This article focuses on the six teams in Group B that were unable to qualify. For the article that focuses on the six teams in Group A that were unable to qualify, click here.

After months of waiting to see which teams would compete in Marble League 2022, we finally know the sixteen teams that have qualified, including the four that prequalified at the end of the Marble League 2021 and the twelve that competed in Marble League 2022 Qualifiers. And now that we know, Marble League 2022 is in progress! The torch has been lit at The Pond, and all sixteen teams are currently competing for their chance at eternal glory.

In our theorizing, meme-making, and hype-intensifying, we’ve likely rallied behind at least one of the sixteen qualified teams, if not all of them. From Team Primary, who have qualified for the first time since Marble League 2017, to seven-time veterans such as the O’rangers, they all have something unique to bring to the games, and they have brought their all in order to secure their spots. But for fans who haven’t rallied behind any of these teams…a certain tragedy has come with the passing of these Qualifiers.

There are 16 spots in the Marble League each year, meaning that if more than 12 teams are seeking to compete, there will be cuts. Years of main tournaments and the establishment of a B-League, the Showdown, have led us to the system of relegation adopted in 2021: teams are split into two groups of 12, with the six highest ranked teams in each group after four events of Qualifiers advancing to the main tournament. Marble League 2022 Qualifiers repeated this format and expanded the Showdown with 4 new teams, which will restart a system of relegation within the Showdown: after eight events, the bottom four of 16 teams will be relegated within the B-League, and will not advance to the 2023 Qualifiers.

This year saw a mixture of teams get cut after the four events of Qualifiers. Some were beloved fan favorites. After years of being unsuccessful, others were hoping to return to the competition. But none of them can be forgotten. Like the sixteen teams that have qualified, these twelve teams all bring something special to the competition. The difference is the effort put in—either it isn’t “their all” or it’s masked by other teams. And so it goes.

As we await the 2022 Showdown, we would like to reflect on the six teams from Group B that did not qualify for the main tournament. Their stories deserve to be heard, and their legacies deserve to be honored. Any team could be in their position right now.

Let’s roll.

Thunder Shocked

by Stynth

For over six years, the Thunderbolts were a paradigm of consistency in the Marble League. They were the first championship contenders heading into the final event of ML2016, the first overall bronze medalists, and one of four teams that had qualified for every single season…until now. Throughout the four events of Qualifiers, the Thunderbolts had never held one of the six spots to advance to the main tournament. The closest they would get was in the final of the four events: Triathlon, in which Lightning finished third. If they had won, they would have led their team to qualify.

“We’re so tired of seeing our team be consistently average. Seeing the Thunderbolts train here during the offseason has led me to one conclusion: Coach Thunderstorm has to go. There’s no case for them staying if all they’re going to do is misorder athletes and let them skate by once they’ve qualified. All that’s doing is letting us down.”

The fan, sporting University of Stormholm merchandise, identified themself as a student who had witnessed the Thunderbolts training during the offseason and had started a protest group called “Operation Lightning Rod,” to remove their coach. 

“When will it end? We almost didn’t medal last season. Consistency doesn’t win the Marble League. If the coach doesn’t understand that, they need to resign,” remarked another student.

“I don’t pay tuition so a Marble League team can use our training facilities and then not qualify. We deserve better!”

When they were requested for an interview, Coach Thunderstorm politely declined, while Manager Static brashly sent out a cease-and-desist to the protest group. In a private interview with Project Marblearth, Shock, Lightning, and Thunder reacted with shame.

“I would have botched the Triathlon as badly as I botched the Summer Biathlon,” claimed Shock. “Putting Lightning in was absolutely the best decision. And they performed well. 

“If I had won the event, no one would be calling for this. The problem wasn’t the roster assignment, it was because I knew the stakes going in and underperformed,” explained Lightning. “I got complacent.”

