RetRollSpective – Green Ducks

Hello and welcome to another RetRollSpective, where we reflect on the history of marble sports teams that have appeared in the tournaments of Jelle’s Marble Runs. This time, we’re focusing on the Green Ducks, runners-up of Marble League 2019 and the hosts of Marble League 2022. Read on to see how this team has attacked the competition!

*The official logo for the Green Ducks, designed by Tim Ritz.*

The Green Ducks hail from a group of islands, the Brace Isles, and have been following marble sports since their youth. The team’s future captain, Mallard, won tickets to see the Tour de Vellis in 2014 and was lucky enough to witness the Speeders win the tournament for the first time.

“It was insane. The Speeders had so many fans rooting for them, and I bet that deep down, even they were flattered. I wanted to feel that excitement again.”

Mallard returned to Bermenghank, their hometown, already thinking about booking tickets to other marble sports events, but tragedy struck. Mallard returned home to find one of their parents in the infirmarblery, and two days later, they were gone. Mallard’s other parent had not been working at the time, and they used most of the family’s savings to pay for a funeral. They struggled to find a job for years.

Mallard found a job at a farm to help the family, which included their remaining parent and their sibling, Billy. Billy also began working at the farm and befriended Quacky, Ducky, and Goose, three of the farmhands. They worked there while completing their primary education and continued afterward.

“We became pretty close in such a short amount of time,” recalled Ducky. “Mallard and Billy became a part of our family, so much so that we felt and grew through their loss with them.”

The rolling hills and plains of Bermenghank, as depicted in their Marbula One promotional poster. (Art Credit: Jack Ironhide)

“I remember when Mallard first heard about the Marble League,” said Goose. “It was one of the few things that got them excited. Not that taking care of ducks didn’t get them excited.”

“It didn’t get me excited,” Mallard replied. “But the Marble League did.”

“We all bonded over the Marble League in a time where we all needed something to enjoy. Working on the farm wasn’t easy, either,” Quacky said.

“It inspired us to become a closer team and family than we ever imagined,” Billy added. “And we all began to wonder what life could be like outside the farm.”

As the 2017 Marble League approached, Mallard secretly entered into a bid to get tickets for the tournament. Mallard surprised their friends with the tickets, and the five traveled to Knikkegen that summer. They can be seen in some of the events in the Jungle Jumpers fan section.

“We didn’t anticipate that the Jumpers would do as poorly as they did,” Mallard said, chuckling. “We liked their uniforms, though. The green reminded us of the grass from the farm.”

“To be fair, they did get a few medals,” Ducky retorted. “I still have a soft spot for them. And I can’t blame them for oversleeping, especially now that I know how exhausting being a marble athlete is.”

The five friends returned home at the end of the season and had all pretty much agreed on what they wanted to do: train to become marble sports athletes. They traveled into the city and consulted with Bombay, Mallard’s parent. It didn’t take long to get them to quit their miserable job in tourism and get them to coach the five under the team name of the Green Ducks.

The Brace Isles were not well known for marble sports at the time, but the Ducks were able to compete in minor leagues. They became known as the most prominent team in the region within time and soon began receiving sponsorships, which meant that the members of the team were finally becoming financially stable. The Green Ducks moved to Draklin sometime in 2018 and became the host team of Joshdon Stadium.

In late 2018, rumors began to spread that Team Plasma was retiring from the Marble League due to not training enough and that there might be an opening in the 2019 Qualifiers. The Ducks had applied to the waiting list long ago and only hoped that their request had been processed by then, and had a chance to be approved.

On 1 January 2019, the Green Ducks were accepted into the 2019 Marble League Qualifiers and appeared in the tournament later that month. Despite being so new to the tournament, fans were already flocking to the stands for the Ducks. Their numbers would only grow.

Mallard, Billy, Quacky, Ducky, and Goose pose for an official photoshoot in early 2019. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

Mallard placed fifth in the first event, Funnel Spinning, setting the stage for what would be the team’s knock-out performance in Block Pushing. The team earned an unprecedented 117.0 centimeters in their initial heat, placing first in the event and rising to the top of the standings, just ahead of the Limers. The Ducks placed fifth again in the Relay Race and secured their qualifying spot after only the third event. They conserved their energy for the final event, the Underwater Race, by putting Ducky in to compete. Ducky placed dead last, earning just one point, and the Green Ducks qualified for Marble League 2019 in an astounding fourth place.

The team amassed more fans in the preseason, many of them Limers fans, for the Limers had failed to qualify. Fans were no doubt impressed by the Ducks’ showing in Qualifiers, but many wondered if their momentum would last. After all, they were a rookie team.

Quacky was quick to attack any doubts about the team in the first event of the 2019 Marble League, the Underwater Race. It was an event that Ducky had bombed in during Qualifiers, but one that Quacky masterfully excelled in. Ducky was bested only by the Savage Speeders, a team that, in its prime, was the most successful rookie team in the Marble League. Ducky’s silver medal in the event was hard-earned and set the bar high for the rest of the Green Ducks’ season.

After Mallard placed seventh in Funnel Spinning, the team placed fourth three times in a row, missing the podium but earning double-digits in points each time. This momentum built up to the Relay Run, in which all four of the team’s main members competed. In the final leg of the event, Billy lurched forward, getting just ahead of Tangerin from the O’rangers to win the team’s first gold medal of the season. The Green Ducks rose to the top of the standings, proving their spot in the Marble League once and for all.

The team’s first gold medal of the Marble League. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

However, with ten events of the season remaining, a challenge began to mount from just beneath the Ducks’ lead. This challenge came from the Raspberry Racers, a team that seemed to have a history with lime-green teams, as well as a thirst to win the 2019 Marble League. During the next four events, from Block Pushing to the Hubelino Maze, the Green Ducks earned an average of seven points per event. Although this was enough to keep the team in the top three, Quacky’s fourteenth-place finish during the Summer Biathlon stinted the team against the Raspberry Racers—who rose to the top of the standings after that event and remained there for the next four events.

“I think we were past the honeymoon phase,” Goose acknowledged. “We were still flying pretty high, but we weren’t doing as good as we could have. The Raspberry Racers were medaling so much…our consistent fourth-place finishes early on did us wonders, but they weren’t going to get us in the lead.”

“The one thing we did have, in contrast to the Racers, was gold medals,” Bombay stated. “They had so many close calls where they could have earned gold, but they settled elsewhere on the podium. We went all-in when we could.”

The Green Ducks refocused during the Dirt Race, where Ducky boosted ahead of Swifty from the Savage Speeders in the final leg of the race to earn a silver medal. Rozzy from the Raspberry Racers passed ahead of Swifty at the finish line, earning a bronze medal by five milliseconds and keeping watch on the Ducks. It would not be the last time that they and the Racers would share the podium, but the next event, Rafting, was exactly what the Ducks needed to strike back. The team set a Marble League record with 33.74 seconds and earned its second gold medal of the season, reclaiming the top of the standings with an eleven-point lead over their new rivals.

Their “raspberry rivals” rose to the contest in the thirteenth event, the Elimination Race, and ultimately proved Bombay wrong. Rezzy advanced to the final round of the race in a close save by Diego of the Indigo Stars, who accidentally nudged the “framboise flash” ahead of them and was eliminated in the penultimate race. The final race pit Rezzy and Quacky against Red Eye from the Crazy Cat’s Eyes, but all eyes were on the former two competitors. As Red Eye got stuck further up the course, the race became a nail-biter until the very end, when Quacky stopped suddenly on the final grey hexagon and Rezzy crossed the finish line.

An event that foreshadowed the end of the season – save for the team finishing bronze. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The Green Ducks remained in first, but their podium finishes were over. The Raspberry Racers rose to the top of the standings with an important fourth-place finish in Surfing, and the Green Ducks fell to second with a twelfth-place finish. The Raspberry Racers made sure to remain at least one step ahead of the team to the end of the season, finishing fifth in Collision to the Ducks’ sixth, and earning one more bronze medal in the Sand Rally to Mallard’s tenth place finish, mired back in the pack. The Ducks were sitting to the right of the Racers in the closing ceremony, with 204 points, five medals, and a second-place finish overall in the 2019 Marble League.

“Fans are saying that we’re the most successful rookie team in the history of the tournament, and we didn’t even win,” Mallard paused, gazing at the sky. “I guess that’s something.”

“It’s more than something,” I assured them. “Your team never left the top four spots in the standings. You medaled five times. You’re one of two teams to get over two hundred points in the Marble League.”

“We didn’t win.”

The Green Ducks, already qualified for the next Marble League, were training for their next appearance in the Friendly Round when Bombay received an official letter from the JMRC. The letter extended an invitation for the team to compete in the first season of Marbula One, an honor, especially for a rookie team. The Ducks accepted the invitation and chose to be represented by Mallard and Billy during the tournament.

The promotional poster for the Green Ducks in Marbula One Season 1. (Art Credit: Jack Ironhide)

Soaring High

an addendum by Roilan

They took that mindset back to their home. The dejection of falling just short only motivated them more. Despite being headquartered in Draklin, the team enjoyed spending the offseason on the farm in Bermenghank. I was lucky enough to visit the team. It was a lovely farm; not incredibly expansive, but there was a lot of land for crops and ducks. A small farmhouse stood not 100 yards off the road next to a group of what looked like pear trees. I just made out a small, eight-turn dirt track with three picnic tables on the far side of the farm near the tree line.

“The media’s great and all, but it’s nice to get away from the spotlight a bit,” Ducky explained, “This is where it all started for us; we still like to help out around the farm. It’s humbling to remember how we got our break.”

I soon learned that the dirt track was one that the team had mowed out in the early stages of training. Despite it no longer being optimal for their high level of performance, they used it for low-intensity work in the early offseason. As with most training sessions on the farm, local fans, often young marbles, would come by and watch them train. It was fascinating to see how the five athletes interacted with their fans. They would talk between sets, often by name, and towards the end, gave a lesson to the younger fans.

Not long after I left town, the team went to their main training facility in Draklin to gear up for the inaugural Marbula One season. Those practices are far more isolated. Limited, if any media and no fans are allowed to watch. While they do not nearly match the Hazers in secrecy, Bombay keeps most of the training routines out of the spotlight.

In early February, Mallard, Billy, and Bombay headed to the first Grand Prix, the Savage Speedway. Mallard started the season with tenth place in qualifying but improved that position to eighth in the race. The next week at the O’raceway, Billy made their debut. After qualifying in fifth, Billy was itching to get in the race with a favorable position. Despite falling to seventh early, they navigated the sand beautifully and were in second place at the end of lap one. Two laps later, Billy took a great line in the sand and got right behind Smoggy. Using an inside move off turn seven, Billy took the lead. They dominated the rest of the race, stretching the lead to as large as 3.54 seconds. From there, the lead hovered at around two seconds, and Billy claimed the first medal for their team with a gold.

Billy crossed the finish line for gold in Season 1’s O’raceway GP. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

Mallard looked to back it up at the Momotorway. The starts continued to be a strength for the Green Ducks as Mallard went from their eighth spot on the grid to second position by the end of lap one. They managed to cut the tangent through turns four, five, and six, taking the lead in lap two, but lost it back to Clutter later in the lap. Coming off the belt in lap three, Mallard got it back before Clutter regained the top spot with a move along the pit straight. The battle continued for the next three laps before Mallard struggled to get onto the belt entering lap seven and fell to seventh place. They fought back over the final six laps including a pass on the final lap but finished just off the podium in fourth.

The worst finish of the season for the team came in the next race with a thirteenth at the Hivedrive for Billy. After a pair of ninth-place finishes, including one at their home race at Greenstone, and an eleventh, the Green Ducks found themselves seventh in the overall standings with one race left. Mallard qualified in a season-high fourth at Midnight Bay but had found themselves in seventh by the end of the opening lap. They quickly worked their way back up the order, getting up to fifth by the end of lap three and third by the end of lap four. In lap eleven, Mallard found a gap on the inside of turn ten to get by Prim for P2 and ended the season with a silver medal. The Green Ducks ended in sixth overall, but both members took home a medal and finished in the top fifteen individually; Mallard in eighth and Billy in fourteenth.

Billy’s silver at Midnight Bay marked a strong end to their debut season. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

In the time between Marbula One and the Marble League, the Green Ducks made headlines in marble sports by starting a youth league in the local area: the Golden Egg.

“Marble Sports have never been that big of a deal around here,” Mallard stated, “Most marble athletes from around here go to the Accellaise/Vellis region for competition. We want to boost the involvement all across the area.”

The grand opening of the Golden Egg was held in Bermenghank and was split into two divisions: a youth division for marbles just getting into Marble Sports, and the more prominent junior division for more competitive and experienced young athletes. The latter was a tour around the Isles used to prepare the top youth teams for a future in competitive Marble Sports. The preliminary season consisted of twelve teams. Among the first teams that announced their participation were the Shadow Squires, the youth team partnered with Marble Rally competitor Black Knight, from Onyxburgh, and the Green Geese, a team from Bermenghank who modeled after the Green Ducks and briefly competed in Marble Sports Games before leaving to come back home. Long-time fans of smaller marble tournaments were avidly waiting for the remaining teams that would compete.

After the initial announcement, more teams were revealed. These included the Mountain Climbers, an Inharness based team from the Quadrilla Marble League, and the Berry Blasters, a team from Bushnor who initially wanted to compete in the Fruit Circuit, but instead went to The Bourne Network. Following this were the Skeletal Strikers, from Bonebridge, who were one of many teams that went to Accellaise to compete before finding a spot in Angus’ Epic Extravaganza, and of course, the Green Ducks’ youth team: the Silver Swans. The rest of the competition was filled by teams from around the Isles who were getting their break in marble sports.

After the opening stop in Bermenghank, the Green Ducks left the tournament in the hands of Honk, an old friend of Bombay’s, and went back to Draklin to train for the Marble League. The team auto-qualified for the 2020 tournament due to their second-place finish in 2019, but got a spot in the Friendly Round to prepare. The team was one of the last to arrive at the Andromedome, but still had ample time to practice in the actual stadium in between Qualifiers and the Friendly Round. Even with the practice, the Friendly Round was not kind to the Green Ducks. They didn’t place first in any event. A second place, two third places, and a fourth place in the four events landed the Ducks at the bottom of the table. While typically not the best gauge of how teams will do in the main league, the Green Ducks continued this mediocrity into the 2020 Marble League.

The Ducks finished the Marble League without a medal in their second season. They came close a couple of times. Ducky almost made it onto the podium in Funnel Endurance, but after losing a collision battle with Kinnowin of the O’rangers, they settled for fourth. Billy and Quacky replicated that fourth later in the Black Hole Funnel. Despite winning the second run of their heat, they were still almost five seconds behind the Crazy Cat’s Eyes for the final podium spot. Many near-misses killed their momentum, and thus, the Green Ducks could never find any consistently good results. They peaked at seventh after Funnel Endurance, and bottomed out at dead last after the Sand Mogul Race, but spent most of the Marble League in twelfth where they finished. While their outing was significantly better than the other medal-less team, it was disappointing after a remarkable debut season.

A near miss in Funnel Endurance. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

Stynth was able to get some insight on their performance in the offseason:

Mallard finally spoke up. “It’s just…I’ve been trying to process it over the past few weeks, and it’s been difficult for us. The whole season was a blur and when it came down to it, we ultimately weren’t prepared for the competition. We thought for certain that we were going to win.”

“It’s not like we didn’t train,” added Ducky. “I was pretty close on Funnel Endurance. I think we underestimated our competition. We underestimated the Speeders.”
~”Offseason Moments – ML2020 Part 1″, by Stynth

As some of the fiercest competitors in Marble Sports, the disappointment ate up the team. They experienced it more jarringly than anyone else in the city. However, that didn’t stop them from making appearances all over the region. Throughout their careers, they gained a reputation for their outreach in the Draklin area. From organizing a clean-up of the Larkey National Park along the river to visiting young marbles in the infirmarblery, the team often spent off days helping out the community. The Peartree Fund, named after Peartree Farm, the farm the team worked on, was set up by Bombay and the assistance of the other members to raise money for families in the process of looking for work.

“Not everyone is as fortunate as we were,” Mallard commented, “We know what it’s like to struggle and try to help mitigate some of that hardship when we can.”

Their invitation to Marbula One Season 2 was no surprise, and Mallard and Billy once again represented the team. Even without submitting a host bid for Greenstone, the Ducks were excited to go back into competition. Their season got off to a hot start at Minty Mania when Mallard qualified third and finished third to score a medal in the opening race. The opening half of the season for the Green Ducks was headlined by their incredible qualifying performances. In each of the first six races, they made it to Q3 and started in the top four. Despite often struggling to hold that top-four position, they were consistently gathering large amounts of points. The only blemish in the first half came at the Honeydome when Mallard fell from third on the grid to fourteenth at the finish.

Mallard starting in P3 at the Honeydome GP. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

Right before the winter break, the Green Ducks recorded their best qualifying position in a historic qualifying stretch. Billy had given their team an extra point by recording the team’s first pole position. They conceded the lead at turn seven on the first lap and went all the way down to fifth on lap five. After making their way through the field, Billy regained their lead through turn seven on lap nine; they passed Ruzzy on the same turn where they left space for an overtake nine laps earlier. Billy would hold on to the lead the rest of the race beating Clementin by almost two and a half seconds. At the halfway point, each member had a medal and the team sat second overall. In addition to that, Billy sat third and Mallard sat tenth in the individual standings.

There was barely enough time to settle home in the break before the invitation to the Marble League Winter Special came and the team, this time with all five members, traveled east again. After a quick stop at Isle Hyu to raise awareness for the Indigo Stars’ conservation project, they arrived for their first taste of winter competition. They fared better in the special than they did in the 2020 Marble League, but were still medal-less in the five events. Quacky and Mallard both got to the semifinals in the Ice Dash and Snowboard Cross respectively but were stopped there and ended in seventh. Ducky, alongside gold medalist Thunder, got fourth in Speed Skating. Once again, they missed the podium, this time by five hundredths of a second.

So close, yet so far. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The team also just missed the podium in Bobsled by ending three hundredths behind the Oceanics and settling for fourth. They weren’t as close in Ice Hockey as they lost to the eventual silver medalist Savage Speeders in the round of sixteen. Overall, they finished in eighth in the special, an improvement from the main event the past summer, but still not as good as they had demonstrated in the past.

“The talent is there,” Bombay attested, “we know we can get back to where we were two years ago, we just need to get over the hump and back onto the podium in the Marble League.”

After their break turned back into a competition, Mallard, Billy, and Bombay headed off to Lewara to resume the Marbula One season. For the first time, the Green Ducks did not make it to Q3 and started on the third row instead. Billy couldn’t keep up with the pace shown by Red Eye or Speedy and rather disappointingly fell out of the points. Compared to their first half, the second half was a disaster and the Raceforest GP was a snapshot of how the rest of the season would go. The low point of the season was when Billy failed to qualify at Palette Park marking the only missed race for the team in the season. Misty Mountain was a bright spot in the second half as Mallard managed to stay calm and focused through all the chaos of DNFs and the restart and gathered a silver medal. The team’s third podium finish moved them back up to second overall, but with finishes of tenth and sixth at Savage Speedway and Midnight Bay respectively, they ended third in the championship. In addition, both finished in the top ten of the individual standings with Mallard in seventh and Billy in tenth.

A second career overall podium – this time, in Marbula One. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

Following a successful Marbula One season, the Ducks went back home just in time for the start of the second season of the Golden Egg. Before leaving for the trip around the Isles, the Green Ducks announced that Honk would be brought on into a management role in the organization. They would still be the commissioner of the Golden Egg and would be headquartered in Draklin and handle management roles from there. Unlike most team managers, Honk did not travel with the team to Felynia for the practice race where Mallard placed nineteenth in a foretaste of the upcoming Marble League.

In RetRollSpective, the Green Ducks have had one of the most successful seasons in Marble League history. The fact that they were rookies only accents their achievement. With a prequalification for the 2020 Marble League, the Ducks struggled during their sophomore season, but coming off a stellar Marbula One season, there is hope that they will come back stronger this year. Best of luck to the Green Ducks in the near future, keep on rolling!

Credits

Writers: Roilan Estates, Stynth
Editors: Ramen Powder, Smacg13
Artist: Jack Ironhide
Graphic Designers: Tim Ritz, Novawolf
Photographer: Jelle’s Marble Runs
Release: 24/08/2021

RetRollSpective – Kobalts

Hello and welcome to another RetRollSpective, where we reflect on the history of marble sports teams that have appeared in the tournaments of Jelle’s Marble Runs. This time, we’re going to focus on the Kobalts, a team that originated in Marble League 2016 and has won multiple Showdowns. Read on to find out how this team has outsmarted the competition!

The official logo for the Kobalts, designed by Tim Ritz.

