The final stage of the CPA20 Challengers Cup tournament delivered an impressive and fantastic battle. This weekend, two armies clashed in the Grand Finals. Let us take a look at the results of this final battle.
Designed by MasterDS
Following the end of Legends Cup XVI, CPA brought back the CPA20 Challengers Cup as the final tournament of the summer and part of the Twentieth Summer celebrations. The week-long S/M tournament used a single-elimination format, with eight armies competing across the Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals before the final two were decided.
The Quarter-Finals saw Shadow Legionnaires, Fire Warriors, Masked Bandits, and Fire Vikings advance. SL then defeated Fire Warriors in a close Semi-Final, while Masked Bandits swept Fire Vikings to set up the Grand Final. This left Shadow Legionnaires and Masked Bandits as the final two armies fighting for the Challengers Cup title on August 29. Let’s have a short look at the armies’ history and the result.
Army History
Shadow Legionnaires was founded by Thunder222 on May 3, 2025. The Shadow Legionnaires quickly became a regular name in the S/M scene. After a short hiatus in September, they returned for a second generation and went on to compete in tournaments such as Legends Cup XV, later becoming the first S/M army to win the March Madness XI trophy.
The Masked Bandits are a much newer army, founded by Sweater and Justin in August 2026. Despite being new to the community, they quickly made an impact through successful events and land invasions before reaching the Challengers Cup Grand Final in their first major tournament run.
BATTLE RESULT
Room 1: Iceberg
Room 1
MB entered the room first, with SL following right behind. Furthermore, they opened with a clean X, while SL’s plus formation looked more spread out and sloppy. Moreover, they kept a good pace and used their size well to cover SL. At the start, the sizes were 18-16 in favour of SL. SL began slowing down, with several gaps appearing in their plus, before using a BWB to cover MB. A large number of AFKs hit both armies throughout the room. SL later used a waterfall, while MB covered their word bubble, followed by SL making a UT as MB raked at the same time. In addition, they formed a UV, while SL started bunching up and continued struggling with AFKs. MB also slowed down tactically before bombing over SL while they were slow to react. MB followed with a slightly gappy plus, while SL answered with a bomb that had poor completion. SL then made an X, but MB continued covering their formations as the room came to an end. By xx:09, sizes stood at 22-18 for SL. With better use of their size and faster tactics, MB took the win in R1.
Room 2: Snow Forts
Room 2
R2 started with MB entering first, followed closely by SL. Both armies moved into a BL which looked bunched and traded chatbar coverage. SL began to slow down, allowing MB to gain control of the chatbar and cover their formations. MB then raked the room, exposing several gaps in SL’s form, although SL quickly cleaned them up. MB was slow to get into a V while SL raked the room, failing to defend against the movement. SL then used a UV and picked up the tactical pace. By :06, SL led 23-18. MB followed with a bomb, but SL was slow to defend before answering with one of their own. MB then made a very bunched UT, while SL responded with an L that had a weak horizontal and was covered by MB’s chatbar. The room ended with SL leading 22-18. MB’s stronger performance and faster tactics throughout the room gave them the win in R2.
Room 3: Casa Fiesta
Room 3
R3 began with MB entering the room first, with SL entering significantly later. Both armies traded performance during the opening minutes. However, by 26, the battle had shifted, with SL becoming more active and eventually putting in a stronger performance than in the previous two rooms. SL formed a plus that showcased their performance well while also covering MB’s plus. This resulted in a tie.
Overall, MB took the battle with a final score of 2-0-1 (W-T-L), showing strong form choices and making good use of their size throughout the rooms. With this result, MB are crowned the winners of the CPA20 Challengers Cup!
CPA20 CHALLENGERS CUP CHAMPIONS
Club Penguin Armies reached out to the leaders of both the armies and community members to learn their thoughts on the battle.
What are your thoughts on the Grand Finals battle?
Thunder, SL leader- I wasent leading but everything turned out not right with us after all, I am banned for 3 days, but masked bandits also got punished with Sweater being caught up a lot of drama as well which got him fired from head judge in CPAJ.
Justin, MB leader- expected tbh.
ImmortalChickans, Dark Warriors 2ic- Honestly, I thought the final was pretty intense. I really enjoyed the creativity behind the tactics and how both sides played things out. Even with all the controversy surrounding the battle, it was some dope shit to watch. Congratulations to the Masked Bandits for taking the cup, the Shadow Legionnaires definitely put up a good fight as well. Overall, it was really an entertaining battle!
Pingo, Water Vikings HCOM- pretty dissapointed there weren’t enough doxxes, I was hoping for atleast 3 because thats the number i bet on kalshi ffs.
Lucifer, Help Force HCOM- Though SL put up a good fight, masked bandits in the end won. Good job to masked bandits for winning their first ever tourney!
Daniel, Army of Club Penguin Leader- The final was really fun to watch! Enhorabuena to Masked Bandits on their tournament victory despite having opened so recently. On the other hand SL showed that they have the size to do great things. They just need to refine some stuff but they’ll get there. A little out of topic but I’m glad the S/M community got as hyped as it did for this tournament. It brought some life and even drama which was missing recently.
Fun x Time, Star Force Leader- I am not particularly interested in the Grand Finals battle of the Challengers Cup because the results aren’t very astonishing. It isn’t like I supported Shadow Legionnaires specifically during the tournament, but I just don’t appreciate that Masked Bandits had relied largely on veterans from the army community. On the other hand, Shadow Legionnaires had spent months recruiting organically, so I would dislike seeing an all-veteran army winning against a well-efforted army. I remember MB opening with the motive of “experiencing how an army builds from scratch” a few days back, but I do not see any real recruiting efforts from scratch. MB hasn’t broken any rules, and what they did isn’t wrong. My point is, I personally just don’t appreciate how the armies have been rewarded. It isn’t really a problem, but I’m not glad either.
Overall, MB and SL delivered a competitive battle, with both armies showing strong performances across the three rooms. MB ultimately took the battle 2-0-1 (W-T-L) and secured the cup after winning two rooms and tying one. What did you think of the battle? Could SL have turned things around with a stronger performance in the earlier rooms?
Samio
Reporter
More Information
?