As the CPA community gathered to watch the grand finals of the innovative Trick or Treat Trials last Saturday, four seasoned judges had the honor of overseeing the momentous occasion. What were their impressions of the battle and the tournament as a whole?
Designed by Wynn
On October 15th, Club Penguin Armies unveiled their newest tournament, the Trick or Treat Trials. Created in response to the absence of Fright or Fight, this event brought together seven armies for a spooky showdown, promising a lot of Halloween fun. The conclusion of the qualifiers round saw brother allies the Army of Club Penguin and Help Force proceeding to the grand finals. With both armies demonstrating monstrous strength and delivering a haunting performance, you can find the results of the grand finals here. The Trick or Treat Trials brought a unique twist by introducing ‘Trick Tasks’ filled with gimmicks and challenges. Additionally, ‘Treat Rooms’ followed a more traditional battle format, with both ‘Trick’ and ‘Treat’ rooms contributing points to participating armies. From a judge’s perspective, this tournament operated quite differently from a standard battle.
ACP vs. HF Grand Finals
Club Penguin Armies contacted judges Sweater, Da Best, FWAPO, and Spotty for their input on the grand finals battle between the Clovers and the Helpers.
How did you like the battle? Do you have any thoughts you’d like to share?
FWAPO: It was a great experience to be in! I really enjoyed the judging experience and honestly it was the best team that you could be in with amazing people!!,It was a hyped battle to judge wity the best two armies fighting for the win!
Spotty: I thought the battle was good however it would’ve been nice to see more Halloween themed tactics, and maybe costumes too. The battle was also not as close as I predicted either which was a surprise.
Da Best: I was kinda disappointed there was no tricks and/or treats involved in the finals seeing this tournament was called TRICK OR TREAT it kinda felt as if the admins had no plans for the finals and they ran out of time for planning and just said it would be a normal battle. Kinda disappointed.
Sweater: The battle was great to watch and judge. It was definitely closer than the average 3-0, but still an easy Army of Club Penguin victory. That said, it was clear to me that neither army were performing their absolute best.
Do you have any notable moments from the battle that you enjoyed?
FWAPO: I can’t say that most of the time ACP with doing amazing I personally didn’t have a notable moment I can focus on as the battle was going through normally without any drama.
Spotty: It was interesting see how both armies reacted to one another, ACP dominated throughout all 3 rooms, but started to slow down in room 3. However, I liked seeing them create more unique forms such as various arrows and a H.
Da Best: Seeing all the tactics HF did to try and sway the judges to pick a winner (fyi to get me to pick your army I charge a small fee of 10000000000000 pounds + vat (that is a joke please do not get out a loan of however much that is to pay some person on the internet))
Sweater: The Army of Club Penguin showed off some new formations (at least new for them) which was fantastic to see. The arrow formations stuck out, as they were used in times where Help Force were in no position to counter them. This meant that the ACP looked infinitely bigger than the Helpers at various points in the battle.
Performance-wise, how do you think the armies’ did? Could they have done any better?
FWAPO: Certainly HF could have done better IMO as I’ve judged some of their old battles. I’ve seen them doing fantastic I am not sure what happened in the trick or treat trials but ACP has that size advantage. But even though I think HF would’ve at least got one room they were close on getting the third room but unfortunately they broke it but loss dosent show weakness it always shows persistence. Better luck next time, great work ACP!!.
Spotty: Personally I think such a battle such be a learning experience for HF, especially as some of their leaders are fairly new. HF seemed to lack creating forms that countered ACP well, it was noted various times that their choice of forms were poor as it allowed them to be completely covered. Meanwhile, ACP were able to be the faster army, create quick and neat forms, proving to the community that they are the army to beat in Christmas Chaos next month.
Da Best: ACP had the size but their form transition was not the best as I did suffer a few times in the later rooms to see the form they were attempting to get into as it would start as a mess of a scatter then eventually form into some sort of form. Both armies suffered with repetitive forms as ACP stuck with some varient of a Y form in all 3 whilst HF had UT in every room. Both armies should work on creative forms in the small spaces and possibly transitioning so it doesn’t look like a mess slowly merging into a decent form.
Sweater: Whilst both armies did good, I have some things I’d like to say to Help Force. This isn’t an attack, only a suggestion from my POV. Help Force needs to pick a formation and stick with it. Twice or three times during the battle they would go into a formation only to immediately change. On top of that, they should bunching in a corner to wipe – it made them look miniscule whereas the ACP looked big. I would also suggest they practice formations that control the centre of the room – such as Ys, uYs, strong As, etc. A big part of their downfall was that the Army of Club Penguin looked huge in the middle of rooms, and HF was spread out at the edges not really doing anything.
For the Army of Club Penguin, they just need to try and get their AFKs under control and limit bunching in certain formations – guys, you can turn your upside-down Vs into As, it’s only going to benefit you.
How did you feel about the tournament as a whole? Is there anything you would have liked to see done differently?
FWAPO: The tournament went great I don’t have any complaints everything went great with both armies!
Spotty: I liked a different and fun tournament style, however I don’t think it was fair that HF secured a place in the finals and EGCP didn’t, as the Guardians actually got into the spirit of the tournament participating in trick rooms, whereas HF played it too easy and only did treat rooms to try and “win another tournament this year”.
Da Best: The trials were kinda boring with 20 minutes being HF alone in a room scoring easy points and the 1 trick room I judged ended in a tie (mainly due to its hard for 1 room to see creativity as you might see over the course of 3 rooms the same forms and/or tactics which you can not see in 1 room in the middle of a battle)
Sweater: Sorry, I can’t say that I followed the tournament very closely in the first phase but the ideas of ‘tricks’ to get more points sounds fantastic and any and all innovation in the tournament space is a win in my book. Thanks to Mchappy and Disha for hosting this.
Do you have anything you’d like to add?
FWAPO: Yes, I again believe HF could’ve have done better I am really sure they will win the next tournament which I think as every year their will be one in Christmas. I’ll be there watching HF getting the win. ACP showed amazing work and persistence as of HF too but want can I say good luck!!
Spotty:There has been a lot of criticism lately regarding judging, so I would like to remind everyone that they are always free to apply for judge or dm a HJ with concerns rather than endlessly moaning. Furthermore, I once again encourage all leaders to request judges so that we can train more judges ready for Christmas Chaos, whether you’re having a pb or even a branch battle.
Da Best:If you are wondering why I only chose to answer these questions and not Meet the Judges… It’s very hard to answer questions when you never get dmed them.
Sweater: Thanks to the Army of Club Penguin and Help Force leadership for letting me judge this one. I had a blast. These two armies are improving every day and will no doubt set new golden ages for themselves if they keep this up.
It is clear that for the most part, all four judges thoroughly enjoyed the grand finals battle. Club Penguin Armies thanks the judges for their time and efforts in ensuring a fair and exciting battle. Congratulations to the Army of Club Penguin for their victory, and the Help Force on their wonderful performance.
More Information
Mchappy is interning at Club Penguin Armies as the Chief Executive Producer. Max held him at gunpoint to finish his biography.