The Kobalts, true to their name, love the color blue, but there are three things they love as much as the color blue: science, roll-playing games, and marble sports. The four original members of the team came from humble backgrounds and attended university together in Zuro, a city renowned for the sciences, and majored in chemistry. Azure, Cerulean, Royal, and Dodger met while working in a lab exercise with cobalt(II) oxide and alumina, which, when heated, produces the cobalt blue pigment. The four were in their graduating year in 2014 when they first heard about the growing popularity of marble sports—but not on television or the radio.

In the little free time they had as doctorate students, the four friends played Marbles & Monoliths, a popular roll-playing game, online on a chat room called the Marblebase. They were in the thick of a campaign when they saw the #sports channel light up with a notification. A user named Sapphire had shared a featurette about the Knikkegen Marble League, and the friends watched the video together from their apartment. They were hooked.

“We were in our final semester, and not once in our five years of study had we ever considered switching away from our career paths in science. Dodger had even switched into chemistry from a history major in their first year,” Azure described. “But this was something else. It felt like a calling.”

After finishing their semester in Spring 2014 and graduating, Azure contacted Sapphire and learned that they were an athletic trainer with connections to Knikkegen. Sapphire agreed to train Azure, Cerulean, Royal, and Dodger for competition.

“They are some of the smartest marbles I have ever met,” Sapphire stated with certainty. “They weren’t athletic when we first started, but they understood anatomy and how to get into form. They have always had that kind of heart and I really admire that.” The Kobalts’ application for the 2015 Knikkegen Marble League was not accepted, but the team kept training. In 2016, they submitted an application for the rebranded Marble League and were one of the few teams to be accepted, along with the Oceanics and Team Galactic.

Azure earned the Kobalts’ first medal in 2016’s Water Race. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The team debuted well in Balancing with a score of 268 centimeters, placing sixth, but did not fare as well in the next three events. The Kobalts earned a point in the Relay Race due to a track defect in the top lane, but they otherwise went scoreless until the fifth event, the Long Jump, where Royal placed fifth with a 92.3 centimeter-long leap. In the next event, the Water Race, Azure won their heat and advanced to the finals, earning their first silver medal for the Kobalts. They remain as the only member of the Kobalts to earn an individual Marble League medal.

At the midpoint of the 2016 Marble League, the Kobalts were exactly in the middle of the standings, at eighth place overall. The team’s second half of the season was admittedly less eventful than their first half: besides their silver medal in Precision Slalom, the Kobalts went scoreless in the other five events. They finished ninth overall, a welcome start to their Marble League career with room for improvement.

One might say the Kobalts were in their element in 2016. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

With two months to go before the 2017 Marble League Qualifiers, the Kobalts were experiencing difficulties training. Royal and Dodger were trying to balance their time with their jobs as chemists, and they were weary from long nights in the lab and early mornings training.

“It wasn’t working out, and it became clear to us that we needed to choose one or the other,” Royal revealed. “While professional sports gave me a sense of fulfillment, I needed the money more than anything.”

“It was fun while it lasted, but my career was taking me to a different place, away from sports,” explained Dodger. “I knew that if I didn’t take that opportunity, I’d regret it.”

The two left, leaving Azure and Cerulean as an incomplete team. They were understandably disappointed, but determined to compete in the Qualifiers: “We were fortunate to have a lot of connections on the Marblebase,” Cerulean assured. “Azure, Sapphire, and I reached out to our Marbles & Monoliths party, and both Meepo and Gnome were ecstatic to join the team. They’re siblings from Elsham, which is where they hold lots of M&M conventions.”

From left to right: Azure, Cerulean, Meepo, and Gnome. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

Meepo and Gnome quickly headed to Zuro to begin training. Meepo debuted in the 2017 Marble League Qualifiers in the Sand Race, after the team competed in the Relay Race. They placed fourteenth, dropping the team to the bottom of the standings with two events to go. Although the Kobalts were able to regroup in Block Pushing and place second, Cerulean placed twelfth in Funnel Endurance and earned just one point. The team finished with 13 points, tied with the Snowballs on points, and failed to qualify for the 2017 Marble League.

The Kobalts, while disappointed, understood that the late change in the team’s roster affected their chances of qualifying. During their first offseason, the Kobalts attended the 2017 Marble League and began to train together as a team. They were even able to recruit Royal back to the team as their reserve. By the 2018 Marble League Qualifiers, the team felt prepared to redeem themselves, and they were sorted into Group B.

“I felt comfortable returning after taking a year off,” disclosed Royal. “And being able to return as their reserve allowed me to better balance my priorities.”

Group B turned out to be the tightest group for qualification, with all four teams qualifying within one point of the threshold. The Kobalts came the closest of the teams that did not qualify, placing third in the 5 Meter Ice Dash and second in the Halfpipe after placing sixth in the first two events. Unfortunately, they would miss the 2018 Marble League as well.

The infamous “teams who missed the 2018 Marble League” cast and crew. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

After attending the 2018 Marble League, the Kobalts participated in the three offseason events held for Marble League teams. Meepo finished fifth in the Consolation Race, their best performance yet, but Azure was not able to finish the 100 Meter Water Race. The team did not make it past their initial heat in the Amazing Maze Marble Race and their hosting bid was denied, leaving the fate of the Kobalts hanging in the balance.

This question was answered in the 2019 Marble League Qualifiers, when the Kobalts again failed to qualify for the third time in a row. Meepo and Azure competed again for individual events, and both did not impress, with Meepo placing eighteenth in Funnel Endurance and Azure placing twelfth in the Underwater Race. The team did well in Block Pushing, placing ninth, but the Kobalts stinted their chances of qualifying with a fourteenth place finish in the Relay Race.

The Kobalts declined to comment on their unsuccessful demonstration in the 2019 Marble League Qualifiers. An article on the Marble Sports Blog detailed the team’s struggles: “while the team replaced half of its members in 2017 with Meepo and Gnome, there seems to be no other reason why Kobalts have not been successful in Qualifiers. The team has had seasons to sync up and train together, but it can never seem to synthesize quite right.”

The Kobalts preparing to face off against the Hornets in the 2019 Showdown’s Collision. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

It was reported that the Kobalts had no plans to attend the 2019 Marble League and were instead planning to go to a Marbles & Monoliths convention in Elsham when they learned of the new relegation system involving the Marble League Showdown. The friends had already booked the tickets, and they went to the convention anyway, managing to stay unnoticed by Marble League fans. Upon their return, they began training in Zuro.

“What does it matter if those reports are true or not?” said Gnome, almost defensively. “We’ve been trying to qualify for three years. We’ve dedicated ourselves to watching the professionals and training in the offseason. We deserve a little break.”

Azure and Meepo competed in both individual events of the 2019 Marble League Showdown for the third tournament in a row, with Azure finishing fifth in the Sand Rally and Meepo placing eighth in Funnel Endurance. Although the Kobalts did well in individual events, they were not as successful in team events: placing second-to-last in Collision, an event that they had not officially competed in since the 2016 Marble League. The Kobalts’ fifth-place score of 345 centimeters in Balancing was not enough to dig the team out of tenth place overall, and sealed the team’s fate: they would not advance to the 2020 Marble League Qualifiers.

“They have heart, and right now, their hearts are broken,” Sapphire lamented. “Both they and the Rojo Rollers haven’t appeared in the Marble League since the beginning, but the Rollers, along with being invited to Marbula One, did well in the Showdown.”

“The ironic thing about that article on the Blog is that we do well in team events,” Meepo asserted. “Or at least, better than I do in individual events.”

“Stop it, Meepo,” Azure refuted. “You made a breakthrough in Funnel Endurance last year. You’ll get there soon. We will all get there soon.”

“Hey, at least you’ve competed in an individual event,” Gnome sighed.

“In all honesty, we don’t have the best funding,” admitted Sapphire during a tour of the Cobalt Circuit, the team’s stadium. “Any other team would have retired during the 2018 offseason, but not us.”

“Sports has pushed us out of our comfort zones to create something greater than ourselves,” stated Azure, with pride. “No matter what anyone says, I never want to let that go.”

In Their Element

an addendum by The Emperor

By failing to qualify for the Marble League 2020 Qualifiers, the Kobalts were stuck in the Showdown for the second season in a row, but rather than feeling down on themselves, they were determined to demonstrate their desire to be in the Marble League. After a false start in the gates, the team started out with a fifth-place finish in the Relay Race, which set the team up solidly. Following another midpack finish (sixth) at the Halfpipe, the Kobalts sat in sixth overall, eyeing the podium.

“All we need is a podium here, and we’re set,” Gnome said as Cerulean and Royal lined up in the gate for the Black Hole Funnel; a signature event that the Kobalts had trained on for hours back at their home stadium. And that training would pay off. The Kobalts would blow away the rest of the field with 100.85 seconds; the only team to break into the 100s besides the Savage Speeders.

“I just…wow!” Royal exclaimed on the podium. “I can’t even believe this. This is crazy!!!” Cerulean echoed their teammates’ sentiments as the Kobalts vaulted to second in the standings. The team had secured a spot in the 2021 Qualifiers.

Even with a spot clinched, the Kobalts wanted to give the Sand Moguls their best shot. Azure managed to secure the wild card spot, and advance to the finals. And then, the Captain of the Kobalts won their first-ever gold.

The final podium of the 2020 Marble League Showdown saw the Kobalts make a statement for the first time in nearly five years. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

“It felt amazing. We knew we were practically locked in after Event 3, but we wanted to go out with a bang. And we did just that. Crossing the finish line was the best feeling I’ve had in my career, and that is saying something!”

The Kobalts had just won the Marble League 2020 Showdown.

In celebration of their victory, the team partnered with the Minty Maniacs, fresh off of a Marble League podium themselves, to sell baked goods to raise money for charity. Cerulean led the initiative, stating that it was “wonderful to be giving back to those in need.” The teams managed to raise enough funds to feed over one thousand inhabitants of Zuro and Herbotamia.

“It felt special to be helping those who needed it,” Azure said.

The team would go on to host another event similar to this after Stynth visited the city on their world tour. Stynth remarked: “Although I had written about Zuro in my RetRollSpective on the Kobalts, I had never had the opportunity to visit the city and was not sure what to expect. I emerged from the train station and my jaw dropped in awe, with glass towers reaching toward the sky decorated with greenery as monorails emerged from the train station, spoking outwards to different neighborhoods. It was a sight I would absolutely dub one of the “wonders of the modern world”.

The promotional poster for the Kobalts in Marbula One Season 2. (Art Credit: Jack Ironhide)

Following their Showdown victory, everything changed for the team. A few months later, the Kobalts were invited to Marbula One Season 2. The team heavily considered their decision to accept but ultimately chose to do so, sending Azure, “Brilliant Blue” and Cerulean, “Natural 27” to compete in the tournament.

“Woo! I know we’ll blow the competition away!” Gnome said, ecstatic that the Kobalts would be competing in a major tournament for the first time since 2016. Meepo echoed their sibling’s sentiments: “We’re on a high streak right now, let’s keep it that way!”

Meepo and Gnome at a press conference. (Design Credit: Phantasm)

The Kobalts applied to host a race for Marbula One, however their track (Electron Expressway) wasn’t built in time for the season, and the spot was given to the Jungle Jumpers instead.

“We’re disappointed that our track wasn’t ready in time,” Dodger said in an official response. “But there’s always next year…”

A proposed map for the Electron Expressway. (Design Credit: The Emperor)

The Kobalts would set a low first impression in Marbula One by DNQ’ing at Minty Mania, the first Grand Prix of the season. Cerulean bounced back with a solid sixth-place finish at the O’raceway. Azure would again fail to qualify at the Honeydome, even after having a great start to their lap.

“It’s heartbreaking,” they said, watching the race unfold from the sidelines. “I really want to get out there someday. I know that I have it in me.”

Cerulean continued to impress, however, with a bronze at the Aquamaring, the fourth Grand Prix of the season.

“I’m thrilled to have earned my first ever Marbula One podium,” Cerulean said triumphantly, standing on the third step of the podium. “I have more in the tank for the rest of the season, and I feel like we can make a charge for the lead soon.”

Cerulean received unprecedented praise throughout Season 2 of Marbula One. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

Azure would fail to qualify for the third straight time at Tumult Turnpike, this time setting the worst qualifying time of all. Cerulean followed this up with a ninth and fastest lap at the Arctic Circuit, carrying the Kobalts to tenth in the team standings, and seventh in the individuals at the midseason break.

The Kobalts were invited to the Marble League Winter Special, but manager Dodger had already set up an exclusive Marbles & Monoliths Conference in Zuro, and thus the team declined the invite.

The Kobalts lead a Marbles & Monoliths press conference. (Design Credit: Laurent Rollon)

“The Marbles & Monolith Community are a huge part of our fanbase, and we wanted to do a quick shout-out and thank you to them for supporting us!” Sapphire said. During the conference, several fans got to have one-on-one interviews with the team.

King, a Kobalts fan, had a one-on-one with Cerulean. “I’ve liked the team since 2016, but I think I really began to become a ‘fan’ of the team in the 2019 Showdown,” King said. “My favorite moment as a fan of the team would probably be the Black Hole Funnel, in the 2020 Showdown. It felt really great to finally see them win gold for the first time, and I feel like it kickstarted their redemption now.”

“I agree with King, here,” Cerulean remarked. “The Black Hole Funnel is the turning point in our history. It started to right the ship for us, and it’s what we’ve been riding to get here!”

Ramen, another fan, had their one-on-one with the captain; Azure. “Well, they started off [the 2020 Showdown] in the Relay with a false start, and I thought ‘Oh, it’s just going to be typical Kobalts.’”

Azure echoed their fans’ sentiments. “Yeah, I was pretty worried myself.”

“But the Kobalts turned it around. They had finally done it. They had won gold. This pretty much guaranteed advancement to the Qualifiers. But they weren’t done yet. The captain of the Kobalts seized this opportunity to fly out of the starting gate with a very fast time in the finals, getting the gold for the Kobalts.”

A throwback to Azure in the Sand Moguls Final. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

“I was ecstatic.” Ramen said. “The Kobalts had toppled the Jungle Jumpers and won the Showdown.”

The final interview of the conference was with Phantasm, who had their one-on-one with Meepo. “I got into the Marble League in 2018—long after the Kobalts began their tragic streak of missing out from the competition. I only discovered the Kobalts after going back and watching re-recordings of Marble League 2016, and I was instantly enchanted.” Phantasm said. “The Kobalts haven’t made it easy to have a lot of favorite memories! There’s a lot more heartbreak than joy, but that makes the victories all the sweeter!” Meepo shed a tear of joy at that remark.

Following these passionate interviews with their fans, the Kobalts returned to Marbula One with eyes set forwards. Azure managed to qualify for the first time at the Raceforest and managed a respectable seventh-place finish. Cerulean followed this up with a twelfth place finish at the Momotorway. At Palette Park, Azure once again managed to qualify well and finished the race with their best result of the season; sixth.

“I’m happy Azure is finally proving themselves here,” Cerulean said after the race. “There were so many people doubting our captain; I’m glad they’re proving them wrong.”

Cerulean would follow up this momentum with a fantastic start at the Misty Mountain Grand Prix, only to have it undone with a red flag following an incident precipitated by Bumble barreling into Cerulean on turn six, and coming to a stop.

“That incident really shook me,” Cerulean said after the race. “I’m glad Bumble is okay, that was scary.” Cerulean would finish the race in fifth place.

Cerulean and Bumble’s incident at Season 2’s Misty Mountain GP. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

“We’re going up right now. We think we have a chance at a strong late-season run. We have been doing great lately, we just need to carry the momentum into the last two races, and into the (2021) Qualifiers.” Azure said, hoping that the team could continue to consistently score. Sadly, however, Azure would earn their fourth DNQ at the Savage Speedway in the next race, knocking the Kobalts out of podium contention. Cerulean, however, would bounce back at Midnight Bay, securing pole for the first time all season for the Kobalts.

Cerulean starts on pole at the Midnight Bay GP. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

“It was a special moment, that’s for sure,” Cerulean remarked as the race was about to start. “I’ll be sure to keep this lead though, just like Speedy did here last season.” Cerulean would hold on to the lead for a little while, but ultimately fell to second, and would finish the race there.

“It was one of my favorite moments of my career. Sure, it wasn’t gold in the Showdown… but I was standing on a podium with two of the best marble athletes of all time, and I’m never going to forget that moment.” Cerulean said, blushing with pride, on the Midnight Bay podium.

Cerulean earned a silver at Season 2’s Midnight Bay GP. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The Kobalts finished Marbula One Season 2 in eighth place; the highest finish for a rookie team besides the champions, the Crazy Cat’s Eyes. Cerulean clinched sixth in the individual championship, establishing themselves as an all-around great Marbula One racer.

The team returned to Zuro for the offseason, where they were greeted by a very excited Dodger. They dropped the news on the team that they would be hosting a fundraiser to help support local residents in need. “I’m so glad to be giving back to the community. We’ve struggled with funds before, and we know what it’s like to need help. It’s not great sometimes. And I want to make sure all the citizens of Zuro have the help that they need.”

The team participated in raising funds daily and used this as a form of teamwork training for the Marble League. They were spotted rolling out moveable balance beams as their primary form of transportation around the city, and often used hoverboards for individual travel to practice balancing on their own.

“In addition to physical balance, I feel like it’s kind of like a metaphor for our lives; trying to balance sports with the community,” Sapphire said. “I’m so proud of the team for everything they’ve done this year; both for themselves and the community. I hope this translates into the 2021 Marble League.”

The team would compete in one more event before the 2021 Qualifiers; the Sand Rally Practice Race. Azure would finish 20th here.

“I feel like it wasn’t my best effort, but it wasn’t my worst either. I want to save it all up for the Qualifiers though, where it counts,” Azure said.

“We’ve had our struggles in prior seasons,” Meepo, the new reserve, said. “But with this new team dynamic we’ve developed, and our recent success, we’re coming for the title in Marble League 2021. I can feel it.”

In RetRollSpective, the Kobalts are a team that has not seen success in years, but they keep on. Why do they do so? It seems that they prefer to keep themselves reserved from the public eye, but if you get to know them, they are some of the most intelligent and passionate marbles. They have become stronger through competing professionally, and we hope that the team is training this offseason to become as strong in individual events as they can be in team events. Best of luck to the Kobalts in the future, keep on rolling!

Credits

Writers: The Emperor, Stynth
Editors: Efmo, Jacob723, Ramen Powder, Smacg13
Artists: Jack Ironhide, Laurent Rollon, Phantasm
Graphic Designers: Tim Ritz, The Emperor
Photographer: Jelle’s Marble Runs
Release: 20/08/2021

RetRollSpective – Limers

Hello and welcome to another RetRollSpective, where we reflect on the history of marble sports teams that have appeared in the tournaments of Jelle’s Marble Runs. This time, we’re going to discuss the history of the Limers, an inaugural team of the Marble League. Read on to find out how this team has soured the competition!

*The official logo for the Limers, designed by Tim Ritz.*

The Limers hail from the coast, and got their name from two sources—the vast reserves of limestone that are nestled slightly inland of the Gulf of Tartufo, and their favorite dessert, cassata, which is traditionally served with limes on top. The Limers began racing in Sotsevsa, a city across the sea from the gulf known for its philosophical teachings in ancient times, as well as its Syndesmarble, an ancient marble racing tournament that is still celebrated as a yearly tradition in the city. One year, the four performed so well that they caught the attention of a marble sports aficionado named Greg Woods. Woods approached the team soon afterward and invited the team to join their Fruit Circuit troupe. They accepted.

The Limers were one of the first teams in the Fruit Circuit when it began touring in 2004, alongside now-inactive teams like the Strawberry Strudels, Boysenberry Ballers, and Grape Nuts. They ended up outlasting these teams because of their persistence. According to Sublime:

“Much of the fanbase has asked us why we’re still going. Why do we keep trying every time that we do badly in an event or a season? It’s because we love this craft. We love marble sports because it gives us a purpose to be active and to make a difference in the world. We want to keep doing that for as long as we possibly can, not just for our fans, but for ourselves.”

The O’rangers, Raspberry Racers, and Mellow Yellow eventually joined the Fruit Circuit, and all three teams proved to be challenging for the Limers to shake. When the 2016 Marble League transfer spots from the Fruit Circuit were announced, the stakes rose even higher, particularly against the Raspberry Racers. Upon joining the circuit, the Racers quickly became rivals with the Limers due to their geographic proximity to each other and their contrasting team colors. The rivalry between the two teams is one of the most competitive in marble sports history, let alone in Marble League history.

The Limers and Raspberry Racers face off on the Cliffs of Tartufo, just before a Fruit Circuit race. (Photo Credit: Phoenix)

“The Limers are the reason that we did not qualify for the 2016 Marble League,” Razzy remarked, almost snidely. “During the third-to-last race, Slimelime rolled into me right out of the starting gate, killed my momentum, and blocked me from moving to the front. They finished in second. I finished in sixth. If I had the momentum I needed to burst forward, I would’ve at least been on the podium for that race. But they got all the glory…and I got nothing.”

