a halfpipe that ended in a scoring grid. The closer you were to the center of the grid, the more points you got, excluding the very center which was worth zero points. The top two teams advanced to the next round. A tiebreaker match was held to determine a winner in the case of a tied match.

Places 5th to 8th are based on total points earned in the whole event.

### Event 11: Quartet Diving

Quartet Diving saw all four marbles from each team roll off four tracks onto diving boards before landing in a tub of water with coloured squares. The marbles received points for where they entered the water, where they come to rest, and style points for the quality of their jump. If two or more marbles missed the tub, the team was disqualified.

### Event 12: Hurdles

Hurdles was the final event of the 2016 Marble League and featured a short downhill with Lego bricks every few inches that the marbles had to hop or roll over in order to progress down the course.

\*Pinky Toe was disqualified for jumping off their lane onto Rojo Dos' lane.

## Standings

### Overall Standings

The top 4 teams from this Marble League (Savage Speeders, Mellow Yellow, Thunderbolts and Team Momo) automatically qualified for Marble League 2017.

### Final Standings

* Tie breakers are
	1. Number of Gold medals
	2. Number of Silver medals
	3. Number of Bronze medals
	4. Countback for best finish

#### Final Standings (if using the current points system)

Note: Disqualifications are awarded 0 points. Any teams that were given consolation points were given two consolation points. In Event 2, the Snowballs were awarded 14 points, two for their 4th place finish and two consolation points. There are disagreements about numbers of points for disqualifications and consolation points and the Snowballs' Event 2 finish. This is one way of converting the ML16 results which was chosen after discussions between community members, there are other valid methods.

## Trivia

* This is one of only three Marble League editions so far in which every competing team won at least one medal, the other two being Marble League 2021 and Marble League 2023.
* The original videos didn’t have fan cheering. When the videos were reuploaded, fan cheering was added.
* This is currently the only Marble League the Kobalts have participated in.
* The top 2 finishers (Savage Speeders, Mellow Yellow) are the only teams to never miss a Marble League, along with the O'rangers.
* The top 4 finishers (Savage Speeders, Mellow Yellow, Thunderbolts, & Team Momo) won exactly 50% of all medals combined.
* Among the 16 original teams, only the Jawbreakers have retired so far.
* With Event 4 being the first individual event, this Marble League is the only edition to commence with 3 team events.
* The Savage Speeders hold the record of the lowest percentage of total points for a winner in an ML-related tournament, only achieving 36.7% of the total points (44 out of a possible 120) for this season. In the current points system, the record is held by Mellow Yellow in Marble League 2021 with 40.5% (162 out of 400).

## References

1. ↑ Stynth, The Emperor, Vector (321st September 2021). RetRollSpective – Team Primary. Project Marblearth.