Marble League 2018 Qualifiers

The qualifiers for Marble League 2018 were held in mid-to-late-December of 2017. The Snowballs (as the event's hosts), O'rangers (winners of the ML2017), Savage Speeders (runners-up in ML2017) and Mellow Yellow (3rd place in ML2017) qualified automatically. 24 teams entered the qualifiers in 3 groups of 8 teams each, where the best 4 teams from each group qualified after 4 events. The qualifiers consisted of four events: Curling, Snow Race, 5 Meter Ice Dash and Halfpipe.

## Draw

All 24 teams hoping to qualify for Marble League 2018 were placed into pots containing three teams. The three members of the pots went through a Hubelino funnel to sort them into three groups they wold compete in for the qualifiers. Teams within the pot who fell first were put in Group C, while teams who fell last were put in Group A.

POT 1: (Non qualified teams of ML2017)

* Kobalts
* Balls of Chaos
* Rojo Rollers

POT 2: (4th and 5th places in ML2017 + new team)

* Midnight Wisps
* Team Galactic
* Raspberry Racers

POT 3: (6th and 7th places in ML2017 + new team)

* Pinkies
* Shining Swarm
* Hazers

POT 4: (8th, 9th and 10th places in ML2017)

* Chocolatiers
* Team Momo
* Limers

POT 5: (11th, 12th and 13th places in ML2017)

* Oceanics
* Thunderbolts
* Jawbreakers

POT 6: (14th, 15th and 16th places in ML2017)

* Team Primary
* Jungle Jumpers
* Quicksilvers

POT 7: (Approved Hubelino Tournament teams)

* Black Jacks
* Minty Maniacs
* Golden Orbs

POT 8: (Approved Sand Marble Rally based teams + new team)

* Crazy Cat's Eyes
* Team Plasma
* Gliding Glaciers

### Results

\*The Gliding Glaciers and Team Plasma were prevented from being placed in Group A, to avoid confusion with the Jawbreakers and Rojo Rollers respectively, so the Crazy Cat's Eyes were placed there automatically.

## Marble League 2018 Qualifiers Event 1: Curling

The final of Group C, where Team Primary beat the Limers

### Link

Winter MarbleLympics 2018 Qualifiers: E1 Curling

## Medals

### Winners

A: Rojo Rollers
B: Oceanics
C: Team Primary

### Runners-up

A: Team Galactic
B: Midnight Wisps
C: Limers

### Third Place

A: Crazy Cat's Eyes
B: Pinkies
C: Balls of Chaos

The first event of the **Marble League 2018 Qualifiers**, Curling, was held on the 15th - 18th of December 2017.

### Event

In curling, one marble from each team rolls down an ice sheet towards the house, a target on the ice where the different rings equate to different point values. The closer you are to the center, the more points you earn. Then one marble from the opposing team rolls towards the house. Each team will send one marble in turn until all four of their team's marbles have been sent. The team with the highest score wins the match and advances to the next round. If there is a tie, the winner is decided by which team is closest to the button.

Button - 5 pts
Red - 3 pts
White - 2 pts
Blue - 1 pt

### Rounds

#### Group A:

**First Round**

 Chocolatiers\*

**Semi-finals**

**Third Place**

**Finals**

\*This team won as one of their marbles was closer to the button.

#### Group B:

**First Round**

**Semi-finals**

**Third Place**

**Finals**

\*This team won as one of their marbles was closer to the button.

#### Group C:

**First Round**

**Semi-finals**

 Team Primary\*

**Third Place**

**Finals**

\*This team won as one of their marbles was closer to the button.

## Event 2: Snow Race

### Link

Winter MarbleLympics 2018 Qualifiers: E2, 3 and 4

## Medals

### Winners

A: Astron - Team Galactic
B: Pinky Winky - Pinkies
C: Fearo - Team Plasma

### Runners-up

A: Minty Drizzel - Minty Maniacs
B: Momo - Team Momo
C: Anarchy - Balls of Chaos

### Third Place

A: Smoggy - Hazers
B: Hop - Jungle Jumpers
C: Bolta - Thunderbolts

The second event of the **Marble League 2018 Qualifiers**, the Snow Race, was held on the 20th of December 2017.

### Event

The Snow Race is very similar to the Sand Race from Marble League 2017, but takes place in the snow as rather than in the sand. The marble who can cross the finish line first is the winner.

### Results

#### Group B:

The Gliding Glaciers and the Oceanics failed to finish the race, so their results are based on the distance reached (i.e. which team is closer to the finish line)

#### Group C:

This was the first heat in any racing event where none of the competing marbles finished the race. The scores were determined based upon distance to the finish line, with the closest to the finishing line earning 8 points with the points distributed in the same way all the way until the farthest marble which received 1 point.