When asked, Slimelime disregarded the claim: “I maybe felt a slight nudge out of the starting gate, but I didn’t intend to block anyone out of the gate. One, that’s poor sportsmanship. Two, I wouldn’t have put it past Razzy to nudge me back, and either way, Razzy would not admit to it.”

Ultimately, the Limers came out on top, winning the Fruit Circuit in its final year and qualifying for the 2016 Marble League along with Mellow Yellow and the O’rangers. The team entered the tournament with honor, knowing that the Marble League was the modern-day realization of the ancient Syndesmarble tournament.

The Limers earn their first Marble League medal in 2016’s Quartet Diving. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

Sublime, Lemonlime, Jellime, and Slimelime entered the 2016 Marble League with high hopes that were soon deflated by subpar performances. The Limers went scoreless in the first half of the tournament except for the second event, the Relay Race, in which they earned two points in sixth place. The Limers’ second half proved more fruitful for the team, save for two more scoreless events, and produced a bronze medal in Quartet Diving, but the team finished the season in a disappointing fifteenth place. The Limers would have tied with the Pinkies for dead last, had the Pinkies not been disqualified in the final event.

“We were admittedly surprised by the circumstances. We expected the Marble League to reward performance with solely medals. The points system threw us off not necessarily because it was there, but because of how punishing it was. If you earned any place lower than eighth, tough luck. If you got seventh, you could’ve gotten eighth and gotten the same amount of points.” Lemonlime shrugged. “It made no sense, and we were determined to change it. We appealed to Jelle, and it was done.”

The offseason brought other substantial changes for the Limers. They began a rigorous training session in the cliffs of limestone near Tartufo and began building a training center just outside the city. Jellime left the team early in the offseason to become an advisor for the Syndesmarble and was replaced swiftly by Goolime. Jellime declined to comment on whether their leave was influenced directly by the Limers’ poor performance in the 2016 Marble League.

Slimelime led early on in Funnel Endurance, placing eighth at the end of the event and securing their qualifying spot. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The Limers entered the 2017 Marble League Qualifiers with a lot to prove in a short amount of time. The team scored nothing during the Relay Race but picked up enough points in the remaining three events to qualify for the main tournament in twelfth place, four points ahead of the Kobalts and Snowballs, who both failed to qualify. The Limers became one of twelve teams that would be appearing in their second straight Marble League.

In the 2016 Marble League, the Limers went scoreless in half of the events. In the 2017 Marble League, the Limers went scoreless in zero of the events. The Limers placed in the bottom half during the first two events before earning a silver medal in the infamous Fidget Spinner Collision event. The team finished in the top half over the next four events, earning a bronze medal in the Relay Run, demonstrating a significant improvement from Qualifiers. The Limers peaked in the standings at second place after the Relay Run and remained strong at third place after Block Pushing.

The Limers’ first silver medal came at a consequential moment for marble sports. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

Unfortunately, the Limers did not perform as strongly in the latter half of the season as they had in 2016. The Limers placed in the bottom half of the standings for every event except for Block Pushing and Steeplechase, notably around ninth to fourteenth place. As such, the Limers fell from the top half of the standings with grace and finished the season in tenth place, just one place above its starting position in the 2017 Marble League. Despite their slowdown, the Limers were still happy with their season. Goolime noted,

“The growth that I have seen this team endure ever since I joined is nothing short of astounding. I’m so proud of how far they’ve come since 2016, and I’m lucky to be a part of it this year. There is nowhere else I’d rather be.”

After a rigorous offseason of training, the Limers were invited to the 2018 Marble League Draw in the Arctic Circle and happily chose to attend. When they arrived, they were greeted with a surprise, for better or for worse: the Raspberry Racers were also in attendance. Greg Woods introduced them in the video, stating:

“They have a long history going back with the Limers, the two of them, so ideally they would like to be in separate groups, although some might say they want to be in the same just to knock each other out before they even make it…”

The two teams ended up in the same qualifying group.

Former Fruit Circuit rivals face off for a Marble League qualifying spot. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

“We were only separated by the Shining Swarm, but it felt like we were eons apart,” Sublime mused. “We reached out to the team after they failed to qualify in 2016, but they had already disbanded and wanted nothing to do with marble sports. We never thought we would see them again in a tournament, let alone in the Marble League.”

The return of the Raspberry Racers threw the Limers for a loop not only in concept but more importantly in the tournament. The Limers got two second-place finishes and one third-place finish, but they could only edge ahead of the Racers in Curling and the Halfpipe. At the end of Qualifiers, the Raspberry Racers qualified for the 2018 Marble League in second with 22 points. The Limers qualified in fourth with 21 points.

The Fruit Circuit was back.

The Limers march through the Arctic Circle’s Opening Ceremony. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

“I was new to the team that year, and even I could tell that the Raspberry Racers had never performed like this before,” Limelime, a former Tour de Vellis competitor, admitted. “They had a drive like no other team to win the Marble League. And they didn’t in 2018, but we all knew that they eventually would.”

“2018 felt off from the beginning of Qualifiers. Even if we didn’t show it then, we felt it,” Slimelime added. “We were showing it by the second event.”

The 2018 Marble League resembled much of the Limers’ inaugural season. The team scored no points in a quarter of the events and placed in the top half in only a third of the events. The Limers started the season in tenth place, but by the end of the Snow Rally, the seventh event, the team had been in last place in the standings at the end of all but three events.

During the heats, Sublime did not stand out as a favorite to win the Snowboard Cross, but during the final… (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

“It became really clear to us that we were not going to win the championship, regardless of whether it was mathematically possible or not. We did not have the gusto in us to do it. But we also didn’t want to take last place. I certainly didn’t,” remarked Sublime. They glanced at their gold medal, which was enclosed in a small display case at the Limers’ training facility. “We had taken last in the Snow Rally, and the team voted for me to do the Snowboard Cross. They said that they had a funny feeling that I would do well. And somehow—somehow, they were right.”

In a surprise turnaround for the Limers, Sublime eased their way down the course during the heat, finishing barely a second behind the Raspberry Racers, and dominated during the final, finishing two seconds before Anarchy from the Balls of Chaos narrowly edged ahead of Bolto from the Thunderbolts. The result was the Limers’ first-ever gold medal, and a pathway out of the basement of the standings for the rest of the 2018 Marble League.

GO LIME! GO LIME! (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The team performed in the middle of the pack throughout the remainder of the season, save for a last-place finish in Ice Hockey, which surprised fans due to the Limers’ silver medal in Collision the year before. The Limers finished the tournament in fourteenth place with the same amount of points as Mellow Yellow but a medal to edge above their fellow Fruit Circuit competition. However, the Limers were more focused on the performance of another Fruit Circuit team.

“The Raspberry Racers beat us in every single event except for the 5-Meter Ice Dash and the Snowboard Cross,” Coach Keylime said without hesitation. “When I joined the team as coach in the offseason, I made sure that my team knew that. The fans wanted a rivalry, but we gave the other team the championship.”

In the 2018 offseason, the Limers placed second in the 100 Meter Water Race, above the Raspberry Racers in thirteenth, and ascended to the finals of the Amazing Maze Marble Race against the Raspberry Racers, O’rangers, and Savage Speeders. The team’s drive ground to a halt, and the Limers placed fourth with only twenty-five points scored. The Raspberry Racers won the tournament with forty-three points scored and became known as a strong contender for the 2019 Marble League. The Oceanics were revealed as the hosts for the season, denying the Limers’ bid to host.

“Things were not looking good. My team’s morale had fallen over the past year. That hosting bid would have done a lot to raise their spirits, and it also would have done a lot for the Marble League as a whole. We were in contact with Jellime and the whole Syndesmarble advisory board to make it something really special.” Coach Keylime sighed. “Things were getting much better for the team in the last few weeks leading up to Qualifiers. Their form was starting to look much like their 2017 selves. I was hopeful.”

The Limers remained in a safe position in the standings for much of Qualifiers, boosted by a second-place finish in Block Pushing. However, the Underwater Race changed their fate for the worse. Slimelime finished in nineteenth and earned only one point, bringing the Limers’ total number of points to thirty-five. The Chocolatiers finished in fourth and earned fifteen points, bolstering them three points above the Limers and earning the final qualifying spot for the 2019 Marble League. Had Slimelime been four milliseconds faster, the Limers would have qualified.

The beginning of a legacy of “trash” memes surrounding the Limers. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

Granted, the Limers’ presence in Qualifiers was soured when their fans started throwing debris into the Relay Race arena, disrupting the flow of the event and allegedly blocking Team Primary from finishing the race (an allegation that the JMRC denied). Needless to say, the fans’ actions in the stands were reckless, and Goolime agreed:

“We do not condone actions like that—in fact, these types of things distract us too. We’re marble athletes and we’re focused on that—we’re trying to do the best we can. That’s all.”

The Limers did finish in third in that heat, and twelfth place overall in that event. Had their fans not disrupted the flow, the result could have changed. Instead, the team missed out on its first Marble League ever. Here’s what Lemonlime had to say about that:

“I know what the fans are thinking. ‘Wow, Limers finally didn’t qualify. They’ve always been in the bottom half of the standings. They didn’t deserve to be in the Marble League.’ And they have every right to feel that way. Our response is this, plain and simple: we’ve enjoyed the opportunity to compete in these tournaments. We’ve loved to do what we do, no matter how well we’ve placed. It’s been far from perfect, but it doesn’t stop here. Right now, it hurts. But trust me when I say that we’re going to do everything we can to keep pushing. Thank you to the fans. We’ll see you soon.”

An official graphic explaining the newly established promotion-relegation system within the Marble League. (Design Credit: Spex)

The Limers were ready to take a hiatus from training, but they were pleasantly surprised to hear the news that there would be a Marble League Showdown that would give the unqualified teams of the 2019 Marble League a chance to compete and prove their worth for the 2020 Marble League Qualifiers. The Limers immediately regrouped and began training again, rebuilding their team mentally, emotionally, and physically. The more they spent time together, the more optimistic they felt. As the weather got warmer, they returned to the Cliffs of Tartufo to train there without any disruption from the happenings of the world.

They were finishing their dinner with cassata when the sixteenth and final event of the 2019 Marble League was on television and watched silently as the Raspberry Racers secured the championship. The event was followed by a lengthy news recap, which covered the Racers’ season in-depth and also discussed Showdown predictions. After some time, in which the cassata stayed on the table, uneaten, the waiter rolled over to the table and asked the Limers,

“Are you finished with your dessert yet? Or would you like some raspberry syrup to sweeten the dish?”

Needless to say, the Limers entered the 2019 Marble League Showdown under immense pressure from the marblebase—fans that were flocking back from the Green Ducks, fans that had virtually no hope in the Limers, and fans in the middle of it all, who hoped that the Limers would at least get by.

Limers fans riot after their team finishes last in the 2019 Showdown. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, but not one of the thousands of words that compose this RetRollSpective could equate to the emotions that Limers fans felt when the Limers finished last during the 2019 Marble League Showdown. One of the fans that were banned from the Seven Seas Stadium expressed their disconcert,

“I guess I understand how the Oceanics fans feel, but at least they got to be a part of the Marble League championship. We won’t even get a chance to be in the championship until 2021, and that’s if we can score in more than half of the events, and score well. I have a right to be angry.”

The Limers declined to comment on the Showdown and its aftermath, although sources claimed that the Limers were beyond heartbroken. The public did not hear from the Limers until they were revealed as the sixteenth and final team invited to the inaugural season of Marbula One. Coach Keylime submitted Sublime and Limelime to compete in the tournament, stating:

“Sublime is our strongest individual athlete. It’s clear from their gold in the Snowboard Cross, but they’re also there in terms of being our team captain. Sublime’s leadership will take us far. And as for Limelime? Well, they finished last in the Funnel Race…so we expect them to be fast in Marbula One.”

The official promotional poster for the Limers in Marbula One Season 1. (Art Credit: Jack Ironhide)

Out of the Limelight

an addendum by Orbitball and Vector

Just a short while later, Sublime proved to be the team’s weakest individual athlete. With their highest finish being a tenth place at Momotorway, Sublime earned only one point and didn’t even finish the race at the Short Circuit, letting down both the team and their fans who had high expectations for the athlete.

“I just didn’t have enough energy to finish the race. Being so far behind the pack, I figured I would finish in sixteenth either way, so stopping was just what my body told me to do.” Sublime told the press shortly after the race. Sublime’s Short Circuit downfall began after they dropped eleven spots from fifth to sixteenth after taking the pit lane on the first lap.

Limelime, the reserve of the team, carried the Limers in terms of points, earning 24 points through two fourth places (at the O’raceway and Greenstone). However, with not even a single medal earned, it didn’t seem to be enough.

Finishing in fifteenth, only beating out the Hornets, the team was understandably disappointed. The Limers once again had to worry about potential retirement, and how their performances would impact their future as a team.

“Our fans are getting us through this. We’ve been just as let down as they’ve been, but they’ve held up hope for us, and have pushed us to keep competing,” Sublime stated in an interview following the Midnight Bay Grand Prix, “We feel like we’re past our prime.”

Following M1S1, the “sulking Limer” meme became popular on the sports channels of The Marblebase. The meme was even replicated for Season 2 when Limelime did not finish the Raceforest GP, as shown above. (Image Credit: Nugget)

During their extended offseason, Stynth visited the Limers as they prepared for the 2020 Marble League Showdown. The team’s new manager, Blimey, welcomed Stynth upon their arrival in Cassata.

“The team hired me just after the Marbula One season, so I’m new here,” Blimey said. “And hoo boy, do we have a lot to work on.”

“Blimey has been such a big help. We were running out of funding after appearing in Marbula One, but they’ve helped us get back up,” Coach Keylime tells Stynth, “I just don’t know if we’re too late.”

“No, we did not compete at a milk tournament. We spent our offseason training for the Showdown. And no, that training didn’t involve milk making, heh.” Goolime said at a fan Q&A, joined by Superball.

After a poor start to the Showdown, placing eighth in the Relay Run, it seemed the Limers would sink further and further down. They continued to sink in the standings, even holding the distinction of last place after the Black Hole Funnel. However, after the final event, Lemonlime managed to bring the team back up to eleventh place in the standings through a sixth-place finish in the Sand Mogul Race. It would be a valiant effort, but the team would manage to finish in an unsatisfactory position once again.

“Going into the event, I was hoping this could be their turning point after a rather disappointing M1 and terrible results in the 2019 Showdown,” former Limers fan, Lego, tells us, “Needless to say, the final result of the Limers solidified the fact for me that they aren’t the team to root for anymore.”

Blimey enjoying the Limers’ favorite dessert, cassata, with Lemonlime and Limelime. (Art Credit: Orbitball)

The team stayed silent for several months following the Showdown, leading many to wonder if the team would retire. However, to just about everyone’s surprise, it was revealed on 30 October that the Limers were invited to compete in Marbula One Season 2. This season, Lemonlime, “Citrus Quickness”, would be replacing Sublime in their Marbula One duo, with Limelime staying on the team.

Following an interview, Sublime expressed their dismay at not returning to the series. Coach Keylime had been quick to overrule the team captain’s request to compete in Season 2, sending Lemonlime instead.

“We decided to put in Lemonlime after seeing their potential in the Sand Moguls. If it wasn’t for the quick times of Azure and Bonbon, Lemonlime may have secured the wildcard spot and brought us out of the Showdown,” Keylime explains, somewhat despondent, “Either way, Lemonlime is a fast racer, and we’re all excited to see them compete.”

Due to recently acquired funding, the Limers submitted their Marbula One track, Monte Citrus, for review to be in Marbula One Season 2. The JMRC declined the track, instead opting to hold the seventh GP at the Jungle Jumper’s Raceforest, feeling the Limers track was “not exciting enough”. Redesigns were immediately put into action following the decision, with the Limers hoping to showcase the track in future seasons.

Despite the dissatisfaction of their hosting being denied, Limelime started the season off strong with a ninth-place after a brief stint in second during the first race of the season at Minty Mania. Lemonlime, on the other hand, proved to everyone that their concerns were justified, not even qualifying for their first GP at the O’raceway. Limelime followed suit, failing to qualify at the Honeydome, and although they qualified, Lemonlime finished in fourteenth place at the Aquamaring.

The Limers prepared for the fifth race of the season, Tumult Turnpike, sending out Limelime to compete. It was a chaotic course that played to Limelime’s strengths, with a banked turn where Limelime previously excelled. Although excited after qualifying in fifth, the team was not prepared for what would happen the next day.

Limelime accomplished what the Limers could not in over two years and earned a bronze medal during the Tumult Turnpike GP. With the rest of the team watching from the stands, Limelime fought fiercely upfront with Bolt and Yellow Eye for a majority of the race, even holding the lead for a couple of laps. The stunt brought the Limers up five spots in the standings to thirteenth place, two spots over the Raspberry Racers.

The Limers earn their first podium in a JMR sports tournament in nearly three years. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

“I’m just about as surprised as everyone else is,” Limelime says in an interview after the race, exhilarated, “I didn’t expect to win a medal here today, but the Balls of Chaos do pride themselves on being unexpected, so maybe I should’ve seen it coming.”

After the team’s medal, the Raspberry Racers were the final team from Season 1 that had yet to medal. However, that changed during the next event at the Arctic Circuit, with Ruzzy securing a bronze, and Lemonlime finishing in 15th. Even after a bronze medal, the team immediately finished in a shameful position.

The team’s sorrows would not end there. In December 2020, JMR had announced that a five-event long Winter Special would be occurring during the Marbula One break. 16 teams would be invited ~~personally~~ to compete in the tournament. Unfortunately, none of these teams would be the Limers. Instead, the team continued attempting to train for their upcoming races.

During the break between the first and second half of M1S2, the team had a lot of time to think about their recent shortcomings.

“We were out of motivation. Lying around in a hotel with the rest of the team, I thought to myself that surely there must be something we can do to keep busy while so many other teams were off competing,” Lemonlime said, “So, I suggested that we should do something with the Garden Peas, a team we had previously competed with during the Fruit Circuit. They’d been out of work for a while and I wanted to meet up with them again.”

All four of the Peas had been good friends with the Limers since they had joined the Fruit Circuit and were embroiled in a friendly rivalry with them long before the days of the Raspberry Racers. The two teams kept touch for a short while after the Circuit’s last edition but eventually grew apart as the Limers went on to pursue bigger things. Goolime and Limelime had also met the Garden Peas in 2018 when they stayed together in Sotsevsa for a couple of weeks, but the teams had not seen each other since.

“Initially Sublime voiced their objections,” continued Lemonlime. “But they were quickly overruled. We phoned up Sweetpea, the former captain, and started talking. It was great to hear them again, and we ended up discussing possibly bringing other teams into the fray. Before we knew it, we had ourselves a full-on reunion.”

Another team originating from the Fruit Circuit, Mellow Yellow had also not been invited to compete in the Winter Special. The team, being very good friends with the Limers, accepted the invitation gracefully. The Raspberry Racers and O’rangers, while veterans of the Fruit Circuit, had to decline invitations due to their participation in the Winter Special. The Jalapeños and Cayenne Cavalry, two teams with a bitter rivalry that had joined the Fruit Circuit in 2013, took their spots. Teams like the Avocado Apes, Blueberry Bonanza, Cherry Pits, Passionfruits, and Pumpkin Patch (the latter of whom had won the 2005 Circuit before retiring in 2009) had previously competed in the Fruit Circuit, but either had completely disbanded or were not available.

The Limers and Mellow Yellow chat ahead of their race in Dundseed. (Photo Credit: Nordique Whaler)

The Fruit Circuit Reunion was not like the competition they had competed in during their glory years. 16 teams would compete over five races, each one hosted by a different team. It would be practice for Marbula One for both the Limers and Mellow Yellow. The reunion also featured a variety of teams, both old and more recent. This included teams such as the Grape Nuts, Yarble Yellers, and Zoomchinis.

The Grape Nuts and Yarble Yellers, in particular, would be quite formidable teams, with the Grape Nuts winning both the 2008 and 2009 Circuits, and having on their team one of the most decorated marbles of the Fruit Circuit, Nuthin. The Yellers won as hosts in 2006, even finishing third in the 2015 Knikkegen Marble League, narrowly missing out on an invitation to Marble League 2016.

Cloudberry Colliders hosted the first race at their very own Cloud Caverns, located in Cloudcord, also being the city all the teams would meet up in. A short distance outside the orange team’s beautiful hometown was the Cloud Caverns. The course was treacherous, with part of the track making its way through a dark and twisty cave. The Limers were no stranger to offroad racing, however, and prepared accordingly.

The teams loaded the bus to the caverns and waited in anticipation of a track they had not competed at in years. It was nostalgic. On the way there, the teams struck up chatter, happy to see each other.

