Black Jacks

The **Black Jacks** are an all-black playing card-inspired team which were introduced in Hubelino Tournament 2016. They returned in 2021 to participate in Marble ManiaX, followed by the 2022 Showdown where they placed 2nd.

Following this, the Black Jacks participated in Marbula One Season 4.

## Team Members

Jack of Clubs, Jack of Diamonds, Jack of Hearts, and Jack of Spades were the original members of the team. In 2018, they shortened their names to Club, Diamond, Heart, and Spade, respectively. Ace was also added to the team as the reserve the same year. When the team returned in 2021, they kept the same roster and names. Heart became team captain upon the team's return.

## History

### Pre-Hubelino Tournament

The Black Jacks are a marble sports team from Herbotamia. The Minty Maniacs started to compete against each other using the environment as a marble sports course. The popularity of these local tournaments spread across the region. Due to the growing popularity, the Minty Maniacs set up an official tournament between 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.

A featurette about marble sports went viral and 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, potentially ending the tournament. 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. Jelle 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

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 an 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 Black Jacks had a strong start to the tournament. They had a shaky start to the first event, the Funnel Spinning. They were the first team to fall to Funnel #5 (halfway down the course). After battling down to the wire, they found themselves in the final funnel with the Minty Maniacs and the Golden Wisps. The Wisps fell first and the Jacks eventually forced the Maniacs down second, giving the Black Jacks the first gold medal of the season.

The team continued their strong performance by finishing third in the next two events, the Catwalk and the Halfpipe Crash. The next event, the Elimination Maze, was an event of survival and advance, and the Jacks did just that. They managed to make it to the last round with the Ruby Rollers before losing the final. A second place finish was their fourth podium in a row.

Although they avoided toppling any towers in the next event, Quartet Jump, the Black Jacks struggled for the first time in the tournament, as this was the first event that the Jacks did not finish on the podium. They finished in last place but managed to stay in first overall. The next two events were equally poor as they finished in 7th and 8th in Pursuit Slalom and Swing Wave respectively. They had squandered their lead and now sat in fourth overall.

The Combination Race was initially supposed to be the final event of the tournament and the Jacks returned to form. They claimed their second silver medal of the season and fifth medal overall, moving up to third overall.

After much demand, the tournament returned with the Halfpipe Dash. Unfortunately, they could not return to their previous form, finishing in the bottom half in three out of four of the final events. After their strong start to the competition, a string of poor results meant they finished in fifth overall.

### 2018

#### Marble League 2018

After Hubelino Tournament 2016, Jelle offered all eight of the teams a chance to compete in the Marble League 2018 Qualifiers. The Black Jacks accepted the offer and were sorted into Group C. Unfortunately, the Black Jacks could only finish mid-table throughout, their best finish being 4th in Curling. They finished 6th in their group, missing out on qualification by six points. The team took part in the Marble League 2018 Consolation Race, a race for those who failed to qualify, and finished in sixth. They then entered the 100 Meter Water Race, finishing in the top ten. However, during the Amazing Maze Marble Race, it was revealed that the Black Jacks, along with the Minty Maniacs and Golden Orbs, were not going to take part in the Marble League 2019 Qualifiers in favor of Hubelino Tournament 2018.

#### Hubelino Tournament 2018

The Black Jacks again had a strong start to Hubelino Tournament 2018. They improved on their 2016 performance in Swing Wave and finished in second behind newcomers the Bumblebees. They followed this up with a last place finish in the Catwalk but quickly returned to form by coming first in the Funnel Race and second in the Halfpipes. Once again, the Black Jacks led the Hubelino Tournament.

The team kept their winning streak going by starting the second half of the tournament by winning their third silver medal in Block Bumping. However, just like in 2016, the Black Jacks had a second-half slump. They finished the tournament with three bottom-half finishes, including a last place finish in the final event, the Big Tower, where they DNFd and were the first team eliminated. Despite their poor second half, the Black Jacks managed to hold on to the podium and finished in third overall, one point ahead of the fourth place Bluefastics.

After Hubelino Tournament 2018, teams such as the Green Gang and the Valiant Violets retired. This along with a lack of ticket sales and interest from the fans, led to the disbandment of the Hubelino Tournament, despite Jelle's best efforts to keep it going.

### 2021-2022

#### Marble ManiaX

On 6 December 2021, it was revealed that the Black Jacks would come out of retirement by taking part in the extreme marble sports tournament, Marble ManiaX. Upon their return, the team made Heart the captain.

The team finished second in Event 1: Extreme Diving, tying with the Purple Rockets and losing out on the top step in a tiebreaker with the Constrictors.

Unfortunately, the team had rather lackluster finishes in the final four events, earning no medals. The Black Jacks would finish seventh in their return to marble sorts. Only beating out the host team, Balls of Chaos.

This was the worst finish in the Marble ManiaX tournament by any new or returning team. After the tournament ended, Ace rejoined the team as their reserve.

#### Marble League 2022

The Black Jacks were then surprised to be chosen as one of the four expansion teams being added to the Marble League. In those four new teams, they were one of two to return to it after retiring along with Team Plasma. Because these four teams were new and locked into the 2022 Marble League Showdown, they were all allowed to participate in the 2022 Friendly Round with the four auto-qualified teams as practice for the Showdown but were in their own division different from the auto-qualified teams.

Black Jacks had a pretty mediocre showing in the friendly round, starting with third place in the first two events. They then placed last in Balancing and ended 2nd in the Triathlon to cement themselves in 3rd, tied with Wolfpack.