## Event 3: 5 Meter Ice Dash

### Link

Winter MarbleLympics 2018 Qualifiers: E2, 3 and 4

## Medals

### Winners

A: Hazy - Hazers
B: Mo - Team Momo
C: Razzy - Raspberry Racers

### Runners-up

A: Pulsar - Team Galactic
B: Glorby - Golden Orbs
C: Tumult - Balls of Chaos

### Third Place

A: Yellow Eye - Crazy Cat's Eyes
B: Azure - Kobalts
C: Slimelime - Limers

The third event of the **Marble League 2018 Qualifiers**, the 5 Meter Ice Dash, was held on the 22nd of December 2017.

### Event

The 5 Meter Ice Dash is a racing event similar to the 5 Meter Sprint, the difference being the course is made of smooth plastic with no barriers between the marbles, causing an effect similar to slipping on ice. Each group is split in half and two heats of four marbles race against each other. The results from the two heats are combined to make an overall standings. The fastest marble down the track is the winner.

### Heats

**Group A - Heat 1**

 2nd
 3rd
 4th

**Group A - Heat 2**

 2nd
 3rd
 4th

**Group B - Heat 1**

 2nd
 3rd
 4th

**Group B - Heat 2**

 2nd
 3rd
 4th

**Group C - Heat 1**

 2nd
 3rd
 4th

**Group C - Heat 2**

 2nd
 3rd
 4th

## Marble League 2018 Qualifiers Event 4: Halfpipe

Heat 4 of Group C between Team Primary and the Balls of Chaos

### Link

Winter MarbleLympics 2018 Qualifiers: E2, 3 and 4

## Medals

### Winners

A: Hazers
B: Oceanics
C: Thunderbolts

### Runners-up

A: Rojo Rollers
B: Kobalts
C: Limers

### Third Place

A: Minty Maniacs
B: Pinkies
C: Raspberry Racers

The fourth and final event of the **Marble League 2018 Qualifiers**, the Halfpipe, was held on the 27th of December 2017.

### Event

The halfpipe features a whole marble team rolling down a halfpipe. All four marbles on 2 teams roll down a chute onto the halfpipe and try to stay rolling for as long as possible while slowly making their way towards the bottom of the halfpipe. The time for the slowest three marbles across the line are added together to give the team their score. The results from each group are combined and the slowest team across the finish line wins.

## Standings

### Overall Standings

#### Group C

█ The team came first.
█ The team came second.
█ The team came third.
█ The team did not qualify for Marble League 2018.
## Trivia

* During the draw for the Qualifiers, Team Plasma and the Gliding Glaciers were deliberately given a head start into the funnel. This was because Group A already had both the Rojo Rollers and the Jawbreakers, who could be confused with these two teams due to similar colors.
* The Curling event was split into three separate parts. Each group had its own video. When it was reuploaded in 2019, they were released as a single video.
* The Snow Race was originally scheduled for 19 December, but was postponed to 20 December due to technical issues.
* The 5m Ice Dash was originally scheduled for 21 December, but was postponed to 22 December due to editing failures.
* The Qualifiers were marred by tensions between Team Primary and the Balls of Chaos, both of whom competed in Group C, which Jelle billed as the "Group of Death" in part for that reason.
	+ After the semi-final match of Curling between both teams, which ended in a draw, but was won by Team Primary by virtue of having a marble closer to the button, several Balls of Chaos fans attempted to storm the arena in rage, but were held back by security and Shining Swarm fans. A Balls of Chaos fan also rolled down the track into the house and was chased by security. They were caught and escorted off the arena. Other Balls of Chaos fans also went to see an IMC Officer in an attempt to persuade them that they won, but decided against doing it.
	+ After the heat of Halfpipe between the Balls of Chaos and Team Primary, which was won by the Balls of Chaos and resulted in Team Primary failing to qualify, competitors and spectators from both teams entered into a fight. Security managed to step in and break it up.
	+ Group C was also notably the first time that Fruit Circuit rivals the Limers and Raspberry Racers competed against each other in the Marble League, although both teams managed to qualify without incident.
* Group C's race in the second event, the Snow Race, was the first race in the Marble League to have no finishers.
* Group C's snow race was not redone, even after all marbles DNF'd, because weather conditions were really bad. The event was initially going to be cancelled due to safety concerns, but all teams agreed that they wanted to race before the next storm. Shortly after the race, the storm washed away the track, so the race could not be redone.

## References

1. ↑ GrandAdmiralMellacus (21st December 2017). Group C snow race... (spoilers). Reddit.