“So, how are you feeling about all this so far?” Rambutan, the captain of the Silver Lychees, asked Sublime after Sublime sat down next to them.

“Honestly, I had my doubts,” Sublime paused, “But it’s nice to see you guys after all. I mean, just look how much fun Limelime’s having already, and we haven’t even begun yet.” Sublime smiled and looked over to their left to see Limelime laughing with Chickpea of the Garden Peas.

“I know what you mean. We’ve been so busy with other competitions, but it’s probably nowhere close to what you guys have been doing. Being here brings back a lot of memories,” Rambutan stared out the window at the passing trees and chuckled to themself, “especially when we beat you in our debut year, what was that, 2011?”

Sublime returned the gesture to one-up Rambutan, “Yeah, you might’ve won by a single point, but I don’t think you want to remember what happened the next year.” Rambutan started to say something, but stopped, knowing Sublime had them beat. The Silver Lychees choked the lead in the final event of the 2012 Circuit, falling to third behind the Watermelon Wanderers and the Limers. The pair sat in silence, a warm feeling in their hearts as they approached the racetrack. Sublime knew their team needed this.

The team unanimously decided that Limelime should go in the first race. They wanted to start with a bang. And start with a bang they did. With the starting order randomized, Limelime began in thirteenth. As the lights blinked, Limelime prepared themselves as they looked around to all the other competitors. They spotted the rest of the team in the stands cheering them on in the stands. Goolime had even made signs for them. Limelime smirked as the light turned green, and they were off.

Limelime burst out into the front of the pack, overwhelming the rest of the competitors as they took a particularly good left turn. Moving their way up the order, Limelime passed by Tart of the Strawberry Strudels and Ani of the Aniseed Balls to take first place. Their technical skills shown at Tumult Turnpike shone on this course, even though they had never raced on it before. They exited the cave with a burst of speed across the finish line, taking first and earning the team gold to start.

All five of the Limers were ecstatic. This was one of the biggest successes they had in years, even if it was in a friendly competition. Limelime returned to the stands and the team cheered, extremely proud of what they had accomplished. Limelime was also congratulated by the other teams as they sat atop the podium above the Strawberry Strudels in second and the Cloudberry Colliders in third on their home track.

Making their way to the next course, Seedway, hosted in Dundseed, Slimelime was elected to participate. The Aniseed Balls had only used this track one time when they last hosted the entire Circuit in 2014. Slimelime had previously scored a bronze medal here in 2005 and was the team’s best bet. However, after setting expectations too high after the first race, Slimelime did not meet those expectations. A fifth-place had the team wondering if they were returning to their typical performances. The Grape Nuts placed first and overtook the Limers for second in the standings, while the Jalapeños placed second and the Yarble Yellers third.

“Oh well,” Slimelime sighed, “We take what we can get. We’re proud of Limelime and that’s what matters. It’s just good to be here in a lighthearted competition.”

Their performance didn’t get much better throughout the final three races, placing eleventh at the Garden Peas’ Overgrowth, twelfth and the Jalapeños’ Chili Pepper Cross, and thirteenth at the Silver Lychees’ Rambutan Run. Their initial gold carried them to finish tenth in the standings, a bottom half finish they were all too familiar with. However, there was a spark of hope within them, as they considered the future of their team.

The final standings of the Fruit Circuit Reunion. (Design Credit: Fouc)

A team that did get much better in the final races, however, was Mellow Yellow. Yelley and Yellup respectively took home two golds in the final two races to give Mellow Yellow a dominant win over the Grape Nuts and Watermelon Wanderers. The Cayenne Cavalry finished with fewer than 10 points after the Banana Splits overtook them after the race at Rambutan Run.

Although the team was coming off of their highest point in years at Tumult Turnpike, they could not keep the momentum. At the Raceforest GP, after staying in midpack for most of the race, Limelime hit a curb and got stuck on the track. Razzy, who had nearly been lapped, failed to collide with Limelime, resulting in the Limer’s second DNF.

Despite a promising qualifying in fifth, Lemonlime put in another disappointing showing at the Momotorway, coming in fifteenth.

“I just wasn’t feeling up to it tonight. I’m sorry.” Lemonlime had said, after being asked about their terrible performance at the race.

Unsurprisingly, the team was in a bad mental state following this start. Talks of the team announcing retirement following M1S2 began to stir, but Goolime was quick to voice their opinions on the matter.

“The way I see it, JMR keeps throwing opportunities at us, what with M1 and the Showdown, so we must be good for something, right?”

But it wouldn’t get better at Palette Park. Limelime did well by finishing eighth and getting to Q2, but once again suffered a massive fall and ended up battling to stay out of the basement with Ruzzy. While Limelime finished fifteenth ahead of Ruzzy, it was another scoreless run, and another drop in positions for the Limers to nineteenth place, yet to pick up a point since the first half.

The Limers would finally break their pointless streak at the controversial Misty Mountain GP, with Lemonlime getting a decent ninth position.

But those who thought that the Limers may do a late-season comeback were proven wrong, as the team saw themselves slip back down to second to last after failing to score in the final two races at the Savage Speedway and Midnight Bay.

To make matters worse for the team, they didn’t even have the Qualifiers to fall back on. It looked like 2021 would be yet another farce for them, when they received some surprising news during an interview outside Goolime’s Lemono cottage.

“Yeah, we’re all a bit gutted with M1S2, and us having to sit out another Marble League and… uhh- sorry, would you excuse me for a second? This isn’t a good time, I know, but I have just been given a letter from JMR, and as I’m sure you know it’s not every day this happens, and… oh. Well then. You might have to disregard what I said earlier, because unless this is some kind of prank or forgery, and I doubt it is because it’s quite hard to forge… oh, sorry, am I rambling on a bit? Anyway, the gist of the letter is that… we’ve got another chance in the Qualifiers.”

The new qualification system presented the Limers with a chance to either redeem or embarrass themselves…or accomplish both. (Design Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

Introduced on 13 April 2021, the new qualification system allowed the bottom four Showdown teams an opportunity to qualify for the 2021 Marble League. The Limers were sorted into Group B alongside their old rivals, the Raspberry Racers.

Before Qualifiers, the Limers traveled to Felynia to compete in the Practice Race. Lemonlime represented the team and finished eighth overall, beating all of their Fruit Circuit rivals except for Kinnowin from the O’rangers.

In RetRollSpective, the Limers are a team that has done better in earlier years, especially before the Marble League. The rise of newer teams, notably the Raspberry Racers, has put into question the Limers’ form and overall capabilities. Nevertheless, there is something to be said about the team’s resilience, and after hitting rock-bottom in both Showdowns, we can only hope that they will come back stronger than they have ever been. Best of luck to the Limers in the near future, keep on rolling!

Credits

Writers: Orbitball, Stynth, Vector
Editors: Efmo, The Emperor, Fouc, Smacg13, Skyfall_707
Artists: Jack Ironhide, Nugget, Orbitball
Graphic Designers: Fouc, Jelle’s Marble Runs, Tim Ritz, Spex
Photographers: Jelle’s Marble Runs, NordiqueWhaler, Phoenix
Release: 17/08/2021

RetRollSpective – Chocolatiers

Hello and welcome to another RetRollSpective, where we reflect on the history of marble sports teams that have appeared in the tournaments of Jelle’s Marble Runs. This time, we’re going to focus on the Chocolatiers, a team that debuted in Marble League 2016. Read on to see how this team has sweetened the competition!

The official logo for the Chocolatiers, designed by Tim Ritz.

The Chocolatiers, true to their name, are chocolatiers—simple as that. The team met—as confectioners do—in a chocolate festival held in the mountaintop village of Bonsel, known to tourists as the “Sweetest Place On Marblearth”. The Chocolatiers worked in towns surrounding the base of Mt. Bonsel, with Choc from Giradel, Cocoa from Lindel, Mocha from Toblel, and Fudge from Ferrel. Bonbon, fittingly, worked in Bonsel itself and organized the festival, where the goal was to create the longest chocolate bar in the world and set a world record. Over the course of ten days, the confectioners worked day and night to cook and shape the bar, and in the end, they succeeded.

Shortly after they broke the world record, the chocolatiers celebrated the occasion with an official ceremony and reception. The ceremony was attended by marbles from across the region, including several celebrities. The night’s guest speaker was none other than “Royal” Candy of the Jawbreakers, who had entered the Surculo the previous year.

“As my career in sports has taught me, you have to do the things you love in life, and when you work really hard at those things, you create something that is bigger than yourself. These chocolatiers have quite literally achieved that, and I congratulate them on this momentous achievement. Keep on rolling.”

After delivering their keynote, Candy introduced themselves to Bonbon and the rest of the chocolatiers. They spoke throughout the night, as Candy exchanged stories of their successes in the ELMC and the Surculo and the five confectioners described their process designing and perfecting the recipe for their chocolate bar. It was a night that would forever change their lives.

The next week, the five met up to celebrate, catch-up, and determine what they would do with the leftover part of the chocolate bar, which was being stored in a gymnasium. As they were discussing, Cocoa rolled away from the group and behind the bar. They sprinted towards the bar and leaped off of a ramp, jumping over the piece of chocolate. The four other members of the group, after measuring the bar to be about 30 centimeters long, then took their turns. Each of them landed at around 20-25 centimeters, with Fudge accidentally landing on the strip of chocolate and snapping it in half.

“That was the most embarrassing moment of my life,” Fudge recalled, shuddering. “I let it get to me a little too much, though. If I could redo my reaction to that, I would have accepted the invitation to join the Chocolatiers from day one.”

The Chocolatiers entered the Surculo just before the application deadline in 2013 and initially did not impress with a mediocre finish in the bottom half of the standings. The team hired a coach, Praline, early in the season to help them train and adjust to the competition, but they did not feel as if they were prepared enough. They debuted in the 2014 Surculo with a new trainer, Coach Truffle, and their results soared, qualifying them for the elite league in sixth. In the 2015 Surculo, the Chocolatiers earned consecutive medals during the first half of the season. They finished in fifth overall, even after a questionable latter-half performance.

The four original members of the Chocolatiers, as photographed in 2017. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The Chocolatiers had heard of the Marble League from the Jawbreakers, who they were friendly with even in the Surculo. Candy had heard a rumor that the top three teams from the 2015 Surculo would be delegated to participate, meaning that the Jawbreakers, Rojo Rollers, and Quicksilvers would compete in the 2016 Marble League. The rumor turned out to be partly true—the top three teams would be invited, not forced to compete, and if a team declined, the invitation would be extended to the next best team.

“We were hoping that we would be invited,” Choc said. “We didn’t want to participate in the Surculo knowing that we were missing out on a greater opportunity—the opportunity to set world records in the League! When the Quicksilvers and Jungle Jumpers both declined their invitations, that was the most exciting day of my life.”

The Chocolatiers debuted in the 2016 Marble League in Balancing, where they—much to their shock—placed fourteenth. Despite their dismal debut, the Chocolatiers did much better in the Relay Race, winning the Consolation Round and placing fifth, putting their first three points on the board. What followed for the team, though, was five events of silence. With two penultimate finishes and several others outside of the top eight, the Chocolatiers earned zero points, and they fell from ninth to fourteenth in the overall standings.

A moment where it seemed like the Chocolatiers were raising the bar… (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The team experienced a moment of potential revitalization when Choc earned the Chocolatiers’ first medal after placing second in the 10 Meter Sprint, which they followed with two fifth-place finishes in Team Pursuit and Quartet Diving. Unfortunately, the Chocolatiers’ fate was already sealed by their tenth place finish in Precision Slalom: they were out of championship contention. The Chocolatiers finished the 2016 Marble League in thirteenth place with 16 points, miring themselves in mediocrity for their inaugural season.

“There were a lot of factors going into why we did so poorly in 2016. The points system was harsh, but the simple truth is that we weren’t prepared for the rest of the teams competing,” Cocoa identified, “especially the Savage Speeders. They set two records!”

The Chocolatiers returned to their villages and started searching for land to build an arena and training facility. They began construction on their Cocoa Arena in late 2016, which would sit at the foot of Mt. Bonsel, just outside of Ferrel. The stadium was completed midway through the 2017 Marble League, and its construction was supervised by Fudge.

In the meantime, the team trained in Jawnair, in a separate facility from the Jawbreakers, and traveled to Knikkegen in June 2017 for the Marble League Qualifiers. The Chocolatiers qualified in tenth place without any podium-worthy placements, conserving their energy for the main tournament.

A defining moment in Cocoa’s career, even if they didn’t break a Marble League record. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

Mocha started the Chocolatiers’ 2017 Marble League season strong, with a sixth place in Funnel Spinning. Cocoa took this momentum and drove it into their performance in the Long Jump, leaping into the sand as if they were leaping over the world’s longest chocolate bar. With a final result of 71.3 centimeters, Cocoa won the event, winning the Chocolatiers’ first gold medal and sending the team to the top of the standings. The team continued to remain close to the top of the standings throughout the first half of the season, helped back up to the top from second with Choc’s fourth-place finish in the 5 Meter Sprint, and only fell to fifth overall after the Relay Run, where they placed tenth.

By this point, though, the Chocolatiers’ shortage of medals, combined with finishes in the bottom eight, was beginning to hurt their place in the standings. The team had earned 54 points during the first third of the 2017 Marble League and would only double their points in the next eight events by earning just one more medal: a silver in Archery. The Chocolatiers finished their 2017 season in eighth place overall, kept in the top half of the standings by Bonbon’s fourth-place finish in the Sand Rally.

Critics of the team began referring to them as the “Choke-latiers” during and after the 2017 season, referring to their tendency to freefall down the rankings after earning one bad result by continuing to fumble in a streak of subpar performances. Needless to say, the team was not in favor.

“We were complacent,” Mocha admitted, referring to their success early on in the season. “I especially was, after doing so well in Funnel Spinning. Unfortunately, the League’s record in the Underwater Race was just out of my reach!”

Choc holds back tears in an unfortunate fourth-place finish. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The Chocolatiers returned home without much fanfare, despite bringing two medals back with them. They got together a few times a week to train in anticipation of the 2018 Winter Marble League Draw in December 2017. During the offseason, the Chocolatiers recruited Fudge to join as the team’s reserve, and they accepted without hesitation.

The team was sorted into Group A, along with the Jawbreakers, Quicksilvers, and Rojo Rollers—all alumni from the Surculo—and the Minty Maniacs, one of their customers from Herbotamia. The stakes were high, and despite placing fourth in Curling, the Chocolatiers were not able to reach them in the other three events. All four of the former Surculo teams, along with the Jungle Jumpers in Group B, failed to qualify for the 2018 Winter Marble League.

The teams we missed in Marble League 2018. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

“I can’t say we didn’t see it coming,” Bonbon conceded. “We weren’t confident heading into Qualifiers, and we all knew it! It still really hurt that we didn’t make it to our first Marble League, but that’s where all we need is that confidence. While we watched from the stands, we were already hungry…hungry for the championship in 2019!”

The five were not entirely inactive during the main tournament, though—they helped run concessions in the Arctic Circle and sold their homemade chocolate to fans. By staying in touch with their art, they were able to publicize their annual chocolate festival, which they hosted in Bonsel during the offseason, at the same time as the 100 Meter Water Race.

Although the Chocolatiers skipped the 100 Meter Water Race, they were eligible to participate in the Consolation Race, which featured the teams which did not qualify for the 2018 Winter Marble League. Cocoa finished second after leading for much of the race, an encouraging performance from a team that desperately needed it. The four original members of the team competed in the Amazing Maze Marble Race and lost in their heat with a score of 31.

That said, the question of the Chocolatiers qualifying for the 2019 Marble League was truly a toss-up. The team had reportedly focused more on training since the end of the chocolate festival, according to Coach Truffle:

“We’ve reorganized our priorities, and we recognize that chocolate will always be there for us. The chance to qualify won’t, and we are determined to return to the main tournament in record time!”

The Chocolatiers were able to do so with four consistent finishes—two in fourth place and two in fifteenth place. They qualified for the 2019 Marble League in twelfth place, just barely making it—but making it.

The Chocolatiers’ best start to a Marble League yet. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

In the months leading up to the 2019 Marble League, the Chocolatiers released a special Marble League-branded mint chocolate ice cream flavor named “Mint Chocolate Condition”, but they were otherwise training hard for their return to the limelight. Coach Truffle decided that Choc would compete in the Underwater Race instead of Mocha, which Mocha was relieved to hear. This decision paid off for the team, as the Choc earned the season’s first bronze medal. Much like 2017, the Chocolatiers were off to a good start.

That sentiment quickly shifted after Funnel Endurance and Balancing, where the team placed in the bottom four places and fell from third to eleventh overall. The team pivoted in the Gravitrax Slalom, placing ninth, and Cocoa performed well in the 5 Meter Sprint, placing sixth, but the Chocolatiers stumbled in the next two events. They were sitting in twelfth before the Summer Biathlon, which would mark the midpoint of the season.

Bonbon made it through both their heat and their semifinal in second place, advancing to the final and nearly overtaking Hop for the gold medal. Hop won the event by three-thousandths of a second in a razor-thin photo finish, and Bonbon earned a silver medal for their team.

The Chocolatiers ended the first half of their season in tenth place with 63 points and were determined to keep working hard. In a post-event interview, Mocha stated, “A lot of us aren’t doing the same events that we did in 2017, and that’s because during our training we’ve reevaluated where we’re most comfortable competing. I think that it’s working out well for us, even if we aren’t doing well in team events.”

Bonbon lost their photo-finish but earned a hard-fought silver in 2019’s Summer Biathlon. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

Mocha proceeded to place sixth in Hurdles, but the team fell to twelfth overall. What followed was yet another streak of the “Choke-latiers”, with Cocoa’s DNF in the Dirt Race looking and feeling the most disappointing of the three.

“I didn’t have the energy to keep rolling,” Cocoa confessed. “I know it looked so bad on camera, but I knew that if I tired myself out too much, I would injure myself in the final.”

The Chocolatiers began to rise from the abyss too late, even with Bonbon’s sixth place in the Elimination Race and the team’s fourth place in Collision. They finished the 2019 Marble League in twelfth place, a far cry from the beginning of their season in third, and a disappointing end to what could have been a comeback story.

During the offseason, the Chocolatiers became the first team to change their captain. Cocoa relinquished the role in early 2020, with Choc serving throughout the 2020 season. When asked if Cocoa couldn’t handle the pressure as team leader after 2019, they flatly denied it. “The decision wasn’t about how much energy I dedicate to the team. It’s just…Choc’s energy levels are even higher!”

The Last Bite

an addendum by Roilan Estates

Even with the disappointing season, the team was ready to get back to it—chocolate making, that is. The annual festival wouldn’t be for a few months, but they were always crafting brilliant chocolate delicacies for the Mount Bonsel region. Each new delicacy was an exciting challenge for the team, and it kept them busy when they weren’t training.

“The sting of failure isn’t as bad when you have something else you love just as much to fall back on,” Mocha explained.

As the summer turned to fall at Mount Bonsel, and the festival quickly approached, the Chocolatiers focused more and more on perfecting their craft. The focus on confectionery responsibilities came at the expense of preparing for the upcoming Marble League Qualifiers. Training sessions were cut short in favor of sculpting magnificent chocolate creations, and training runs got skipped in favor of creating new flavors of chocolate delights. Even with some intense sessions in the weeks leading up to the competition, it was not enough to get them in top form.

The lack of form became apparent in a rough start to Qualifying for the 2020 Marble League. The Chocolatiers were first in the gate for Balancing to start, but could not put together a clean performance. They only got one marble past 100 and ended with 295 points—good enough for thirteenth.

“Seeing our names first in the starting order caught us by surprise,” Bonbon admitted, “It rattled us. We were too eager to get a good result and set the tone for the rest of the event that we tailed left. Choc did well with the 108, but we need to calm the nerves.”

First in the gate to start Qualifying. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

Cocoa had a hot start in the Funnels and was the last marble out of the first funnel, but after a few unfavorable collisions, fell quickly down the track. They made a nice move right at the end to get around Cyan Eye of the Crazy Cat’s Eyes to salvage fifth in their heat and seventh in the event. With their performance, the Chocolatiers sat twelfth in the overall standings—on the right side of the relegation line with two events to go. They were last in the starting gate for Block Pushing; despite winning their heat against the Jawbreakers, their score of 57.7 was only good enough for fourteenth. With a twelfth place finish in the 5 Meter Sprint, the team finished one point below the cut-off line in sixteenth and would miss the Marble League for the second time in three years.

Almost unaffected by another poor performance, the Chocolatiers returned for the most exciting part of their year—the annual chocolate festival. Even in the winter, the weather was beautiful for the week-long exhibition of confection, which Stynth and I were briefly able to attend. While I spent most of my time sampling some of the finest candies on Marblearth, Stynth resisted the sweet temptation of the festival and conducted an informal interview with the team.