They later came back to participate in the Marble League Showdown 2022. This began with a second place in the Swing Wave, only being beaten by Team Plasma's record-breaking run. Unfortunately, they followed this up with a 15th place finish, but then a surprise victory for Club in the Water Race. They ended the first half of the tournament with 8th place in the 5 Meter Relay to rise to second overall.

When the Black Jacks arrived at Block Pushing, they performed exceptionally well and gained another 2nd place finish. In the next two events, however, the Black Jacks would fail to finish in the top three and had every different results placing 4th and 16th respectively in Funnel Endurance and Climbing. Fortunately, they still kept their position to be in second with one event to go. Coming into the final event, Sand Rally, they were one of only two teams capable of winning the 2022 Showdown along with Team Plasma. This meant one of the new teams was guaranteed to win. They could not rise to the challenge though and Heart could only manage 11th, cementing themselves in 2nd to end the tournament as well as qualifying to compete in the Marble League 2023 Qualifiers.

In the offseason, Black Jacks would participate in the Xmas Marble Race, represented by Diamond. They finished second in their heat but would be knocked out in the semifinals and finished on a respectable 13 place out of 32 teams.

### 2023

#### Marbula One Season 4

After finishing second in the Marble League Showdown 2022, the Black Jacks were invited to compete in Marbula One Season 4 along with two other expansion teams, Wolfpack and Team Plasma. Coach Jack decided they would be represented by Heart, the captain of the team, and Club. They would also get the opportunity to host the final race of the season at their home track, Casino Square.

Sadly, Heart’s ninth place finish at Sakura Garden was the highest the team finished in the first half of the season, with Club’s impressive qualifying run to P4 at Greenstone failing to translate to the race. After five races, the Black Jacks were in 15th place with just 22 points being far off their success from the Marble League 2022 Showdown. However, at the Sleet Street Grand Prix, Club turned the Black Jacks’ luck around with an uncharacteristically strong climb into sixth place, gaining positions from qualifying for the first time. Heart followed suit with a seven position climb to ninth at the Misty Mountain GP before Club doubled down on the team’s reversal of fortune to achieve sixth place and fourth place in back-to-back races at Electron Expressway and Stardust Accelerator, starting from 12th both times.

The Black Jacks’ turnaround saw the team rise to a comfortable 11th place and Club to 13th in the individual standings going into their home Grand Prix. Although the season’s top-heavy distribution of medals left the Black Jacks with no hardware, they were the highest-ranked team in the tournament without medals within close reach of the Green Ducks and Team Plasma above them. Unfortunately, Heart could not make up any more ground at the Casino Square Grand Prix, with the house edge only turning out a tenth-place finish after qualifying in 13th. Despite this, the Black Jacks’ second-half rise had resulted in solid results, with a comfortable 11th-place finish overall. This had lead them to becoming the highest-ranked team with no medals in both the team and individual championship. Out of 40 marbles, Club and Heart finished in 15th and 25th respectively at the end of the season.

## Marble League 2018

*Main article: Marble League 2018*
The Black Jacks were a team from the Hubelino Tournament that entered Marble League 2018. The Black Jacks did not make it into the Marble League and came in 6th in group C.

### Qualifiers

*Main article: Marble League 2018 Qualifiers*

## Other 2018 Competitions

The Black Jacks took part in two other competitions in 2018: the Marble League 2018 Consolation Race and the 100 Meter Water Race.

 100 Meter Water Race | Heart | 4:01.94

## Marble ManiaX

*Main article: Marble ManiaX*

\* With the tie between the Purple Rockets and the Black Jacks declared unbroken, both teams received 7 points each, equivalent to the average of 6 points (bronze) and 8 points (silver), following the official scoring system.

### Friendly Round

The Black Jacks competed in the Marble League Showdown 2022 expansion team friendly round.

## Marble League Showdown 2022

*Main article: Marble League Showdown 2022*
The Black Jacks qualified for the Marble League 2023 Qualifiers.

## Marbula One Season 4

*Main article: Marbula One Season 4*
The Black Jacks took part in Marbula One Season 4, represented by Club and Heart.

### Qualifiers

The Black Jacks competed in Group A. They failed to qualify for Marble League 2023.

## Marble League Showdown 2023

*Main article: Marble League Showdown 2023*
The Black Jacks failed to qualify for the Marble League 2024 Qualifiers.

## Results

 2023 | 6
 Total

 Total

 2018 | 8
 Total

## Team Members' Individual Scores

### Marbula One

 Heart | M1S4 | Razzway GP (S4)Sakura Garen GP (S4)Tumult Turnpike GP (S4)Misty Mountain GP (S4)Casino Square GP (S4)

## Gallery

The team during the Block Push (2016)Team reveal for Marble ManiaXTeam Profile 2022Marbula One (S4) Poster
## Trivia

* The Black Jacks are one of five teams in the Marble League with a solid color used as their uniforms. The other teams are Mellow Yellow, the O'rangers, the Pinkies, and the Snowballs.
* They were the first team to gain four medals in a row which they achieved in Hubelino Tournament 2016. 6 years later, the Shining Swarm repeated this feat in Marble League 2022.

## 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.
3. ↑ @Jellesmarbles (6th December 2021). “The Black Jacks return to Marble Sports!”
4. ↑ ElrQ, GhostDM, XBC (6th September 2023). RetRollSpective - Black Jacks. Project Marblearth.