“We’ve all been complacent in the past three years,” admitted Thunder. “If the fans are right about one thing, it’s that we can’t skate by anymore. Being consistently average is hurting just about everyone. And what if it leads to relegation? What then?

We need to do something to change that. As a team.”

Best of luck to the Thunderbolts in Marble League Showdown 2022.

Lime Lapped

by Vector

The Limers’ experiment with new coach Limelight yielded mixed results in the qualifiers; they ultimately failed to qualify, though they still did better than many had predicted, managing to finish higher than historically successful teams such as the Hazers and Team Momo.

Despite the disappointment of knowing they would miss out on the Marble League for the third time in five years, as they headed back to the locker room they felt not bitterness or regret, but rather a kind of bittersweet acceptance. As team member Goolime put it:

“We’ve been here long enough to know we’re not a top 5 team; not a top 10 or even top 15 team. But that isn’t why we, or at least I, compete anymore. The experience of the Marble League is what I live for – getting to compete up there, with thousands of fans cheering you on and your team backing you up. It’s something you can’t get anywhere else in the world. I’d be a fool to give that up, to go out with a whimper.” 

“We’ve got families and steady incomes, we could retire whenever we wanted to. But we don’t, because we don’t want to give up the fans like that.” Team captain Sublime echoed the sentiment of Goolime. “Trust me, with Limelight at the helm, things are looking up already. Our day will come, if not now then one day.”

The Limers’ new coach also gave a speech to the press upon exiting the stadium. Veteran coach Limelight had a brief career in the sport of Bugby on the Cassata team. When asked about the team’s future, they were much more ambitious.

“It’s a shame to miss, it’s a shame, but qualifying was not the goal this time. I need to get to know the gang and see if their mentality needs retooling. But I am absolutely confident, and you can quote me on this, that we can rebuild. My plan is that by 2025, we can become a consistent qualifier and ideally top-ten team. It’s an uphill battle, but I implore you, don’t count us out just yet. We still have plenty more to give.”

Silver Lining

by Toffeeshop

The team meeting started poorly. Misty was already a mess inside, stumbling over apologies and empty promises and trying not to drown in their own thoughts as other Hazers spoke.

“Look, I’m the one who got a seventh in Triathlon –”

“It’s my fault –“

“Hazy nominated you for a reason, right?”

The room fell silent, turning towards the last speaker.

Smoggy stared back in confusion. “None of you knew?”

Misty felt the guilt threatening to suffocate them again. “I’m sorry,” they said frantically. “You shouldn’t have trusted me.”

“Misty, wait –” But they’d bolted, leaving behind a tense silence.

Smoggy closed their eyes. “There’s no point in dwelling on this,” they said distantly.

Foggy glanced over at them. “Who are you really trying to convince, Smogs?”

The mist blanketing the area was so thick they could hardly see, save for the familiar outline of Mt. Huaze, its impossible summit looming above them like a silent judge. Misty turned, and there stood Hazy, looking on sympathetically.

“You did your best,” they said gently as if reading their mind.

Shame settled into bitterness. “Why me?”

“You rose,” Hazy said, “while I fell. It was only right to let you continue.” They sighed, moving past them into the fog, towards the mountain. “It’s not your fault. If I’d gotten us autoqualified last year…last year, the year before. Even before this year, I failed so much, and –”

Misty stumbled back as the ground gave way to a sheer drop.

“I couldn’t keep going,” they finished quietly. Hazy didn’t budge, mesmerized by the view below.

They’d never quite left Felynia, had they? “You were more important to us than you ever knew,” Misty said. “And I’m sorry you never realized that, and I’m sorry that we never understood what was happening.” They shook their head. “I should’ve known. They turn on you so quickly. It’s going to happen again.”

“The past repeats itself, yes.” A pause, then Hazy tore their gaze away from the cliff. “But, captain – are you going to weather it out by yourself like I tried to do?”

The breeze picked up, wrapping the fog around them and blinding them even further. “No,” Misty said. “We’ll move forward together.”