My trip up Mt. Bonsel, where I would attend the village’s annual chocolate festival, was nothing short of fantastical, with spectacular views from the trolley car as it teetered up to the top. I was welcomed there by Choc, the team’s new captain, and they escorted me through the winding alleyways to the city center…Choc smiled and directed me into a candy store, where the rest of the team was waiting.

“This is my home,” Bonbon stated with pride. “I’ve spent more hours in this shop than I have training, and it’s not even close.”

“We’re currently working with other Marble League teams on selling different sweets worldwide,” Fudge continued. “We secured a deal with the O’rangers to sell chocolate-covered candied oranges, and we’re working with the Oceanics on salt-water taffy.”

“But we’ve been training,” Cocoa hastily added. “Choc has been doing a great job leading the team. We feel more confident in team events now than we ever have before.”
from “Offseason Moments – ML2020 Showdown”, by Stynth

Wading in a stream atop Mount Bonsel. (Photo Credit: Vector)

There were seven weeks until the Marble League Showdown after the festival, and Truffle sat down to talk about the future of the team. The longtime coach had a minimal part of the team’s chocolatiering and had watched as their priorities shifted away from marble sports. In a long conversation, the team talked about what the future of their careers would look like and if they still had the motivation to continue. After much consideration and talk, Choc stood up and reinforced a comment from 2019.

“We recognize that chocolate will always be there for us. The chance to compete in the Marble League won’t.”

With the new mindset, the team had a reinvigorated motivation in their training. The divide in responsibilities became more balanced, and the training routine became more consistent and more intense.

They arrived at the Andromedome a completely different team than when they were there the first time. Fans could enjoy the new “Choco’rangers” delights while watching the Chocolatiers conduct their best career four-event stretch in some time, not without some frustration. In the opening event, they were comfortably leading the Relay before Team Primary had a remarkable final handoff, beating the Chocolatiers in a photo finish and taking the final transfer spot.

Resilient, the team did not let their disappointment distract them from the task at hand and they went into the Halfpipe determined to raise the bar. Even though they were paired with Team Primary who had just beaten them, the team pulled together. In their second run, Choc and Mocha got as far up the course as they could while Cocoa and Bonbon tactically got in the way of the Primary athletes, preventing them from rolling as far up the halfpipe. Their strategy paid off and the Chocolatiers finished on a time of 62.19, over four seconds ahead of Team Primary. For the first time since 2017, the team captured gold, standing on the top step of the podium after the Halfpipe. Adding a couple more top-half finishes, the Chocolatiers found themselves back on the podium at the end of the season with a third-place finish overall and 38 points.

The Chocolatiers’ first taste of an overall podium: their bronze medal in the 2020 Showdown. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

There was a new energy and optimism under the leadership of Choc.

“They’ve shown great leadership in competition and out,” Truffle described, “I truly don’t know if the team would have competed if not for Choc altering the team’s focus. Cocoa is a great leader in the competition, but the team feeds off of Choc’s energy.”

As usual, the off-season was dedicated to making chocolate. The annual festival was over, but they continued their Marble League collaborations. As they were finishing a new wave of collaborative confections, they got a surprise letter from the JMRC. They had been invited to the Marble League Winter Special. With no Marbula One to train for, the main priority at the time was chocolate. There had been consistent training sessions, but not to the intensity of in-season training. Again, the team debated whether or not to accept the invitation. However, in an attempt to keep them in form, Truffle accepted on their behalf.

“We probably would have convinced ourselves to decline,” Bonbon joked when asked about the moment. “This was a great opportunity to compete against some of the best teams again; I’m glad Truffle took the initiative.”

The performance in the special was less than ideal. They never really reached the potential that they showed during the Marble League Showdown. Their only notable result was in the final event when Mocha scored an overtime goal to beat the top-seeded Oceanics; the team finished in fifth in the event, just enough to jump the Snowballs in the standings end in 15th overall with 22 points.

Toppling the top seed in the Marble League Winter Special. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The trip to the Himarblelayas did feature the release of a new delicacy. Rekindling a partnership from 2019, they worked with the unofficial hosts, the Minty Maniacs, to release “Choco-mint Mania Cakes”: chocolate peppermint lava cakes. Not long after the Marble League Winter Special, the five made the trip across the continent to Lewara and made an appearance at the Raceforest GP. They proudly launched “Choconut cookies”: a line of chocolate chip cookies with assorted tree nuts including almonds, cashews, and pecans.

As the year progressed, and the team found a balance between making chocolate and training for the upcoming Marble League Qualifiers, there came news of the Jawbreakers going on hiatus.

“The team was a big part in getting us into Marble Sports and the Marble League,” Choc reminisced, “Candy was, and is to this day, a huge inspiration to us. They were always so supportive. It won’t be the same without them around.”

The connections to the Chocolatiers continue through the manager position. Approaching the Marble League 2021 qualifying, the team hired Caramel to be the team manager. Caramel had spent a bit of time in the Jawbreakers organization before joining the Chocolatiers and was brought on to help Truffle balance the training schedule and miscellaneous managerial tasks. While Truffle is involved with the team no matter what, Caramel will stay out of the chocolatiering and be exclusively involved with marble sports.

There was an excited buzz at the base of Mt. Bonsel as the team arrived in Felynia for the first time. They arrived and headed to the sand—not quite for qualifiers yet, but for a practice race. It was Bonbon in the starting gate, already with a fourth in the sand to their name. In a field of 28 this time, Bonbon was able to replicate their 2017 performance with a fourth-place finish.

Bonbon built on their overlooked expertise in the Sand Rally during the Practice Race. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

Instead of going back home, the Chocolatiers went to Jawnair in their time between the practice race and the Marble League. Training in the building where they trained before the completion of the Cocoa Arena, the Chocs kept up with their strict training routine while spending some time with the Jawbreakers before the team had to go back to Felynia.

“It was a welcome break from the constant work we normally put in. We love chocolatiering, but we’re all perfectionists, so making chocolate isn’t exactly stress-free,” Fudge admitted.

“We even got a chance to go to Lewara. The Jungle Jumpers were hosting a party in honor of the hiatus,” Cocoa added, “We’re all rivals during competition. It’s nice to step back and appreciate our competitors outside of the Marble League every once and a while.”

The two teams played round after round of Marbkart, a popular party racing video game, and shared chocolate candies provided by Bonbon.

In RetRollSpective, the Chocolatiers are one of the original teams that have seen up and down results. The inconsistency almost led to them folding but decided to continue under the leadership of a new captain and a reinvigorated mindset. With hope, the team will work on group events and raise the bar for this year. Best of luck to the Chocolatiers in the near future, keep on rolling!

Credits

Writers: Roilan Estates, Stynth
Additional Writing: Fouc
Editors: Efmo, Fouc, Smacg13, Ramen Powder, Skyfall_707
Graphic Designers: Tim Ritz
Photographers: Jelle’s Marble Runs, Vector
Release: 13/08/2021

RetRollSpective – Bumblebees

Hello and welcome to another RetRollSpective, where we reflect on the history of marble sports teams that have appeared in the tournaments of Jelle’s Marble Runs. This time, we’re flying over to the Bumblebees, the champions of Hubelino Tournament Season 2 and hosts of Marble League 2023. Read on to find out how this team has stung the competition!

The official logo for the Bumblebees, designed by Tim Ritz.

The Bumblebees’ city of origin, Buzzpig, lies on the eastern border of the Buzznya region, as far east as Buzzkill, the Hornets’ city of origin, is to the west. The two teams built a legendary rivalry within the region that extended to the Bug Circuit in the early 2010s and the Marble League from 2019 until 2021.

Bumble founded the team over a decade ago to compete with the Hornets, who were beginning to build a fanbase in Buzzpig. “Our city didn’t have an official sports team, and I wanted to change that,” they explained. “I knew Bea, Swax, Honey, and Bomble from playing bugby in club sports, and we were all confident enough in our athletics, even though we weren’t really into racing.”

Queen, who was, at the time, an active member of the Royal Family of Buzznya, fully endorsed the establishment of the Bumblebees and deemed them the official sports team of Buzzpig. Queen would go on to coach the team during the Bug Circuit, drawing from their own experiences in sports playing cricket.

Shortly after the Bumblebees were founded, the Royal Family of Buzznya announced the first annual Bug Circuit to determine the best team in the land. The Bumblebees were selected to host the first season in 2011, and that year, they did so in their newly constructed Buzzbowl. After a season of events in water, dirt, and sand, the Bumblebees finished as runners-up to the Hornets, above the Ladybugs in third.

The final podium for the 2011 Bug Circuit. (Design Credit: Spark11A)

Over the next two years, the Hornets continued to make the podium while the Bumblebees continued to finish in the top five. The Bumblebees earned their first championship at the end of the 2014 Bug Circuit, where they competed at the Snails’ Slowlane. The team dominated, sweeping all of the snow races and placing in the top half of the remaining events. The Hornets struggled throughout the year, and although they placed in the top half, they could not get close to the Cockroaches and Grasshoppers in second and third, respectively.

Revenge came swiftly next year for the Bumblebees, who did poorly during the 2015 Bug Circuit, which the Hornets hosted and won at their Hivedrive. The events that the Hornets offered played to the Bumblebees’ weaknesses as a team, and the team placed outside of the top five for the first time in their history.

“There was no doubt that they offered the Catwalk to spite us,” insisted Bea. “Before then, we had always seen our rivalry as more symbolic than competitive—even after losing in 2011. 2015 changed everything.”

2016 was a better year for the Bumblebees, as they placed third at the Water Striders’ Stridosphere—although the Hornets followed closely behind in fourth place. By 2017, the Bumblebees were beginning to lose interest in the Circuit. While they still placed in the top five, the team had come to the conclusion that they were weary of the competition and needed a change.

The Bumblebees found that change in the 2018 Hubelino Tournament, which had an opening following Team Phoenix’s retirement. They applied and were accepted because of their successes in the Bug Circuit and their proximity to Herbotamia; the team was close enough to be considered a regional competitor.

An early victory for the Bees that kept them motivated in the end. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The Bumblebees were excited to compete against a new slate of competitors, even if it was in a tournament that was seen as more of a “friendly”. They debuted as well as they possibly could have in the Swing Wave, earning their first gold medal. The Catwalk was next, however, and the team lost in their heat, placing seventh and allowing the Minty Maniacs to rise to the top of the standings. After another finish in the lower half of the standings in Funnel Spinning, the Bees dropped out of the top three. They would fight to regain first place for the rest of the tournament.

Their second gold medal in the Halfpipes brought them back to second overall, but the Bumblebees’ low score in Block Bumping dropped the team down to fourth again. As the Minty Maniacs reclaimed the top spot following the Relay Race, it seemed as if they were the favorites to win the tournament.

“I wasn’t going to let that get in the way. We had a job to do,” vowed Swax.

Swax earned the Bumblebees’ third gold medal of the season in the Maze, swindling it away from the Minty Maniacs. The team rose to second overall, six points behind the Maniacs, and knew they needed to give it their all in the Big Tower—and they did. Bumble earned the team’s fourth gold medal of the season in an underdog upset, just a second ahead of the Ruby Rollers to win the 2018 Hubelino Tournament.

2018 was a bad year to be a Green Gang/Momo fan…but a great year to be a Bumblebees fan! An early victory for the Bees that kept them motivated in the end. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

Buzzpig welcomed the Bumblebees home, holding a citywide parade to celebrate the team’s victory. Fans of JMR noted the Bees’ exemplary performance in their rookie season, having won half of the eight events, and began calling for them to compete in the 2019 Marble League Qualifiers. The team was flattered, but not interested.

“We thought it would be too fast,” Honey pondered. “We wanted at least another year of competing before we thought about vying for Qualifiers.”

The announcement of the Marble League Showdown changed the Bumblebees’ plans, but they were okay with the development, as it would still give them a year of competing before a chance to qualify. The Bees accepted their spot in the Showdown, guaranteed to them by their first-place finish in the 2018 Hubelino Tournament, and began using pseudonyms such as “Bramble” and “Bromble” to protect their identities, much like the O’rangers in the 2016 Marble League. What the team wasn’t expecting, however, was that their old rivals would also be joining the tournament.

The debut of a regional league rivalry on the international stage. An early victory for the Bees that kept them motivated in the end. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The Hornets, coming off of a second-place finish in the 2018 Bug Circuit, were truly looking to bring the sting in the Showdown. Vespa blocked Bea throughout the Sand Rally until halfway through the race, when Bea was finally able to overtake them. However, Bea could never get close enough to Candy, and after briefly passing Vespa again, Bea got caught on the course and could not recover the podium. They finished the Sand Rally in sixth place, while Vespa earned the first silver of the four-event tournament.

“They came back with a vengeance, and we really weren’t prepared,” Bumble, masquerading as “Brumble”, admitted. “As soon as we realized we couldn’t compete against the Hornets, though, we focused as much as we could on qualifying.”

The Bumblebees’ best placement during the Showdown was fourth in Funnel Endurance, which Bomble (Bromble) competed in. The team managed to place ahead of the Hornets in the event and rise into seventh in the standings, a position that would allow them to advance to the 2020 Marble League Qualifiers. By placing seventh in Balancing, they were able to maintain exactly that and would go on to appear in the competition on 18 June.

“I bee-lieve they have so much potential,” Coach Queen remarked. “And no, I’m not apologizing for that pun. They have grown so much in the past decade, and I am positive that they will thrive in the 2020 Marble League. If not, they’ll at least do better than the Hornets in Marbula One.”

Taking Flight

an addendum by The Emperor

The Bumblebees started off brilliantly in the Marble League 2020 Qualifiers, earning a silver in Balancing. Then they collapsed, placing no higher than fifteenth in the remaining three events. However, their silver was good enough to get them into the League on a tiebreaker, and thus, the Bumblebees made their Marble League debut in 2020. Sadly, it did not go as they hoped, never touching anything above eighth place in the standings throughout the tournament.

The team started with an eighth-place finish in Balancing, the event that they had excelled at in the Qualifiers. Another mediocre finish (tenth) in the Halfpipe dropped the team to ninth. With a seventh-place finish in Funnel Endurance, the Bumblebees rose to the top half again. Bumble and Swax set a very good score in the Newton’s Cradle early on, only for it to be broken by six of the remaining eight teams that went after the Bumblebees.

“It was unbeelieveable,” Swax said after the event. “We were doing so well, and only managing eighth stings.”

Bea could not keep up the momentum, however, in the Long Jump, with a paltry fourteenth place finish. With three more bottom-half finishes in a row, the team sat in thirteenth place at the end of the first half.

“We’ve gotta head in the right direction from here on out. Pick up the pace in the second half.” Honey said. Honey placed in a respectable eighth in the Sand Moguls, but the team had three more consecutive bottom-half finishes from the Sprint to the Relay Race. Honey would turn the tide in the High Jump, however, with a silver medal.

The Bees’ first Marble League medal in the 2020 High Jump. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

“Well, as soon as I saw Honey in Round 2 of High Jump I knew that we would be on the podium. Our first ever ML Podium,” Henke, a Bumblebees fan, said. “Then Round 3 came and Honey did not disappoint. They jumped like never before. [They] were clearly determined, and they delivered. Our first ever [ML] podium.”

“Both the Hornets and Bumblebees have struggled to find their footing throughout the season, with the Hornets’ highest finish being fourth in the Triathlon.” Stynth, a former JMRC member, said after the event. “The Bumblebees may not be making waves as rookies, but they do seem to be staying ahead of the Hornets in the standings. May-bee that’s all that matters for them this season.”

The Bumblebees would have two more mediocre finishes before placing fifth in the marathon, ending the league in eleventh; five points ahead of the Green Ducks, but more than a medal behind the top ten.

The Bees finished respectably ahead of many Marble League veterans and the other newcomers at the end of their first Marble League. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

“I bee-lieve we exceeded our expectations for this year,” Swax said after the closing ceremony. “We beat the Hornets, got a decent result, and our first-ever medal in the Marble League!”

The Bumblebees returned to Buzznya for the offseason and spent most of their days at the royal palace. The palace had a luxurious view of the Honeycomb Island, where the Bumblebees would spend some of their days training when they weren’t playing bugby.

“I know we should bee training for the exhibition tournament,” Honey admitted, referring to the upcoming reunion of the Herbotamia Tournament. “We wanted to have a little fun, though. It’s not like we’re going to win against the Minty Maniacs this time, anyway.”

“I would bee mad if we did. They were absolutely incredible this season,” added Bumble.

They would partake in the reunion tournament soon and visited the host city of Chlorotopia with Stynth. They played Marbles & Monoliths on the bus ride over, which included Stynth’s character, Momomomomomo, being shattered by a fidget spinner, and Swax’s character, Snax, getting eaten by a giant donut monster.

The Bumblebees participated in the Herbotamia Tournament the next day. The results of said tournament, protected under a strict NDA, are not known except to those who were present.

Following the Herbotamia Tournament, the Bumblebees returned back to Buzznya for a break. The team had set up an obstacle course full of all sorts of events to train on.

“You’ve got to have fun while you’re training,” Swax said. “If there is no fun involved, why bother?”

The promotional poster for the Bumblebees in Marbula One. (Art Credit: Jack Ironhide)

Bomble, Swax, and Bea in particular spent a lot of time on this track, as Coach Queen had chosen Bumble, “Unbeelievable,” and Honey, “Sweet Dream,” to participate in the second season of Marbula One. It was during this time that Queen became acquainted with Nectar and Beeline—a duo from the southern regions of Buzznya, and some of the greatest cricket players in all of the region. Queen began to see that with these two on board, the Bumblebees would have great role models to look up to and train with. To Queen’s pleasant surprise, Nectar and Beeline accepted and took on the roles of assistant coach.

“I just, I feel like I’m more of an advisor and organizer, rather than a coach,” Queen said. “Nectar and Beeline, they’re the real deal. I’ll just stick to managing for now. Plus, who else is going to build the Honeydome? You think those jokesters out there will?” Queen said, laughing.

Bumble at the Honeydome, the Bumblebees’ home circuit in Marbula One. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The Bumblebees started the season off well, with Bumble placing fourth at Minty Mania. Honey got another solid result, with seventh, at the O’raceway.

“We’re flying high now, and I’m sure there will bee a podium in our future soon!” Bumble said.

And Bumble almost managed to do that at the Honeydome, with another fourth-place finish at their track. Honey placed fourth at the Aquamaring, as well.

“Oh please, I enjoy that we’re doing good, but I hope we don’t bee-come the next Team Galactic.” Honey said after the Aquamaring, with a smirk.

“Although I suppose it’s better than the Hornets,” Swax said laughing.

The Bees would place outside of the top half for the first time all season at Tumult Turnpike, with Bumble finishing tenth. Honey could not rebound at the Arctic Circuit, as they qualified nineteenth, and ended their perfect attendance in the season.

“Ouch! That stung!” Honey said after the event. “Not as much as this cold though…”

During the offseason, Nectar and Beeline played cricket with the team a lot. There was a cold spell in Buzznya during the Winter, and the team hibernated inside the castle a lot.

“We were offered an invitation to the Winter League, but we decided to stay here for the winter, with our team. Together.” Honey said, drinking some Minty Bee Tea. “We’re one big family, ya know? And there’s no place like home for the holidays.”

The Bumblebees fan section in the grandstands of the Raceforest GP. (Design Credit: Novawolf; Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The Bumblebees returned to the second half of Marbula One with high hopes. However, there wouldn’t bee a lot of success for them.

Honey salvaged three points at the Raceforest, but the team would have five straight scoreless races in a row after that.

“I can’t bee-lieve it,” Bumble said. “We need to bring this together soon. Right the ship.” Honey echoed their teammate’s sentiment.

Following two straight DNQs at the Momotorway and Palette Park, Misty Mountain would prove to be a difficult track for the Bumblebees, as Bumble would get stuck on the now infamous Turn Six.

“I’m furious that I got stuck there, yes. But I’m more furious at myself for allowing myself to get stuck there. I was too aggressive on the turn, and it didn’t pay off,” Bumble said after the race.

Following the race, Nectar and Beeline called an emergency meeting back in Buzznya. It was there that the coaches dropped the news that the Hornets would be retiring from the Marble League altogether. Effective immediately.

“Wow. I’m shocked. It won’t bee the same without them,” Bumble remarked.

“We’ll sting the competition for them, you can count on that,” promised Honey.

“They will be greatly missed by us all,” Bomble said.

“We will remember them, and continue their legacy,” stated Swax.

“I’ll miss them a lot,” Bea lamented.

Queen, using a large portion of funds from the Buzznya Royal Family’s treasury, managed to buy the organization, and save them from bankruptcy. The team greatly expressed their gratitude towards the Bumblebees but insisted that they must go.

“We’ve tried our best here, and we feel that we’re beaten,” Thank you all for being so hospitable to us, and such good rivals,” Vespa said.

