Welcome to Picture Perfect, a column where we analyze army history’s most notable moments. In this edition, we will discuss the 2012 Sweet Sixteen tournament.
Designed by Cassie
RULES & Format of Tournament
Bluesockwa2 announced the 2012 Sweet Sixteen tournament on May 30, 2012, on Club Penguin Army Central. Like many tournaments, rules were made well-organized and smoother. For instance, armies faced penalties for recruiting an hour prior to battles, poor sportsmanship, and bribery of troops.
Moving on, each battle lasted 30 minutes with battles throughout the week. Unlike some tournaments, the tournament was a double elimination tournament where two battle losses were required for elimination. Thus, more battles took place than in the average single-elimination tournament. In terms of placement, armies received first, second, and third place based on the results of the finals and double elimination tournament. For the battles, judges were determined through a sign-up post from a pool of non-affiliated army members and those that could judge at all hours. Lastly, armies that signed up maxed average sizes of 10+ and did not include the prominent Army of Club Penguin.
On the other hand, the original participants consisted of Ice Warriors, Golden Troops, Ninjas, Team Gold, Underground Mafias Army, League of Lightning, Nachos, Fort Ghost Recon, Metal Warriors, Army Republic, Doritos of Club Penguin, Special Weapons and Tactics, Global Defenders, Pretzels, Ranger Troops, and Watex Warriors.
ROUND one BATTLES
Ice Warriors vs. Pretzels & Watex Warriors vs. Golden Troops
The first battle took place between IW and the Pretzels on June 11, 2012. As both armies were close in size, the winner turned out to be harder to determine than the predictions that favored the Warriors. IW turned out with 22 penguins while Pretzels had a smaller max of 17. With a slight size advantage, IW came out as the winner despite the closeness at the beginning. The next battle featured WW and GT in another battle of close sizes. However, the Watex successfully defeated the Troops through superior tactics. The result was more controversial as GT had higher sizes at the beginning of the battle. Despite these concerns, WW moved on to face IW while GT faced the Pretzels. These battles concluded on the first day of battles.
Ice Warriors vs. Pretzels
Ninjas vs. Team Gold & Ranger Troops vs. League of Lightning
The next day saw Ninjas face Team Gold in a relatively one-sided battle where the Ninjas achieved victory. Ninjas had 16 troops while the Gold had lesser sizes of 5 penguins. Likewise, it was one of the least controversial battles of the round. In the last battle of the day, the Lightning narrowly defeated the Rangers with even sizes thanks to better tactical skills. As Ninjas and the Lightning were victorious, they moved on to the winner’s bracket to face each other. Lastly, the Ranger Troops moved into the loser’s bracket to face off against Team Gold.
Ninjas vs. Team Gold
League of Lightning vs. Ranger Troops
Nachos vs. Fort Ghost Recon
Unlike the previous battles, the Nachos automatically advanced due to FGR’s non-appearance on June 13, 2012. With only one penguin, FGR forfeited the battle with the Nachos’ max of 30 penguins. Despite the loss, FGR still had a chance to win with the loser’s bracket. These concluded the first several tournament battles.
Nachos vs. Fort Ghost Recon
conclusion of round ONE BATTLES
The tournament resumed with three battles on June 16, 2012. First, Army Republic defeated the Metal Warriors despite lower sizes than usual. AR achieved sizes of 12 penguins versus MW’s 8 penguins. Secondly, UMA crushed the Global Defenders with better tactics and higher sizes. UMA brought 20 Mafias versus the six Defenders that attended. Lastly, SWAT defeated the Doritos handily with a size advantage of 10+ penguins. The first week of battles concluded with mostly one-sided battles. However, the losers still had a chance to advance further in the tournament.
MW vs. AR
GD vs. UMA
SWAT vs. Doritos
the second week of BATTLES
The second week began on June 18, 2012, with a battle between IW and WW. In the first battle, IW took the win thanks to WW”s surrender. Next, GT defeated Pretzels due to their consistency and size advantage. With two losses, the Pretzels were the first army eliminated. The next day featured Ranger Troops’ win over Team Gold in a close battle. Moving on, Ninjas decisively defeated League of Lightning and moved on to the next round.
On June 20, 2012, Nachos defeated UMA in UMA’s first loss of the tournament in the first battle of the day. As FGR left the tournament, Dark Warriors merged into Golds and eliminated Global Defenders from the tournament. Then, the second week of battles concluded with two more battles on June 21, 2012. The first battle saw SWAT defeat AR in the middle of a war between the two. Lastly, Metal Warriors put an end to the Doritos’ run in the tournament.
Nachos vs. UMA
third week of battles
The first battle of the 3rd week resulted in a forfeit from GT that gave UMA an automatic victory. As a result, GT was officially eliminated from the tournament. Next, the Nachos defeated SWAT with sizes of 30+. With SWAT’s first loss, they moved into the loser’s bracket. Lastly, IW defeated the Ninjas and advanced to the winner’s bracket.
Nachos vs. SWAT
IW vs. Ninjas
At the same time, Golds knocked WW out of the tournament. Following Gold’s victory, Metal Warriors were eliminated by the Lightning due to their one loss previously. The last of the third round battles took place between Army Republic and Ranger Troops where AR crushed the Rangers handily.
ROUND four
First, IW defeated Nachos in the latter’s first loss of the tournament. During the same day, Golds eliminated the Lightning from the tournament. Next, AR defeated UMA in a controversial battle where the Mafias felt it was rigged by the judges. However, the tournament continued with a battle between SWAT and the Golds. In the battle, the Golds eliminated SWAT from the tournament. Lastly, Ninjas defeated AR and eliminated them from the tournament.
IW vs. Nachos
UMA vs. Army Republic
ROUND five & ROUND six
Unlike the previous battles, the judges changed the judging system to a points system. The army with the highest mean/average for their size (60 points), tactics (30 points), and chat size (10 points) won the battles during these later rounds. First, the Ninjas defeated the Golds and advanced in the tournament. Next, Nachos defeated the Ninjas despite their loss earlier in the tournament. However, IW eliminated Ninjas from the event with Ninjas’ two losses.
Nachos vs. Ninjas
GRAND FINALS
With the Ninjas’ elimination, two battles between Nachos and IW officially determined the winner of the tournament. In the first battle, IW defeated the Nachos for the latter’s second loss of the tournament. IW continued their victorious run over the Nachos with another win in the second battle of a showcase between the two armies. With their victory, the Warriors were declared to be the winners of the Sweet Sixteen tournament.
Nachos vs. IW
Nachos vs. IW – Second Battle
CONCLUSION
The Sweet Sixteen tournament was certainly unorthodox compared to the many single-elimination tournaments there are today. For example, every army had a loss that made it to the end. Having second chances allowed these armies to show what they were truly capable of. At the same time, double-elimination is a much longer process that might over-complicate things to an extent. However, IW won without a loss which proved the best army in the tournament ultimately won. What do YOU think of the double-elimination tournament? Would YOUR army have participated in the tournament given the atypical format?
Aurora
Reporter