Welcome to Picture Perfect, a column about the most impressive moments in army history. In this edition, we will discuss the SMA Central Winter League held in 2016.
Designed by Cassie
BACKGROUND OF TOURNAMENT
Atticus announced the start of the SMA Central Winter League on January 3, 2016. as a continuation of the 2015 version. The Dark Bandits won the year prior in the first edition of the event and defeated many powerful armies. This tournament was the first major event of the year for Small Medium Army Central. The invites included Romans, Night Rebels, Time Lords, Jalapenos, Star Wars Army, Team Luis, Imperial Argonaut Empire, Snow Ninjas, Air Force, Shadow Reacon Army, Red Miners, and Club Penguin Crew. Of these, eight participated in the tournament’s events.
The winner of the tournament received 3,000 Xats, 6 months of free ad space, and a trophy for their efforts. For smoother competition, the organizers created two groups with four armies in each one. The winner of each group then moved on to the next round from the group stage. The last two armies that remained after the semi-finals fought in the championship battle. Lastly, any army removed from the tournament had a replacement chosen for them.
GROUP STAGE
The first group consisted of Night Rebels, Shadow Reacon Army, Time Lords, and Imperial Argonaut Empire. On the other hand, the second group had Jalapenos, Romans, Star Wars Army, and Club Penguin Crew.
WEEK 1 BATTLES
Night Rebels vs. Imperial Argonaut Empire
To start, the Night Rebels and IAE faced off in the first battle of the week. Before the proceedings, the former came out as the favorites thanks to their higher top-ten placements. In the battle, NR proved their prowess as they maxed significantly more than IAE with 15 penguins online. As such, the Rebels won the battle handily over their opponents.
Night Rebels vs. Imperial Argonaut Empire
Shadow Reacon Army vs. Time Lords
The second battle went much differently as the Time Lords surrendered five minutes into the battle after maxes of one. While SRA had low maxes as well, the army still received three points for their efforts.
Time Lords’ surrender to Shadow Reacon Army
Romans vs. Star Wars Army
Next, the third battle took place between Romans and SWA where both maxed relatively low. However, the sizes made for one of the closest battles so far. In the end, SWA accomplished a narrow victory over the Romans.
Jalapenos vs. Club Penguin Crew
Finally, the fourth battle did not proceed with Jalapenos’ surprise forfeit to the Crew before the battle. Due to their surrender, SWA’s victory over the Romans ended up as the last battle of the week. Based on these battles, NR, SRA, CP Crew, and SWA all gained three points from the battles they participated in.
WEEK 2 BATTLES
Night Rebels vs. Shadow Reacon Army
Unlike the previous weeks, both NR and SRA maxed higher than most other small and medium armies with 15+ penguins each. In a close battle, the Rebels attained a victory over SRA and remained undefeated in the tournament.
Night Rebels vs. Shadow Reacon Army
Time Lords vs. Imperial Argonaut Empire
Following the Night Rebels’ victory, the Time Lords did not show up for the battle against IAE. While IAE only maxed two, it was enough for a victory due to the non-appearance by their opponents.
Time Lords disqualified after no-show
Romans vs. Club Penguin Crew
Next, CP Crew had an automatic victory thanks to the Romans’ no-show to the battle. Their victory clinched them a spot in the next round as they maxed out 11 penguins and gained three points.
CP Crew awarded 3 points
Jalapenos vs. Star Wars Army
Lastly, no battle took place between Jalapenos and SWA as both of them did not show up. Their no-show officially ended the week of battles and set up a battle for a spot in the semi-finals for the armies that won the next week. Following these battles, NR and CP Crew both landed a semi-final spot and Time Lords and Romans left the tournament.
The result of no-shows from Jalapenos and SWA
Week 3 Battles
Shadow Reacon Army vs Imperial Argonaut Empire
At the beginning of the week, Shadow Troops officially joined the tournament. However, the first battle took place between SRA and IAE. SRA’s recent deface helped IAE advance to the semi-finals.
Night Rebels vs. Time Lords
With a spot already clinched, NR went undefeated as Time Lords shut down the same day as the battle.
Romans vs. Jalapenos
Before the battle, Romans entered a state of lockdown after internal struggles. At the same time, the latter came back from a lockdown the same day and was mathematically eliminated from the tournament regardless of the outcome. There were no official posts about the winner of the battle.
Star Wars Army vs. Shadow Troops
Lastly, SWA advanced in a narrow tiebreaker over Jalapenos after their battle against Shadow Troops. After a competitive 3 weeks, the participants in the semi-finals were decided.
Semi-finals
Before the start of the semi-finals, Fire Warriors replaced Shadow Troops in the final after ST merged into Army Republic. The four semi-final participants included NR, IAE, Fire Warriors, and SWA.
Night Rebels vs. Star Wars Army
Due to a defacement, SWA did not attend the battle thus the Rebels automatically won. Due to this, NR attained a spot in the finals against the winner of the next battle.
Night Rebels’ 20 penguin max at the semi-final battle
Fire Warriors vs. IAE
In the second battle, events unfolded similarly to the first semi-final with a no-show from IAE. Despite the no-show, Fire Warriors achieved the highest max of the semi-finals with 25 penguins online.
Fire Warriors’ 25 penguin max
GRAND-FINALS
Night Rebels vs. Fire Warriors
Before the battle, Fire Warriors entered the tournament much later than Night Rebels. As a result of their their high maxes for a small/medium army, the Rebels established themselves as the clear favorites to win the tournament. Moving on, both armies had similar maxes with 22 Rebels and 18 Warriors logged on. In a close battle, NR came out on top as the champions of the SMA Central Winter League.
Night Rebels vs. Fire Warriors
Conclusion
In a time of many struggles for armies, the finalists set the standard for other small and medium armies to follow. On the other hand, the results of the first round also showed how hard it was to have a stable army that did consistently well. Similarly, People’s Imperial Confederation and Pizza Federation continued their example through success years after the shutdown of Club Penguin. Lastly, the tournament was one of the last small/medium army tournaments of the era. What do YOU think of the SMA Central Winter League? Do you think CPA should host more small-medium tournaments?
Aurora
Reporter