The Hornets’ retirement farewell poster. (Art Credit: B.J.V. Dimafelix)

We thank the Hornets for their contributions to the Marble League and Marbula One. They will bee missed.

The Hornets would stay at the Royal Palace for the time being, with Queen opening up another wing of the palace to serve as a home for the team.

There were a lot of rumors going around at this time about the Hornets being bailed out by the Royal Family. People wondered why they didn’t just save the team.

“The truth is, while we are greatly in debt to the royal family, we don’t want to compete anymore.” Hive said. “You can count on us to show up at every event and root the Bumblebees on, but it’ll bee from the sidelines, not on the track.”

The Royal Family of Buzznya spoke out to the public after this. “You better bee-lieve that we will always be backing our teams. Or team, now. They will always have our support and financial aid when they need it. The Hornets, although retired now, will always have a spot here at the palace, and with the Bumblebees organization.”

Following the retirement, the Bumblebees became the first team to own two Marbula One tracks. With the purchase of the Hornets organization, the Hivedrive now fell into the Bumblebees’ hands (or wings?).

“I hope we get invited to Marbula One again next season,” Bumble said. “We still have a lot to prove, and now when deciding if we want to host or not, we have two tracks we can choose from!”

“I personally have always wanted to race on the Hivedrive.” Honey said. “The hive is even bigger than ours, and I’m sure our captain would excel on there as well!”

During the extended break between Grands Prix 10 and 11, the Bumblebees spent a lot of time training at the Royal Palace with the Hornets, who had taught them their secret technique to mastering optimal speed in the hive. The teams got along really well when they weren’t playing each other in bugby, their favorite sport.

The Hornets and Bumblebees playing bugby. (Art Credit: JackJack)

“I think we all just need to relax a little bit after the way our second half of the season has gone,” Bumble said. “We need to just take it slow, easy, and spend time with those we care about.”

The Bumblebees hoped this strategy would pay off as the Savage Speedway approached. Sadly, it would not. Honey only mustered a fifteenth-place finish, and the team’s scoreless streak continued.

“We’ve all been hit hard this half; by our poor performances, and the news of the Hornets retiring.” Honey said. “We just can’t handle the pressure right now. Hopefully, we’ll bounce back, but we need time.”

Honey at the Savage Speedway, the penultimate Grand Prix of Season 2. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

Time was something the Bumblebees were a little short on, however. Bumble, after another good qualification, would finish the final Grand Prix, Midnight Bay, in fifteenth.

“I’ve let everybody down,” Bumble said after the race. “My teammates, the fans, the Hornets, everybody.” The Bumblebees would finish the season in thirteenth; a fall of ten positions from where the team sat after the Aquamaring GP.

Following a disappointing season, the team returned back to Buzznya and to the royal palace. Nectar, Beeline, and Queen welcomed the team home with wings wide open, but the mood was off. The Hornets’ retirement had clearly taken a toll on the team, as they scored a total of three points the entire second half of the season.

“I just feel helpless,” Queen said. “We were flying high, and now the team is so down, and I don’t know what to do.”

During the offseason, the Bumblebees would try to get their mojo back. They spent a lot of time on Honeycomb Island relaxing and playing bugby with the Hornets.

The Bumblebees at a press conference. (Design Credit: Laurent Rollon)

“We all know what happened, and we want to move on and move past it,” Honey said at a press conference with Cable Marble Media (CMM) during the offseason. “We gave it our best shot, and that’s all we could really do. I’d rather finish poorly and with my family than on top of the podium without them. We hope to bounce back in the Marble League 2021 Qualifiers, and we’ll make sure to sting the competition; for our fans, and for the Hornets.”

The Hornets would perform one last time, in the Sand Rally Practice Round. Bumble would cross the line in seventeenth, eight spots better than Vespa.

“Not my best effort, but it was a sentimental race for me, and I wasn’t truly focused. I still can’t beelieve that the Hornets are retiring…” Bumble sniffled.

The Hornets were invited to watch the 2021 Marble League from the stands, an opportunity they gladly took. The Bumblebees were officially joined by Nectar and Beeline now, who would be acting as managers for the team, and would be overseeing finances. The team would spend a lot of days and nights training with them, waiting, practicing, preparing for the biggest competition yet…and a chance to prove that they still had their 2018 dominance.

In RetRollSpective, while the inhabeetants of Buzznya may only have one team to root for now; the Bumblebees have more than enough experience under their wings. If their 2018 Hubelino Tournament showing is anything to go by, you should never count out the Bumblebees—although the team still has much to prove. Best of luck to the Bumblebees in the future, keep on rolling!

Credits

Writers: The Emperor, Stynth
Editors: Efmo, Smacg13
Artists: Jack Ironhide, B.J.V., SuperJackJack
Graphic Designers: Laurent Rollon, Spark11A, Tim Ritz
Photographers: Jelle’s Marble Runs
Release: 06/08/2021

RetRollSpective – Pinkies

Hello and welcome to another RetRollSpective, where we reflect on the history of marble sports teams that have appeared in the tournaments of Jelle’s Marble Runs. This time, we’re going to focus on the Pinkies, the champions of Marble League 2022. Read on to see how this team has empowered the competition!

The official logo for the Pinkies, designed by Tim Ritz.

The Pinkies hail from an island that houses one of the most advanced economies in the world and is rich in both historical and natural significance. Their city of origin, Rosaka, is named for the cherry blossom trees that turn rose-colored in the first few days of spring. The blossoms bloom throughout the swathes of forest stretching into the streets as they become dense with roads, buildings, and bright lights. They bloom regally in the park surrounding Rosaka Castle, and they bloom humbly in the field encircling the Pinkies’ stadium, the Ampinktheater.

Before you start asking why the Pinkies had to go with such a poor pun for their stadium name, you might want to know that the team actually met while acting in theater. The four original members of the team: Pinky Rosa, Pinky Winky, Pinkydink, and Pinky Toe participated in kapinki theater throughout the city of Rosaka and all over the island. The four officially met while touring the mainland, in the city of Hunluen: performing for the opening festivities of the MFC Championship League. The best actors in kapinki were selected to represent Rosaka in the show, and although the four had rehearsed together, it was not until they performed that they felt a meaningful connection. After their show, the four got food and attended the MFC Championship together. Interestingly enough, four other would-be athletes were present to watch the championship: Anarchy, Tumult, Clutter, and Snarl.

Pinky Rosa, Pinky Winky, Pinkydink, and Pinky Toe became fast friends. Each actor was a part of a different kapinki troupe, and thus had a wildly different schedule. It was not easy to coordinate get-togethers, but when they did, the four would constantly bring up the MFC tournament that they had witnessed in Hunluen. It wasn’t long before they began to wonder if their calling lay not in theater—but in sports.

“We will always hold our experiences in theater near and dear to us,” Pinky Winky assured their fans as they announced their retirement from kapinki. “But there’s something else I want to do with my life…or at least, try.”

When asked about the amount of criticism they got in the years after they left, Pinky Rosa sighed. “It was far more subdued during our time in the MFC. Our fans grew more vocal as the Marble League went on, especially in 2018. They were beginning to doubt if we were ever really in the right place after all. But we know where we had to be. There’s nowhere you can be that isn’t where you’re meant to be.”

They formed a team and began competing locally as the Kapinkis, changing their name to the Pinkies upon entering the MFC Championship League. The team did exceptionally well for being new to marble sports, finishing in sixth place in 2014.

“It just felt right,” Pinkydink recalled, “and not that theater did not. You can enjoy more than one thing in life!” The MFC Championship League, although not heavily featured in the newsreel describing the rising popularity of marble sports, was mentioned in name and received a decent boost in fans. One particular tournament, however, stood out around the world: the Knikkegen Marble League. In 2015, the creator, Jelle Bakker, announced that the tournament would expand to include teams of marble athletes from around the world and would be renamed the Marble League.

The four original members of the Pinkies were photographed before Marble League 2017. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The Pinkies found the idea exciting but doubted that they would be invited to compete due to their newness as well as their sixth place. They were pleasantly surprised, then, to receive an invitation to the 2016 Marble League in the latter half of 2015, and accepted without hesitation. The team was one of two teams from the MFC to accept the invitation, but the last of six teams invited overall from the circuit. The third spot that would have been reserved for the team in seventh place was discarded and ceded to Team Momo, champions of the Ramen Bowl in Om.

The team debuted just off the podium in the first event of the 2016 Marble League, Balancing, placing fourth with a score of 298 centimeters. Unfortunately, the Pinkies peaked early in the season and fell dramatically in the standings with each successive event, earning two points in the Relay Race but striking zero in the next four events. Pinky Toe resurfaced during the High Jump with a placement in sixth, and the team earned two points over the next two events before earning their first medal in Precision Slalom: a bronze.

All three teams in this picture have struggled and found success throughout the years. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

Although the team had risen to a salvageable twelfth place in the standings, two events remained in the season, and these two events were not kind to the Pinkies. The team did not score during Quartet Diving, and Pinky Toe suffered a worse fate in Hurdles—disqualification. The Pinkies lost three points when Pinky Toe accidentally jumped out of their lane during their heat. The team finished the season in sixteenth-place overall, tied with the Limers in points but placing below them due to their disqualification. The Pinkies ironically finished their season where the Balls of Chaos had started theirs: in last.

“We weren’t happy with where we finished, and I’m sure that no one was,” acknowledged Pinky Rosa. “But we were not ready to give up.”

It is safe to say that the Pinkies looked like an entirely different team in the 2017 Marble League, and they had yet to change their uniforms. The team entered the Qualifiers in top form, winning the Relay Race and placing third in the Sand Rally. The Pinkies did not score in Block Pushing, but Pinky Winky’s fourth place in Funnel Spinning ensured the team’s qualification at the top of the standings. Their momentum continued into the main tournament, where Pinky Toe earned a bronze medal in Funnel Spinning, redeeming themselves for their mistake in Hurdles and setting the tone for the rest of the Pinkies’ season.

The Pinkies began their 2017 season on a high note and went higher. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

Fans were cautiously optimistic, for they had watched the Pinkies fall from grace the year before after doing so well in Balancing—but the Pinkies did not peak early. The team continued to place in the top half of the standings, with notable fourth-place finishes in the Fidget Spinner Collision and the Relay Run. The Relay Run closed out the first half of the season, where the Pinkies stood at a remarkable third place in the standings, and preceded Block Pushing, where they earned a bronze medal and rose to second in the overall standings.

“My heart could not have been more full after that event. We hadn’t even placed above third in an event, but we were so consistent,” remarked Pinky Toe. “I’m grateful to have been a part of that.”

The Pinkies’ consistency during the 2017 Marble League was at a level many teams dream of reaching. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

However, the Pinkies were not close to the Savage Speeders in first, sitting twenty-two points behind them and just one point ahead of the Limers in third. The team seemed to crack under pressure, posting their first result of the season in the lower half of the standings in the High Jump. They followed up their result with a dire showing in Steeplechase, placing last and shocking their fans.

The season, however, was not over, and the Pinkies were able to turn their fate around this time, earning twenty-eight points in the final three events. They finished in sixth place overall with a total of 114 points and two bronze medals, and their 2017 season remains their best performance in the Marble League to this day.

The Pinkies’ sixth-place finish in 2017 was their best result until their 2022 championship. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The Pinkies’ supporters came out in droves to congratulate the team upon their return to Rosaka, with a parade and a dedication ceremony for the team’s Ampinktheater.

“We are so honored that we have a sports team to represent our city and our way of life,” an official stated at the ceremony. “Pinkies, thank you for telling our story.”

The Pinkies carried their honor into the next season, where they actually changed their uniforms to a more recognizable pink hue to better distinguish themselves against the Snowballs, who were hosting the tournament. The Pinkies used the uniform during their time in the MFC Championship League and had changed to their opaque light pink color in late 2015 to adopt a sleeker look. Funnily enough, the Snowballs had competed alongside the Balls of Chaos in the MFC during 2017 as exhibition teams, and now, all three were back to vie for the gold.

The team qualified for the 2018 Marble League rather easily, placing second in Group B with two third-place finishes and one first-place finish, with Pinky Winky winning the Snow Race. Pinky Winky opened the main tournament by competing in the first two events, placing seventh in both. The team then competed in the Halfpipe together and placed sixth with a time of 28.07 seconds. The Pinkies stood at fifth in the standings, which, unfortunately, was the closest they would get to the top.

The stripes on the Pinkies’ 2018 uniforms can clearly be seen in the picture above. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

Although the Pinkies scored in every event, they did not score well in every event. Only a third of the team’s finishes were in the top half, and only half of the team’s finishes were in the top ten. The Pinkies fell below the top ten in Speed Skating, where Pinky Toe earned only two points, and save for Pinkydink and Pinky Winky’s ninth places in the Snow Rally and Snowboard Cross did not earn more than three points in each of the rest of the events. Neither Pinky Rosa nor the team’s new reserve member, Pinky Panther, competed in any of the individual events during 2018.

The Pinkies sparred with the other bottom four teams in the standings to keep out of the “basement”: Team Momary, the Minty Maniacs, the Limers, and Mellow Yellow. The mini-competition narrowed after Team Momary’s silver medal in Curling to focus against the Minty Maniacs, Limers, and Mellow Yellow. Of these three teams, there was the most tension between the Limers and Mellow Yellow due to their history in the Fruit Circuit, and Mellow Yellow and the Pinkies due to their solid-colored marbles. Mellow Yellow’s strong showings during Ice Hockey and the Sand Mogul Race ensured that they would finish the season above the Pinkies, tying with the Limers’ points haul of 76. The Pinkies ended their uneventful 2018 season in last place with 65 points earned and returned sheepishly to Rosaka after the cherry blossom season had ended.

The Pinkies were in the back row of the starting gate but finished in the top ten. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The Pinkies participated in both of 2018’s offseason events, with Pinky Winky representing the team in the 100 Meter Water Race and finishing in eighth. The four original members of the team participated in the Amazing Maze Marble Race, but finished last in their heat and placed twenty-first overall. Shortly after the event, the Pinkies decided to hang up their original uniforms and return to their opaque pink colors. When questioned, Pinky Panther, the team’s reserve, explained the change.

“I was in the supply closet the day before the Amazing Maze Marble Race, and I found the old uniforms that my team used before I joined. When I put one of them on, I realized how much sleeker they were, and I figured they were much more suited for the Marble League than our striped pink, as aesthetically pleasing as it was.”

The team’s request was approved, despite the fact that the Snowballs were still competing in the Qualifiers. The Pinkies were not expected to qualify after their dismal 2018 season, but, for what it was worth, the team placed consistently in the middle of the twenty teams competing, with a notable eighth place in Block Pushing and a sixth place in the Relay Race keeping the Pinkies in tenth place overall. The Pinkies (and six of the other original sixteen teams) had qualified for their fourth Marble League.

As they prepared for the 2019 Marble League, Coach Pinky Promise was hired to direct the team. They donned the Pinkies’ 2018 uniform as their coaching uniform and got to work, taking a very active role in training and racing with the team members. Pinky Promise’s goal was to break the rut that the team had fallen into during 2018, and as such, the team’s routine leading up to the main tournament was more rigorous than in past years.

The Pinkies do a *kapinki* dance around Pinky Rosa during the 2019 opening ceremony. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

Judging by the Pinkies’ results in the first nine events, it seems that they were not responding well to their new coach. Pinky Winky debuted in the Underwater Race and placed last, confirming the worst fears of Pinkies fans—they were still in their rut. Until the tenth event, the team placed below the top ten in every event except the Relay Race, where they placed seventh after losing a tiebreaker with the O’rangers. As they headed into the Hubelino Maze event, Pinky Rosa, who was now the team’s captain, had placed last in Hurdles, stranding the team in last in the standings.

The Hubelino Maze was a different event than most others in the Marble League: a tactical event that required strategy as well as perseverance. It was an event that a lot of teams had trouble understanding. The Pinkies were not one of those teams.

“I was always into strategy games, like Tetroll,” described Pinkydink. “It was a puzzle to figure out how to get to the bottom, and a lot of the newer teams didn’t catch on. We give a lot of credit to the Hazers and Green Ducks for even getting to the semifinals.”

The team was not deterred, and they excelled in the face of uncharted territory, advancing to the finals alongside the Hazers, Savage Speeders, and Oceanics. The stadium roared with cheers for the Oceanics, who hadn’t medaled in over a year. Neither had the Pinkies, and they persisted, earning their first silver medal—ever—in the Marble League.

The Pinkies brought excitement to the 2019 midseason in the few events where the tournament would have otherwise dragged. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The Pinkies remained in last place because the Oceanics had reached the finals and earned twelve points, but they drew positive attention for the first time since the 2017 Marble League. The team had broken a streak of twenty-six events since earning its last medal and had earned its first medal besides a bronze medal, at that. The question remained as to when the team would earn its first gold medal, but Pinkies fans were as happy as they could be.

That question would be answered three days later, when Pinky Toe competed in the Dirt Race, another new event for the Marble League. The course was not smooth like a sand rally but was wrought with sharp turns, obstacles, and shallow banks. Anything could happen. That said, there weren’t many people that expected the Pinkies to come out on top.

“I had a funny feeling going into that race, though,” said Pinky Toe, addressing the clear doubt from the fans. “It was another event in uncharted territory.”

Pinky Toe competed in the second heat and crossed the finish line first, dominating for the last half of their heat despite slowing down in the final stretch. They began the final in last, passing Indie, Shore, and Smoggy as they rolled off the track. Pinky Toe, with a big burst of speed, lurched ahead of Jump, Rozzy, and Ducky into second place, eyeing first place.

“Out to the outside! In to the inside! Savage Speeders block ‘em. Several length lead, Savage Speeders trying to stay off the wall, they’re not gonna do it! The Pinkies, up to the lead with the finish line in sight, can they hold on? Yes they will…and that’s the first gold medal ever for the Pinkies!” commentated Greg Woods.

Marbula One athletes reportedly studied Pinky Toe’s overtakes in the Dirt Race during their training. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

“It was the most surreal moment of my life—the moment where everything I had worked for had fallen into place. I took a deep breath, and it all rushed in. I nearly fainted as I rolled down from the top of the podium,” recalled Pinky Toe. “But I was in that moment. It was like—no, it was better than—the applause we’d get after a kapinki theater performance.”

The Pinkies rose from the basement of the standings and did not return. The team began posting results in the top half of the standings, with a seventh-place in Rafting following the Dirt Race. Unfortunately, Pinkydink’s last-place finish in the Elimination Race and Pinky Rosa’s fourteenth place in the Sand Rally ensured that the Pinkies would remain in the lowest quarter of the standings. The team finished the season in fifteenth place with 97 points.

Pinky Perseverance

an addendum by Vector

For the first time in the Pinkies’ history, the team failed to qualify for the 2020 Marble League. They had bet on getting by during the Qualifiers, just as they always had—but they sorely underestimated their competition. Not only did the Pinkies place dead last overall, they were never able to place above thirteenth in any of the four events, meaning that they were never in a position to qualify.

Stynth visited the Pinkies during the 2020 Marble League as they prepared to compete in the Showdown, traveling to Rosaka as their final destination of the twelve teams before returning to Polaria. Stynth stayed for two days, exploring the city and attending a kapinki theater show with Pinky Panther prior to visiting the team.

“I used to dabble in forensics,” Pinky Panther whispered to Stynth. “It never really appealed to me, even though I was able to get a job in it after university. I was much more interested in watching the Marble League, and it got me into athletic training. Before I knew it…the Pinkies needed a reserve member.”

The next day, Stynth reunited with Pinky Panther at the team’s Ampinktheater. As they rolled up to the stadium, Stynth saw no more than ten marbles gazing at the ocean from the pier. That part of the city was barren, and the outside lights of the stadium were dim. Inside the stadium, however, the lights shone brightly as the Pinkies raced down the sand moguls to the tune of Coach Pinky Promise’s whistling.

“They’ve adopted a strict training regiment,” the team’s manager, Pinky Ring, detailed. “They weren’t prepared for the Qualifiers because they had been slacking off during training. They thought they could get by and qualify just as they always had.”

“Things are different this time, and I feel more confident in my team now than I ever have,” the coach added before whistling again.

“Pinky Toe is on deck to captain after this season, so I’m really looking forward to seeing how they take the reins,” revealed Pinky Rosa. “We are so close to full bloom. I can feel it.”

Another defining moment for Pinky Toe’s racing career came in the 2020 Showdown Moguls. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

Admittedly, the beginning of the Showdown looked more like the Pinkies’ typical cycle of decay than anything else—the team placed last in the Relay Run and eighth in the Halfpipe, placing themselves in no position to advance by the midpoint of the tournament. The next two events, though, seemed to mirror the Pinkies’ sudden rise to success in the 2019 Marble League. Pinky Rosa and Pinky Panther both earned their first medals in the Black Hole Funnel, placing third with a combined time of 90.09 seconds over two runs.