By the time Misty got to the rooftop, the early morning hours had begun to seep into the sky. As they joined the four other silhouettes perched on the tiles, the sun broke past the horizon, sending light scattering across the clouds and clinging to their edges like bright silver.

Beside them, Murky said softly, “For what it’s worth, I think Hazy made a good choice.”

It was a new day. There was work to be done, but there was hope, too.

Everything was going to be okay.

Best of luck to the Hazers in Marble League Showdown 2022.

Hurdled

by Stynth

Momomo recalled encouraging Momomomo as they stared down the line of hurdles in front of them. “You know what to do. You’ve got this, and you always have.”

Momomomo, the gold medalist of last year’s Hurdles event, who dominated when their team led the overall standings, responded hastily to the line from their teammate. “Right.” The starting gate lifted several seconds later, and Momomomo got a brilliant start, clearing the first hurdle with ease. Their landing was harsh and unforgiving, leaving Momomomo helpless as they lagged behind their competitors. As the others sprinted ahead to finish the heat, Momomomo finished with a time of nearly 10 seconds – the slowest time of every team in Group B.

As Momomomo rolled away from the sand, Momomo watched them click off their radio and leave the arena not towards their locker room, but towards the general backstage exit of The Pond. Watching all twelve athletes huddle at the starting gate for the Triathlon, Momomo noticed similar anxiety coming from Momo’s communication over the team radio.

“I’m concerned I won’t get through the gaggle…I don’t know what to do.”

“Just do your best.”

“Sure.”

Finishing last after 22 seconds, Momo said nothing as they left the same way as Momomomo, turning off their radio. Team Momo had failed to qualify for Marble League 2022.

Mo, Momomo, and Mimo had more questions to ask than tears to shed, firing question after question off to Coach Momomomomo, who seemed to know more about the missing athletes than they were letting on. After some time, the coach checked their watch and motioned across the Pond. “Go to room 108.”

The coach trailed behind the three as they rushed to the room, a VIP suite. There, they found Momomomo easing a red, yellow, and blue artwork onto an easel for display.

“Hi, everyone.” Momomomo still looked distraught, but they smiled as they rolled back to view the artwork. “I’ve had this saved for almost five years…after I got out of surgery, I took painting lessons from Rose and created this artwork to celebrate the next time Team Primary would qualify. I call it…Momodrian.”

“So we didn’t qualify this year. That’s not how we wanted things to go, but it won’t stop us. Until then, this isn’t our moment,” admitted Momo. “But we can be happy for the teams who are having their moments.”

Best of luck to Team Momo in Marble League Showdown 2022.

Ounces of Disappointment

by Stynth

“They put WHO on the roster?”

My annual lunch with Tide, this time at the highly-acclaimed Goosefat on Gadwall Way, had been about as bombastic as one would expect from a multi-millionaire marble sports tycoon. Most of my discussions had been minimized to no more than ten minutes of mapping out the general progress of Project Marblearth’s Phase 2, discussing my earliest opportunities for my academic and professional career in music, debating whether or not porridge is a soup (it’s not), and giving the usual family and friendship updates. Tide dominated most of our conversations with their plans to buy the rights to the Seven Seas Circuit, add an extreme “ring of fire” event, and expand promotion for the tournament beyond the Globular Archipelago and Resinine to all of Marblearth.

By the time we got to the Oceanics’ state of affairs, Tide had handed the check back to our waiter. They then rolled back in their seat and chuckled. “Ounce. You’re sure they didn’t rename Shore?”

I shrugged. “Shore left the team.”

“That’s a shame. It’s sad to see my Oceanics start to look less like my Oceanics. I have to say that I’m exhilarated that I have no role in their decision-making process anymore, but when it leads to results like this, I still wish I could do something about it.”

“What would you do about it?”

“I’d rejoin the team and serve as their captain. And I’d do it for free. You can report that verbatim,” said Tide.

