Being the underdog in a tournament is an unusual concept, with few armies surprising the entire community with their determination to win the tournament. We look at the underdog tales of a few armies who took on the challenge and accomplished unthinkable feats in early Legends Cup tournaments.
Designed by Master DS
Legends Cup is one of the most prestigious tournaments hosted in Club Penguin Armies, founded in 2010 by Iasage56 and Oagalthrop with the collaboration of Club Penguin Army Central. The tournament was a big success with over 40 armies invited to participate, and only a handful of armies have won it since then. In the last 12 years, Legends Cup has only seen a few armies shock the community by being the tournament’s underdog. It takes a lot of dedication and effort to become an underdog. We will highlight the few armies that did the unthinkable.
Ninjas Legendary Run In the Legends Cup II
Ninjas are by far the greatest underdogs the Legends Cup has ever seen: going from being in the “Small” army Top Ten, and not even being eligible for a position in the “Medium” Top Ten, to being one of the Legends Cup II finalists. Being ranked as the 19th army based on the top ten scores of the 24 participants, predictions were strong against Ninjas as the community never saw them make it to the finals where they would max ten to 15 penguins before Legends Cup began to maxing 55+ Ninjas online during the tournament.
The fast rise was made possible by a smart idea devised by Pringle64 and Pochoma123. The two leaders decided to rebrand the Fire Warriors as the Ninjas in the hopes of luring players who like Club Penguin’s Card Jitsu. As a result of the plan, the Ninjas found immediate success within nine days of the tournament. Ninjas would go on to upset the first fight, which was against Sun Troops, the sixth largest army at the time. The battle that surprised the entire community was when Ninjas were able to fully demolish the Nachos, the tournament’s third largest army at the time and the favorites to win the tournament. Lastly, Ninjas would go on to triumph over Green Team in the Semi Finals again, scoring another upset and securing a spot in the finals against Army of Club Penguin and Ice Warriors.
Legends Cup II (2011)
Unfortunately, the run was cut short by Ice Warriors, who went on to win the entire tournament. Throughout the finals, the Ninjas never faltered, giving both the Army of Club Penguin and the Ice Warriors a run for their money. Ninjas demonstrated that even a small army with a greater drive for success than the other armies might just achieve the impossible.
Doritos Upsets the Favorites in Legends Cup IV
Doritos shocked the community by upsetting the tournament’s favorites in Legends Cup IV. Doritos, who were seeded eighth out of the 24 armies participating based on Top Ten scores, were able to defeat armies seeded above them and go to the finals. The Doritos also won various awards, including the third-largest army in the tournament, the most shocking defeat in the tournament, and so on. Doritos would go from being ranked eighth in the top ten with a maximum of 20 penguins to being ranked second with a max of 45 Doritos following Legends Cup, demonstrating the success they obtained from the tournament.
Round one came as little surprise to the community, since their opponents, Light Troops, did not show up, allowing the Doritos to swiftly proceed to the Quarter Finals. Doritos fought Nachos in the Quarter Finals, and this duel would go down as the Nachos’ most surprising defeat. The community predicted Nachos would comfortably win the battle. However, Doritos would bring 35 penguins to the battle whilst Nachos would bring 30. Despite the fact that it was a close battle, the judges favored Doritos as the winner.
Legends Cup IV: Semi Finals
Doritos would easily defeat the Army of Club Penguin, who had 15 penguins online to 40 Doritos throughout the battle, in the semi-final round. Doritos advanced to the finals as a result of this battle. Doritos, Nachos and Rebel Penguin Federation competed in a three way battle in the Grand Finals. Despite putting up a strong fight, Doritos did not come out on top as the tournament winner. Regardless of the outcome, Doritos were able to surprise the community and achieve significant success during the Legends Cup IV.
Water Vikings’ Unexpected Rise In Legends Cup VI
Due to their unexpected performance in Legends Cup VI, where they advanced to the finals, the Water Vikings are included on the list of underdogs. The newly re-opened Water Vikings were seeded as the eighth largest army from the most recent top ten scores, and the community knew that, given their current maxes, the Vikings had little chance of making it past the Semi Finals. Water Vikings saw the largest growth of any army in Legends Cup history, going from a maximum of 25 in round one to a maximum of 80 Vikings.
The Water Vikings’ first round match against the Cobras was cut short by a bot raid but the two were allowed to square off again, with the Vikings winning with a thrilling max of 42. The Water Vikings then faced the Dark Warriors in the Quarter Finals, where they were able to defeat the Warriors with a max of 45. This secured their place in the semifinal matchup against the Blue Miners Army, which the Water Vikings handily defeated with a maximum of 55 Vikings present. The sudden increase was instantly noticed by the community, making the Water Vikings the likely favorites to defeat the Rebel Penguin Federation in the finals.
Legends Cup VI: Grand Finals
Even though the finals between the Water Vikings and the Rebel Penguin Federation were highly heated, it was still one of the greatest clashes in Legends Cup history. Water Vikings were able to bring sizes of 80 to the battle, signaling a possible Vikings’ victory. The controversial results suggested that the Rebels won the cup after a heart-pounding struggle. Whatever the outcome, it was essential that the Vikings enjoyed a remarkable run to the Legends Cup finals that nearly put the army community in awe.
Help Force Upsets In the Legends Cup X
Club Penguin Army League and Club Penguin Army Media armies came together to compete in Legends Cup X, which increased the competitiveness of the armies. Help Force, the underdogs from their side of the bracket, shocked everyone by surprisingly making it to the Grand Finals where they would meet Rebel Penguin Federation. Help Force increased their sizes significantly in the Legends Cup X, going from a max of about 25 to 71 Helpers. As a major AUSIA army, it is clear how the people would have perceived the Helpers not making it through the Grand Finals.
Legends Cup X: Grand Finals
As the Legends Cup began, Help Force was pitted against the Silver Empire. Help Force reached sizes of 41 in this battle, defeating the Silver Empire and going on to the next round. The Help Force encountered tougher opposition as they confronted the Royal Family in round two. With their 51 helpers in attendance, the Help Force was able to advance to the Quarter Finals despite a valiant effort from the Royal Family. Doritos competed against Help Force in the Quarter Finals. Despite the fact that this was their closest battle to date with ties in two of the three rooms, the Help Force won room three with a maximum of an astonishing 71 blue top-hats online.
In the Semi Finals matchup, Dark Warriors and Helpers engaged in a close battle with 65 Helpers attending. Help Force put up an amazing fight in the finals by maxing out 69 penguins. Unfortunately, the Helpers lost in the Grand Finals because of the scary sizes brought by the Rebels. But without question, Help Force performed excellently in this tournament. The remarkable success of the AUSIA army was not predicted until they proved the community wrong by coming out on top of their respective brackets.
Although the idea of an underdog is relatively unusual, it is not impossible for an army to overcome all odds. It is evident that the success enjoyed by the aforementioned underdogs in a short period of time was completely due to their winning mindset, which inspired them to go above and beyond. Do you expect to encounter an underdog at the Legends Cup this year? Are you expecting to witness an army go beyond its limits to claim the Legends Cup XIII?
More Information
Mchappy is interning at Club Penguin Armies as the Chief Executive Producer. Max held him at gunpoint to finish his biography.