Pinky Toe brought the team securely out of the basement in the Sand Mogul Race, winning their heat and surging ahead of Shiny and Hop to earn the silver medal. Their performance here mirrored their come-from-behind victory in the 2019 Dirt Race, even if they didn’t win.

“That really doesn’t matter. What matters is that we have another chance, and we won’t waste it this time,” Pinky Toe, now the captain of the Pinkies, promised.

The Pinkies finished the 2020 Marble League Showdown in fifth, securing a spot to advance to the 2021 Marble League Qualifiers.

During the 2020 offseason, the Pinkies were approached by the former JMRC to change their uniforms so that they could be distinguished from the Snowballs. Rather than returning to their 2018 look, the Pinkies adopted a new uniform that resembled the cherry blossoms in Rosaka. The Pinkies adopted this look for the Marble League Winter Special in early 2021, which they were invited to towards the end of 2020.

Although they could not win any events during the Winter Special, the Pinkies were voted “Most Fashionable Team” at a ball held for athletes just before the tournament. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

As in 2018, the Pinkies hoped that their new uniforms would contribute to improved performance—but they were, again, sorely disappointed. Although they improved on their 2018 performance by not getting last, they also never placed above eighth in an event. The team showed signs of life during Speed Skating and the Bobsled event, but they were ultimately unable to impress. At the end of the Winter Special, the Pinkies placed thirteenth overall with a score of 24 points.

It is hard to imagine that the Pinkies were not disappointed, but Pinky Panther, who became a full member of the team during the Winter Special, did not show it. “We finished just six points below the 2018 champions. Some might say that we’re failing, but I say that we’re persevering. Our full bloom is always right around the corner for us. We just have to get there, and we will.”

Following the Winter Special, the Pinkies made a one-off return to the MFC Championship League, donning the brighter pink uniforms they wore in 2018, as well as when they first entered the MFC.

“We wanted to go back to our roots,” explained Pinky Rosa, regarding the team’s decision. “Sure, the Marble League is incredible to experience, but the MFC feels…almost nostalgic to us. There’s something about it that will always feel like home.”

As well as competing in the official tournament, the team met up with some old friends.

“I was delighted to see the Pinkies again. We were really disappointed when they left the league, and it was great to catch up to them!” Spiker, captain of the 2014 champions, the Volleyballs, said.

The MFC was on a much larger scale than previous years, having secured a sponsorship with well-known restaurant Marby’s the previous year, and the previous year’s champions, Flower Power, being invited to participate in a friendly race with Marble League champions the Savage Speeders.

“It’s honestly incredible to see how much it’s changed,” Pinky Winky said. “But oddly, it still feels the same.”

Every member of the team except Pinkydink, the new reserve, traveled to Hunluen to compete. Pinkydink instead traveled to the Tetroll World Championship, held in Roseport.

The team scored medals in many events, including a last-gasp victory over the Crystal Balls and Tiger Eyes in the Triathlon, but by the end of the games, the Pinkies finished second to the Souperstars in one of the most tightly fought competitions in years.

“And we would also like to thank the Pinkies for taking the time out of their jetset Marble League life to compete here over the past months. We were honored to compete against them, and even more honored to beat them,” said Gazpacho, captain of the Souperstars, during their acceptance speech for the 2021 MFC Championship.

“Honestly, the MFC return changed us. After another typical basement showing in the Winter Special, we were really down on our luck. But now, we really feel like 2021 will be our year.” Pinky Toe promised.

The Pinkies meeting John Rolliver in their Winter Special uniforms. (Photo Credit: JackJack)

Prior to the 2021 Marble League Qualifiers, the Pinkies learned that they were sorted into Group B, where they would compete against eleven other teams for one of six spots in the main tournament. Following this announcement, the Pinkies announced that they would be donning their opaque pink uniforms during the season. No reason was given for this change. The team brought these uniforms back for the Practice Race, where Pinky Rosa competed and finished second-to-last.

In RetRollSpective, the Pinkies have sort of fallen out of the loop in the Marble League in recent years, and when they do qualify, they have not posted the best results. They are a team that is looking to be better under Pinky Promise’s leadership but hasn’t gotten there yet. Nevertheless, there is an opportunity for the Pinkies to bloom, as the cherry blossoms do in Rosaka. Best of luck to them in the future, keep on rolling!

Credits

Writers: Stynth, Vector
Editors: Efmo, Smacg13
Graphic Designers: Tim Ritz
Photographers: Jelle’s Marble Runs, SuperJackJack
Release: 30/07/2021

RetRollSpective – Indigo Stars

Hello and welcome to another RetRollSpective, where we reflect on the history of marble sports teams that have appeared in the tournaments of Jelle’s Marble Runs. This time, we’re going to focus on the Indigo Stars, the champions of the Marble League 2023 Showdown. Read on to see how this team has stunned the competition!

The official logo for the Indigo Stars, designed by Tim Ritz.

The Indigo Stars hail from the southern tip of a peninsula and its neighboring island, Isle Hyu. The island is a lush tropical reserve known for its vast array of colored stars, which is a regularly occurring phenomenon unique to the isle. The inhabitants of the region travel frequently to Isle Hyu to hike and bask in its natural beauty, and, at the same time, are sworn to protect the island from over-tourism.

The five Stars and their coach, Ringo, met on a hike on Isle Hyu in 2010, and have been close friends ever since. They all live in the metropolis across from the island, aptly named Bright Hyu City for its bright and colorful city lights, which were designed to artificially recreate the stars in the sky. They travel to the isle at the end of every week, arriving in the evening to see the stars shine in the night sky. In the morning, they embark on a hike around the island and then return to the city.

“It’s an unspoken tradition for us…no, it’s more of a routine,” Diego remarked. “We’ve been doing it ever since we withdrew from the 2017 Marble League Qualifiers.”

This picture, which teased Team Galactic as the host of the 2020 Marble League, was photographed on Isle Hyu and designed by the former JMR Committee. (Design Credits: Betawolfs, Pim Leurs)

The team, known as the Purple Stars before 2019, had been training for the 2017 Marble League for two years when Coach Ringo abruptly withdrew the team from the Qualifiers. In their place, Shining Swarm’s application was admitted, and they were able to qualify for the 2017 Marble League instead.

“Mental health is so, so important, and we knew that it needed to be taken very seriously. There was no way that the Stars could enter a competitive environment in the state that they were in and perform to the best of their abilities,” explained Ringo. “Our withdrawal was the product of weeks of anxiety and stress for our team.”

“The first thing we did once we recognized that there was a problem was to seek help. We met with professionals. That was the first step,” the team captain, Indie, recalled. “We adopted a healthier lifestyle and cut away from training for a year. We got sleep. We started doing those weekly hikes that Diego mentioned earlier, so we could check in with each other.”

“It was never forced, though,” added Bingo. “We all wanted to be with each other, and ultimately compete with each other. But it was clear that we weren’t in a healthy place to do so.”

An admittedly blurry photoshoot from 2017 of the Indigo Stars, then known as the Purple Stars. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

When asked if any of the team members were willing to share their personal experiences, Montoya, the team’s reserve member, spoke up:

“My family has had a history of mental health problems. It’s not something I caught or something that I can cure myself of. It’s this anxiety that I have to live with, every day. It’s a part of me. When it came to training, I was originally on the main team, but as we got back into training for the 2019 season, I realized that I couldn’t handle being in the spotlight. I decided to stay on the team as a reserve member so I could participate in big group events and substitute should the team need me. I love this group of marbles, and I would never want to abandon the chance to compete with them. In this way, I’m doing something that’s the best for me, and ultimately, the best for the team.”

We thank Montoya for sharing their story. Additionally, Gogo decided to share their personal experiences:

“I was not taking care of myself during training. I tried to eat a lot to bulk up, but I wasn’t eating the right foods. I wasn’t sleeping at all and I didn’t come home a lot. Whenever my family called me, they kept asking why I wouldn’t come home. I grew defensive and whenever I did come home, I would get into fights with them. I grew distant from them and I hid this from the team. When they finally did ask me what was going on at home, I broke down in tears.” Gogo breathed in and out, slowly. “The first thing that I did when I got home was to go to bed. I slept for seventeen hours, and when I got up, one of my parents was standing over my bedside. They didn’t speak, and neither could I. It took months of therapy to sort things out with my family and me, and even now, there’s still a rift. I imagine that they’ll get angry that I shared this, to the whole fanbase, that I’m making them out to look bad. But they’re not. Maybe I was.”

We thank Gogo for sharing their story.

Shortly after the conclusion of the 2018 Winter Marble League, the Purple Stars were contacted by the former IMC and asked if they were looking to compete in the Amazing Maze Marble Race, which would feature all twenty-four teams looking to compete in the 2019 Marble League. After consulting with the team, Coach Ringo took charge and submitted the team’s bid to compete in the exhibition tournament and be considered for hosting the 2019 Marble League. The team was pleasantly surprised to know that they had made it to the final round of consideration, even if they lost the bid to the Oceanics. They would have hosted the tournament in the Bright Hyu Bubble, a stadium that the Stars constructed in 2016.

The Stars’ debut in Jelle’s Marble Runs. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The Purple Stars competed for the first time in the Amazing Maze Marble Race, using aliases such as “One star” and “Four star” in the tournament. The team competed in Group F against the Raspberry Racers, Hazers, and Chocolatiers, receiving applause upon being shown at the starting gate on the jumbotron. Although the team got second in the group, they did not move on against the Raspberry Racers due to getting the lowest points of the second-place teams. Regardless, the Stars celebrated their debut performance and continued to train for the 2019 Marble League. Months later, the team changed their name from the Purple Stars to the Indigo Stars to match their team uniforms, which were less purple and bluer in color.

On 01 January 2019, the Indigo Stars were accepted into the 2019 Marble League Qualifiers. The next day, the team traveled to the Seven Seas Stadium to prepare for the tournament later that month. On 26 January, they competed for a spot in their first Marble League, a spot they had been craving for four years. Indie began the tournament by placing eleventh in Funnel Spinning, earning eight points. Montoya subbed in for Indie during the next event, Block Pushing, where the Indigo Stars placed fifth and earned thirteen points, moving up to eighth in the standings. Indie returned to the roster for the Relay Run, where the team finished third in their heat and fourth overall, earning fifteen points.

By the end of that event, the Green Ducks, the other rookie team competing, had already qualified for the 2019 Marble League, but the Stars were not far behind. Gogo’s time of 29.05 seconds in the Underwater Race cemented the team’s spot in the main tournament with 50 points earned overall. Both rookie teams earned their spots in the 2019 Marble League over several veteran teams, and they had done so comfortably with no reason to doubt.

The Stars have yet to match or surpass their debut in Block Pushing due to the revised format of the event. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The Indigo Stars returned to Bright Hyu City shortly after the Qualifiers to overwhelming support and encouragement from their fans. They trained in their stadium constantly, taking little time off, but felt healthy and ready to compete in the competition they had always dreamed of. In the preseason, many fans saw them as the potential “dark horses” of the season, citing the popularity of the Green Ducks as overshadowing the Stars’ abilities in the tournament. The team did not pay attention to these theories, instead focusing on what they needed to do. They returned to the Seven Seas Stadium in early April, after taking a short trip to Isle Hyu for good luck.

The Indigo Stars began their 2019 season in the lower-middle of the pack during the first three events, placing between tenth and twelfth. The team made it to the semi-finals of the Gravitrax Slalom and finished in seventh place, and just missed the finals for the 5 Meter Sprint with Gogo’s finish in fifth place. The Stars returned to the middle of the pack for the next two events, before Diego bombed in the Summer Biathlon, placing dead last. At the midpoint of the tournament, the team sat in thirteenth place, while the Ducks were not sitting, but in fact, standing in second place overall.

The Stars’ first opening ceremony procession. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

“It wasn’t anything like we expected it to be,” Indie confessed. “A big part of competing at this level is being the best you can be…but we didn’t expect it to be so competitive.”

“They make it look so easy,” said Bingo, referring to veteran Marble League athletes. “I can’t help but feel intimidated whenever I’m in a heat with a Speeder, or an O’ranger, because they’re so well established and talented. We felt like the Green Ducks would barely bat an eye to us, and that’s probably not even fair to say. I’m sorry. It was just eye-opening, that’s all.”

The Stars placed twelfth in the next two events before making it to the final of the Dirt Race, where Indie was, unfortunately, the first DNF after leading the beginning of the race. Montoya subbed in for Diego during Rafting, where the team finished in eighth. Diego competed next in the Elimination Race, where they made it to the last semifinal of the event. On their way down the course, Diego crashed into a wall, pushing Rezzy ahead of them to move on in the race while they were eliminated.

“No, before the rumor mill starts up, that was not intentional,” stated Diego. “We have nothing against the Green Ducks, we don’t consider them our rivals, and we’re really happy that they had a spectacular rookie season. During that last race, I lost control and I spun into the wall. I barely even saw Rezzy there before they streaked ahead of me.”

After just missing out on the podium, the Indigo Stars finally earned their first medal of the Marble League in the fourteenth event, Surfing. In the second round of heats, Bingo was able to hold on to the surfboard a second longer than Speedy, one of the finest athletes in marble sports, and finished with a score of 50.97 and a bronze medal. Bingo invited the rest of the team members (sans Montoya) to join them on the podium, with the other two teams inviting their members in accordance. After a long season, the Indigo Stars had finally entered the limelight, even if they were out of the running for the championship and the podium.

A moment of vindication that the Stars had been dreaming of for their entire career. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

All five members of the team competed in the penultimate event, Collision, and placed twelfth overall. For the final event, Ringo joined many other Marble League coaches by putting in Indie, the team captain, to race in the Sand Rally. The decision paid off for the Stars, who remained in the top three for most of the race, only falling behind towards the end to place sixth in the event. The Indigo Stars concluded the 2019 Marble League in fourteenth place overall.

“We agree that this was a less-than-impressive start to our career in the Marble League,” Coach Ringo admitted. “It’s not what we hoped for, but we’re also not that sad about it. We’re grateful that we at least have the chance to compete, after so many years where it just wasn’t right for us. Now is the time that we’re here, and we’re going to do everything we have to do moving forward to stay in this because we love it that much.”

A Bright Future

an addendum by Orbitball

The Indigo Stars entered the 2020 Marble League Qualifiers with high hopes of a better year. Unfortunately, the Indigo Stars became the newest victims of the supposed “fourteenth place curse”, failing to qualify for the main tournament. Their top-half finishes in tenth and ninth during Block Pushing and the 5 Meter Sprint were not enough, and the Indigo Stars finished the Qualifiers in seventeenth overall.

“It was for sure disheartening,” Coach Ringo remarked, “And after a forgettable performance last year, our team, Gogo especially, took a huge hit. We all took a few weeks off to recover from it, but we also knew we couldn’t let it affect us too much.”

While the main tournament was taking place, Stynth visited the Stars as they were preparing for the 2020 Marble League Showdown:

After Indie picked them up from the airport, Stynth met up with the rest of the team in the Bright Hyu Bubble, where they toured their arena and training facilities, which were fit to hold a Marble League’s worth of over 10,000 attendees.

“We made sure that our arena was up to world-class standards,” Coach Ringo said, recalling the Bubble’s construction plans. “Although we weren’t chosen in 2019 or considered for this year, I am hopeful that we will have the opportunity to host in future seasons.”

During their hike on Isle Hyu, Montoya put into words what the island means for the Indigo Stars: “Isle Hyu is a place that frees us from the marbles we think we are. It is a space so pure that it renews us and gives us hope…and when we have hope, we have everything.”
from “Offseason Moments – ML2020 Showdown”, by Stynth

The Indigo Stars found a reason to have hope after the 2020 Showdown, where they earned a bronze medal in the Halfpipe with a combined score of 58.12 seconds.

“We have a sick Halfpipe course in our training facility, which I feel contributed to our success in the Showdown,” Coach Ringo revealed.

The Stars face off against the Snowballs in the 2020 Marble League Showdown Halfpipe event. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

After the Halfpipe, Bingo and Indie garnered seven additional points in the Black Hole Funnel, and with Gogo’s finish of seventh in the Sand Mogul Race, the team was saved from another year of the Showdown. The Stars advanced to the 2021 Marble League Qualifiers in sixth overall, just ahead of Team Primary and the Rojo Rollers.

“The Black Hole Funnel was the most fun I’ve ever had in an event,” Bingo said excitedly, “I was dizzy after, but I would gladly do it again given the opportunity. It felt so… satisfying.”

Despite their performance in the Showdown, the Indigo Stars did not receive an invitation to participate in Marbula One Season 2 nor the Marble League Winter Special. The Stars took their time off to find their grounding as a team and clear their minds. The team even started a conservation effort on Isle Hyu to help protect the isle’s wildlife and natural beauty.

“Isle Hyu is our home and a big part of who we are as marbles. It’s almost as if I discover something new I love about the island every time I’m here. This place is truly one of Marblearth’s last untouched beauties,” Indie recalled, looking out over the waters of Lavender Bay during a promotional video. “That’s why we decided to start the Isle Hyu Conservation Foundation with the time we had off. It’s actually been a big success.”

The team’s new foundation focuses on protecting Isle Hyu’s wildlife and making sure any new developments on the island don’t pollute the area. Much of the team’s unused funding goes to their program, and members of the Isle Hyu communities contribute as much as they can.

Indie continued, “It’s cool seeing everyone come together for an effort that we all care about. It’s really helped us clear our minds and has helped us to get rid of anxiety. We’ve become more ‘zen’, I guess you could call it.”

The Indigo Stars, donning a special variation of their team uniforms, resting for a photo shoot during a hike on Isle Hyu. (Photo Credit: The Emperor)

Aside from keeping their minds (and Isle Hyu) at peace, the foundation has had other benefits as well. The team met their manager, Mango, at a rally held in the nearby city of Binglyu in late November. They hit it off almost immediately, and it was clear that Mango shared the same ideals as them.

“We needed a team manager, Bingo and I were practically the only ones handling the ‘behind-the-scenes’ organization, and I was doing all that as the coach as well!” Coach Ringo divulged, looking exasperated. “After meeting Mango and seeing their passion for both marble sports and the environment, we knew they would fit right in, so in February, we hired them as our full-time manager.”

“I’m honored,” Mango beamed, “The Indigo Stars represent our home well, and while I’ve always supported them, I’m proud to be able to be able to support them as one of the team.”

Other teams have also joined in to help support their cause, such as the Green Ducks, who traveled to Isle Hyu after their race at the Arctic Circuit to meet with the Indigo Stars and draw media attention to their foundation.

“They may be seen as our rivals or our ‘opposites’ by fans, but we’re happy to support the Stars, and we always have been,” Quacky of the Green Ducks noted. “Traveling to Isle Hyu was a beautiful opportunity and I feel like they’re making a difference there. Plus, it does help to get the attention of Cable Marble Media.”

The team has come a long way from even their 2019 selves. Their efforts have helped them become more in-tune with each other and their training performance has substantially improved. The Indigo Stars, while maybe not always a formidable opponent, are passionate about what they do, and are a team that should not be overlooked. Indie’s stellar performance and gold medal in the 2021 Practice Race prove that they can compete with the top teams at a high level.

Indie approaching the finish line to win the Marble League 2021 Practice Race. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

Indie and the team walked through the large crowd of reporters and fans after the race, hoping to catch their plane in time. Their preparations for Marble League 2021 were still very much in progress.

“This is just the beginning,” Indie told the press through winded breaths, “We hope to see you all soon.”

In RetRollSpective, the Indigo Stars are a team that is just getting started. They may have had a forgettable entrance to the Marble League compared to their foils, the Green Ducks, but with hope and perseverance, the team will have many successful seasons to come. Best of luck to the Indigo Stars in the near future, and keep on rolling!

Credits

Writers: Orbitball, Stynth
Editors: Efmo, Smacg13
Graphic Designers: Betawolfs, Pim Leurs, JMRC, Tim Ritz
Photographers: The Emperor, Jelle’s Marble Runs
Release: 23/07/2021

RetRollSpective – Crazy Cat’s Eyes

Hello and welcome to another RetRollSpective, where we reflect on the history of marble sports teams that have appeared in the tournaments of Jelle’s Marble Runs. This time, we’re going to eye up the Crazy Cat’s Eyes, the champions of Marbula One Season 2 and hosts of Marble League 2021. Read on to find out how this team has clawed through their competition!

The official logo for the Crazy Cat’s Eyes, designed by Tim Ritz.

The Crazy Cat’s Eyes are best known not for their appearance in Marble League competitions, but their likenesses that are portrayed in the Marble League logo. The team was personally requested to be featured by Pim Leurs after they settled on the final design.

“It was a true honor to accept,” said Red Eye, the team’s captain. “The photoshoot was a lot of fun, and we even got to meet Jelle themselves.”