We said no more as Tide received the check, signed off on a hefty tip, and motioned for us to leave the restaurant. At the entrance to Goosefat, we bumped into a marble that we weren’t sure if we recognized, but addressed Tide,

“Coach! So nice to see you. I hope you’re sticking around to ride the wave with all of us in the stands. We need that more than ever in the Showdown.”

Tide beamed. “You bet I’ll be there. Let’s roll.”

Best of luck to the Oceanics in Marble League Showdown 2022.

Lost in the Woods

by Pastelle

The Jungle Jumpers finished their failed Qualifiers by earning only 5 points, the least of all 24 teams. Their fan section was bare even before the Triathlon began, where Leap would earn 3 of those 5 points. Hop watched their fan section be eclipsed by the enormous O’rangers crowd as they celebrated their continued streak of perfect attendance. 

As everyone was exiting the stands, Hop managed to chat with Frog, one of the Jumpers’ most vocal fans. Frog looked as frustrated as the team themselves. Hop tried to reassure them, but it was no use.

“Why couldn’t I just support a good team? All my friends get to see their teams battling at the highest level, and all I get is to watch my team performing terribly time and time again!”

Frog stormed off and Hop was left behind, tears welling in their eyes. Jump tried to console them, but Hop wouldn’t listen.

“Frog’s right. I don’t want to be part of this team if all we do is fail and fail.”

Jump saw they couldn’t tell Hop to feel better, so they rang up some good friends of theirs: Vine, Bugsy, and Quacky.

“Look, you won’t always be the best, and often you’ll be that one team that everyone thinks is bad. We were unknown when we started MMX, and our fan section was just made up of family and friends, but that didn’t stop us from matching our opponents. You’ll manage to prove everyone wrong if you just keep working at it.”

“When 2018 came around, we were the reigning champions, so people expected us to do well. When we tanked, it felt like we’d let everyone down. Nobody would listen when we explained why we failed, they just laughed at us, but we had fun and bonded as a team. That’s what matters in life, not what marbles think of you, but how you feel about yourself.”

“If it wasn’t for our experience cheering you on in the stands five years ago, we would have never been inspired to host this year’s Marble League. And even in defeat, your humility and charisma is something we as the Green Ducks look up to and try to emulate in everything we do. We’re sorry we can’t compete against you in the main tournament, but we know we’ll be cheering you on in the Showdown!”

Hop stopped crying, taking in a deep breath. “Thanks, Jump. It’s hard to feel like this. I just don’t want to be known for being trash.”

“You won’t be. This Showdown, we’ll be known as a team that doesn’t get relegated.”

Best of luck to the Jungle Jumpers in Marble League Showdown 2022.

Looking Ahead

The hype that surrounds the Marble League each year often obscures the hardships behind the scenes: the difficulty in training to qualify, the struggle in maintaining solid performances, and the challenge of demonstrating excellence, among others. If it was easy, any group of marbles would team up and casually roll past the competition—but it’s not. It takes determination to be involved in any aspect of the Marble League, let alone participate in the main tournament, and it’s admittedly not for everyone.

Nevertheless, the result has been proven to be worth it; it has been rewarding beyond any marble’s wildest dreams. If these six teams work hard during the offseason and do well in the Showdown—pushing their capabilities beyond what they have thought possible—they will rediscover those rewards, as they have in Marble Leagues past.

GROUP B TEAMS: we implore you not to give up, but to move forward. Learn from this, grow stronger, and be excellent. We’re looking forward to seeing you compete again.

Let’s roll.

Credits

• Writers: Ghostly, Laurent Rollon, Pastelle, Phoenix, PippinPlover, Stynth, Toffeeshop, Vector
• Graphic Designer: Tim Ritz
• Photographers: Jelle’s Marble Runs
• Reference: Marble Race: Marble League 2022 Qualifiers | Jelle’s Marble Runs
• Release: 29/11/2022