“I tagged along for emotional support,” remarked Cyan Eye. “It would have been cool to be in the logo, but I’m over it,” they said, glancing behind them as a transparent and black cat’s eye marble rolled past them to be professionally photographed.

The four Crazy Cat’s Eyes posing with another cat’s eye marble for the Marble League logo. (Design Credit: Pim Leurs)

All things considered, the Cat’s Eyes would not have been asked to model for the logo if they had not been so successful in marble sports. The team hails from Felynia, a city perched between two rivers known for its prestige in film and entertainment. The dunes outside of the city are nicknamed the “Cat’s Dunes” in honor of Crazy Cat’s Eye, a Marble Rally athlete that trains there in solitude. Crazy Cat’s Eye’s fans in the city are numerous, but they train alone in the dry, hot sand, knowing no fan is crazy enough to travel as far into the desert as them.

Their fans in the city may be numerous, but only six of them have joined Crazy Cat’s Eye in international marble sports tournaments. The Crazy Cat’s Eyes, inspired by but not affiliated with the Marble Rally athlete, became the only major sports team in Felynia. Each team member hails from a different district in the city, chosen to represent Felynia in marble sports.

“We didn’t know each other at first, no,” confirmed Blue Eye. “I would argue that has made us closer, though.”

Green Eye added, “It’s made us want to get to know each other better.”

The city of Felynia submitted the team to compete in the 2015 Knikkegen Marble League, which had received an influx of applications from around the world. The Cat’s Eyes were accepted into the tournament.

“It was awesome and scary and wonderful,” Yellow Eye reflected. “We were better at events focusing on accuracy, like Balancing, and team events, like Team Pursuit. Speed was not our strongest suit.”

“I trained them the best I could with what I knew,” White Eye, the team’s coach since 2015, asserted. “We focused on honing our stealth and our speed—two ancient Felyni traditions that ensure the mastery of quick precision in competitions. They weren’t up to speed then.”

The Crazy Cat’s Eyes, after placing eleventh in their rookie season, returned home to Felynia as the 2016 Marble League began, but they continued to train. A year and a half later, the team’s application for the 2018 Winter Marble League Qualifiers was accepted, and the Crazy Cat’s Eyes left for the Arctic Circle to compete.

If you’re looking for a strong first impression, look no further than the Crazy Cat’s Eyes in 2018. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The Crazy Cat’s Eyes were sorted into Group A and appeared in the first heat of the 2018 Winter Marble League Qualifiers alongside the Hazers, another rookie team. Blue Eye rolled and stopped right on the button, and their show-stopping accuracy helped the Cat’s Eyes place third in their qualifying debut. Yellow Eye’s third-place finish in the 5 Meter Ice Dash, coupled with two fifth-place finishes in the Snow Rally and the Halfpipe, allowed the team to qualify for the main tournament of the 2018 Marble League, fourth in their group.

Yellow Eye earned the team’s first bronze medal in the second event, Ski Jump, with a distance of 119.2 centimeters. After placing second-to-last in the Halfpipe, the Crazy Cat’s Eyes proceeded to place sixth thrice in a row, rising to eighth by the midpoint of the 2018 season. Their sixth-place streak ended when Red Eye competed in the Snow Rally and placed thirteenth, and the team fell to eleventh overall.

“The 2018 standings weren’t spread that far apart, but we were having a hard time keeping up with everyone else,” Red Eye confessed. “We were in twelfth going into the Biathlon, and we weren’t getting the attention that the Hazers or even the Racers were.”

Of course, the Biathlon was the Crazy Cat’s Eyes’ shining moment in the 2018 season—it was an event that tested both speed, handoffs, and accuracy. The Cat’s Eyes finished with a time of 25.53 and 3 points off the time, not only earning a gold medal but breaking a Marble League record.

Although the O’rangers took some of the spotlight for earning their first medal of 2018, the Cat’s Eyes’ gold should not be overlooked. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The Crazy Cat’s Eyes were one of ten teams that could win the 2018 Marble League going into the final event, where they came in at tenth place. The team remained there as Yellow Eye placed dead last in the Sand Mogul Race, and finished their rookie season with 96 points earned.

“I know I could have done better, but I didn’t expect to win,” admitted Yellow Eye. “We always felt behind the competition. There’s always next year!”

They continued to lag behind the competition during the offseason, where Red Eye did not finish the 100 Meter Water Race and the team placed last in the Amazing Maze Marble Race. The Crazy Cat’s Eyes’ chances of making it into the 2019 Marble League did not seem high.

All of the doubt surrounding the team disappeared completely after the first event of Qualifiers, where Green Eye flexed on their competition with a time of nearly two minutes in Funnel Endurance and placed first of the twenty teams. Even after placing last in Block Pushing, the team dropped only to fourth overall. The Crazy Cat’s Eyes qualified for the 2019 Marble League in third place overall thanks to Blue Eye’s third-place finish in the Underwater Race, with 54 points earned.

Green Eye, showboating in the final funnel, set a good impression for their team early in 2019. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The Crazy Cat’s Eyes entered the 2019 season with their eyes on the prize, having specialized in team events and honing their accuracy through stealth training. Blue Eye began the season where they left off, placing ninth in the Underwater Race. Coach White Eye put Yellow Eye in for Funnel Endurance instead of Green Eye, who was training for the 5 Meter Sprint. Unfortunately, Yellow Eye was not able to replicate their teammate’s success, placing fourteenth and dropping the team to thirteenth overall.

The team quickly turned around their fortunes in three events, medaling thrice in a row. The Cat’s Eyes’ first medal came in a team event that focused on accuracy—Balancing, an event that they had not officially competed in nearly five years. That seemed to mean nothing for the team, though, as Green Eye and Yellow Eye coasted to the green zone at the end and broke the Rojo Rollers’ four-year-old record. The team held on to the provisional lead, with a score of 351, until the Thunderbolts and Hazers surpassed the record—but the Crazy Cat’s Eyes remained on the podium to earn a bronze medal.

They “would not be denied” in the fourth event, Gravitrax Slalom, as Greg Woods put it. The event, much like the Biathlon, was an ideal combination for the Crazy Cat’s Eyes: a team pursuit focusing on speed and tested on Gravitrax, which was the team’s preferred track to train on. The Cat’s Eyes earned their first gold of the 2019 Marble League in a decisive victory against the Raspberry Racers, Jungle Jumpers, and Green Ducks in the final—figuratively scratching, tearing, and ripping apart their competition, as the message on the jumbotron alluded.

Early on in 2019, the Cat’s Eyes were as dominant as the Raspberry Racers. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The grand finale of the Crazy Cat’s Eyes’ three-event charge came in the 5 Meter Sprint, which Green Eye competed in after missing Funnel Endurance. Coach White Eye’s decision paid off, as the sprinter snuck into the final after placing second in both their heat and their semifinal, and earned a bronze medal with a time of 6.238 seconds. At the end of the fifth event, the Crazy Cat’s Eyes rose comfortably to fourth place in the standings.

The Cat’s Eyes remained a constant in the top half of the standings for most of the remainder of the season, remaining around fifth and sixth besides some finishes in the lower middle of the pack. Some of the team’s best finishes were in Block Pushing, where they placed sixth, and the Elimination Race, where Red Eye earned the team’s third bronze medal of the season in a nail-biting finale. With three events to go and four medals to their name, the team was in a position to claim the prize.

If their last three events were anything to go by—which they were—it seemed that the Crazy Cat’s Eyes had lost sight of the competition. Red Eye competed in Surfing, the event immediately following their bronze medal, and placed dead last, highlighting an unusually tone-deaf roster decision by the coach. The team’s momentum all but evaporated after this, as does the rain in the hot desert of the Cat’s Dunes, and the Crazy Cat’s Eyes finished the 2019 Marble League in eleventh overall after two more finishes in the bottom of the standings.

Is three a magic number for the Crazy Cat’s Eyes? (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

For all the talk of the Oceanics’ collapse, the Crazy Cat’s Eyes had one of the worst streaks in Marble League history in their last three events. On their journey back to Felynia, the many fans that went along with the team grumbled all the way through. How could their team blow a chance at the Marble League podium like that? How could they follow up a last-place finish in the Sand Moguls with a second-to-last showing in the Sand Rally? And how can this team carry on the legend of Crazy Cat’s Eye when the athletes seem to dry up at the sight of sand?

The topic of their sand performance was touchy for Red Eye. “We look up to Crazy Cat’s Eye so much. If it wasn’t for their influence on marble sports, we would not have been chosen to compete. That said, we are always looking to improve our performance in the Marble League and I don’t think it’s fair to compare our skills in sand events to theirs.”

More than ever, the Crazy Cat’s Eyes were rarely seen during their practice sessions. Red Eye, a celebrity around town, was not seen for many months, even as the marble world kept its sights on Marbula One. That was when a rumor started to spread. Some of the Crazy Cat’s Eyes athletes were seen rolling to the east, heading straight for the Cat’s Dunes…

Great Expectations

an addendum by Fouc & Ghostly

When the Crazy Cat’s Eyes lined up before the Andromedome balance beam, it was the first time they had competed together in a year. The other teams read the press releases – that Felynia’s High Council, led by the fair Cleocatra, invested heavily in the team, that they now have a new manager by the name of Bullseye – but none of that mattered if the athletes flopped in the 2020 Marble League Qualifiers.

Then the gate snapped back, each athlete sped down their lane on the beam, and the team scored 30 more points than the current leaders, the Savage Speeders.

The Crazy Cat’s Eyes chased the Balancing record, even in Qualifiers. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

Apart from a blunder in Block Pushing, the Cat’s Eyes during Qualifiers were no longer a midfield team. Even if the Speeders scored the most points in the Qualifiers, the Cat’s Eyes were safely in second. From Red Eye to Cyan Eye, they all clocked faster times than before.

Asked for comment after their second-place showing in the Qualifiers’ 5 Meter Sprint, Red Eye said: “Podium or not, at every point during the Qualifiers we were doing better.” That quote sums up the team’s trend for all of last year.

The one exception might be the Cat’s Eyes’ performance at the opening event of Marble League 2020, Balancing. The team placed fifth, their worst placement in that event, but the team’s reliable teamwork returned in Halfpipe. They got a silver medal with a total time of 64.49 seconds, beating the Minty Maniacs in third by over 5 seconds. Stynth reported:

While the Minty Maniacs are getting the most attention out of the newer teams, the Crazy Cat’s Eyes have also shown up, earning their first silver medal. Either of their Halfpipe successes against the Hornets would have broken the Balls of Chaos’ record, and their first heat would have broken the Maniacs’ record. Green Eye’s performance in their second heat, while not record-breaking, was one of the best among individual marble athletes.
from “Podium Moments – ML2020 Event 2”, by Stynth

Green Eye holds on to secure a podium moment for the Cat’s Eyes. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

Cyan Eye finished in the top half in Funnel Endurance whereas Yellow Eye was in the bottom three on last year’s track. In Newton’s Cradle, Yellow Eye leaped to glory off of Green Eye’s strike and just barely missed a podium, a quarter of a centimeter away.

“It always stings when you get so close to victory just to barely fall short,” Yellow Eye remarked afterward. “We’ve been very close to getting our second medal this year these past two events. I’m hoping we can push even further beyond this and get a new medal!”

The Cat’s Eyes were confident they could continue their success in the Long Jump, as they had won a bronze in the Ski Jump in 2018. Sure enough, Blue Eye made a perfect landing to nab the gold. With eyes on the Minty Maniacs and the O’rangers dueling for first, White Eye’s team was 5 points behind the leader and 28 points ahead of fourth place, finding themselves the only team putting pressure on the top two.

Blue Eye’s gold in the 2020 Long Jump boosted public confidence in the athlete and other Cat’s Eyes. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

With a chance to lead the overall standings, Yellow Eye took to the starting gate for the 5 Meter Hurdles. Overshadowed by Razzy’s record-breaking runs in their heat and semi-final, the Cat’s Eye rolled out of the starting gate in the semifinals and found it now hard to explain what they did there. But afterward, they were told they had shattered the new hurdles record by 0.2 seconds, lowering the time to 8.126s.

Still finding it hard to consistently start well, Yellow Eye would squander an early lead and finish fourth at Hurdles. But they were undeterred, later stating: “Knowing I’m a world record holder is just fantastic. Lots of times after that event, I’d feel exhausted in training and Coach would tell me: ‘you have a world record, so why can’t you go one more lap?’ It’s funny how that always works on me.”

Yellow Eye raced lengths ahead in their record-breaking Hurdles semifinal. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

A solid seventh place in Block Pushing was followed by twelfth, seventh, and twelfth in Triathlon, Sand Mogul Race, and 5m Sprint, respectively. These results evoked a sinking feeling Cat’s Eyes fans know too well: the last-minute collapse or the wider case of the “Second Half Curse.” In the 2018 Marble League, their team went from eighth after Event 6 to an overall placement of tenth; in the 2019 Marble League, a sixth-place performance by Event 8 resolved in eleventh place by the end of the competition.

The team overall stayed in third place despite it all, but they went from a one-point gap from the top two after Hurdles to being at risk of getting overtaken by the Wisps and Raspberry Racers in the standings by the end of the 5 Meter Sprint.

As fans began sweating bullets, dreading the familiar fall from grace, up came the Black Hole Funnel. Unlike many other teams, coach White Eye benched the duo from Newton’s Cradle for a new pairing in the Black Hole Funnel, using Red Eye and Blue Eye this time around. The fans’ fears were dashed away as the duo nabbed a bronze in the event! As Stynth reported from the scene:

The Crazy Cat’s Eyes continued to up the ante on their best season yet, remaining in championship contention by earning their third overall medal in the Black Hole Funnel. Both of the Cat’s Eyes’ runs exceeded 35 seconds, with their first run being the strongest of the two thanks to Red Eye’s dominant performance.

They, with a run of 33.15, recorded the longest individual time in the funnels across both runs. “I’ll admit, it was a bit eerie when Quacky dropped down from the funnel and it was just me. But I knew I had to keep on rolling, and I let myself do just that until I fell to the bottom. It was one of the most surreal experiences of my career.

With their bronze, the team found themselves just ten points away from claiming the lead.
from “Podium Moments – ML2020 Event 11”, by Stynth

The Cat’s Eyes and the Green Ducks in a Black Hole Funnel run. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The joy would not last long. The Cat’s Eyes’ record in the Winter Biathlon drove their fans to believe they would podium in the Relay events soon enough, and yet in 2020, they would hear Greg Woods call out Green Eye’s “slow start” out the starting gate in the opening heat. Three slow and unfocused passes later, the Cat’s Eyes finished last in the Relay with the only time above nine seconds, dropping to fifth overall.

“To make things worse, only team management and our athletes knew about our Marbula One and 2021 hosting bids back then,” said White Eye. “I kept fielding calls from Bullseye that the High Council would scale down funding for both bids if the team can’t be expected to podium next year. I didn’t tell my athletes that, naturally.”

The more the Cat’s Eyes could not triumph over the Second Half Curse, the more their fans seemed to believe in it. Going into the final event, the team had four straight bottom-half finishes and was eliminated from championship contention. After never leaving the top-five throughout the entirety of the league, they were now in danger of ending in sixth with the Hazers close behind.

“It was not a fun time. We needed to get away from finger-pointing at Green Eye or Red Eye,” recalled White Eye. “I told my team to stick to the schedule, we’ll take a break for Showdown day and we’ll get out and cheer for our friends, the Turtle Sliders.”

Yellow Eye hosting Shelly at a Felyni garden. (Photo Credit: Piney)

The friendship between the Cat’s Eyes and the Turtle Sliders came out of a chance encounter. “After the 2018 Marble League, we would make these trips around the world to connect with the top teams,” said White Eye. “Then right before we were to meet the Oceanics in Dunduei, we were told they had to cancel to finalize some personnel changes.”

With a trip to the other end of Marblearth booked but in search of a team to engage with, the Cat’s Eyes sent out a request to the only other team they knew there – the historic rivals to the Oceanics, the Turtle Sliders. Their veteran member, Shelly, was thrilled to meet.

“It was one of our best trips ever,” said Blue Eye. “We grew up in the desert, but the Sliders knew that and took us boating all around the nearby islands. They showed us all their facilities and we dived and raced underwater together!”

The Cat’s Eyes feast on their trip with the Turtle Sliders. (Photo Credit: Nugget)

The Sliders would then make several trips to the Cat’s Eyes’ Felyni grounds. “Our trip last year was eye-opening. We’ve never seen any team take racing pace and acceleration as seriously as our Felyni friends,” said the captain, Crush. “With the rest of the sports world focused on each other in Marbula One, we agreed to keep these techniques a secret.”

Even though the Sliders could not exit the Showdown’s relegation zone, we must think the Cat’s Eyes were thrilled to see Squirt dash out the starting gate in the final Sand Moguls, taking the lead. Unfortunately, none of Squirt’s Felyni training aided them in staying straight, as they would end third in their heat.

“I talked to Squirt and Shelly after Showdown, since both our teams were feeling the nerves,” said Red Eye. “But you know what? They told us right away they want to practice with us again in Felynia.”

“I spoke with Red Eye before the Marathon and they told the same story,” said White Eye. Then they said, ‘what does it mean if we’re not trying as hard as them?’ I told the team Red Eye had a point: if we let ourselves be defined by curses and we’re not trying to break the pattern, then we’ll never have that champions’ mindset, that thirst to win. And then Red Eye told me they had to go out for the Marathon.”

Good feelings aside, we encountered the one issue the team would not go into detail about: how they reacted to the controversial qualifying race before the Marathon, where, by the first lap, a collision off a chicane left Red Eye stranded, only getting started again a lap later. Everyone referred to what we already knew: that an exceptional consensus among coaches let Red Eye start the main race in P5 on the grid, and the sincere gratitude the racer directed to the JMRC for the ruling.

Red Eye was stranded after Lap 1 of the Qualifying Race. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

More informative is an interview with O’rangers coach Rango following the 2020 Marble League. “It’s important that us coaches and the organizers worked out a solution,” said Rango. “Without going into details, there was a real risk the final race would go on with only 15 teams. In the end, Kinnowin and our team would have made up ground over the race, but a race defined by a crash and controversy is not fair to anyone.”

Starting at fifth, Red Eye still lost control in the opening laps and fell to a low of eleventh. But then the team captain made multiple overtakes out of the starting gate, shooting to fifth a third of the way through and climbing their way to a bronze medal. The Crazy Cat’s Eyes secured a fifth-place finish in the 2020 Marble League with 160 points, and the celebration was just getting started.

The podium moment at the end of the 2020 Marathon. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

“Right before the closing ceremony, our team heard the JMR Committee unanimously approved our bid,” said Blue Eye. “I had to keep my composure because White Eye and I had to give our press conference about all this, but that night I was just in a daze. The budget the High Council set for our games is astronomical. I watched our fans rolling with joy in the City Square because of the bid, and I watched them cheer for us from their balconies for the first time.”

“After another soul-crushing second half, I wasn’t expecting much,” said Violet Eye, a noted Felyni pundit. “But Red Eye finally handed us fans a good season finish, by far the best the team has ever had, and CCE got picked to host on top of it. At that point I thought we had peaked for the year. Little did I know how wrong I was.”

The Crazy Cat’s Eyes lost the prize but won their hosting bid. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The schedule was tight for the athletes. In Felynia, the High Council would tear down Felynia’s athletic fields to build a world-class Coliseum, with seating for 20,000. Suddenly, the team had to manage business deals and stadium construction, and with this background, Stynth visited the Crazy Cat’s Eyes during the 2020 offseason:

“The finish line should be just about in sight with Crazy Cat’s Eye…gonna cross the line first if things hold out as they are? Yes, they do!”

The Crazy Cat’s Eyes were cheering as I rolled into their arena, which was rife with scaffolding, paint cans, and wet concrete. I had heard Greg Woods’ voice booming through the speakers, almost as if they were really commentating in the stadium—but as I listened, I realized it was just a replay of the first race of the 2019 Marble Rally.

“We can’t go to this year’s Marble Rally. We have to train,” Coach White Eye insisted. “We’re not taking our prequalification spot for granted, and we’re not going to let the host’s curse get in our way. Next year is our moment…”

The next logical step in our conversation was to ask the team about the rumors of them searching for the legendary Marble Rally athlete in the Cat’s Dunes.

“You’re almost finished, but it isn’t quite a wrap. The answer is who’s just above us on the list with the last hoisted map.”

Red Eye immediately started sweating. “What are you talking about? That was just the press trying to stir up the…uh…sand. Plus, we know Crazy Cat’s Eye wouldn’t actually want us to bother them during their training. It would be a waste of time.”
from “Offseason Moments – ML2020 Part 2”, by Stynth

Scaffolding for Felynia Coliseum at an early stage. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The coach also had to respond to the JMRC invitation for the second season of Marbula One. There was no denying sending Red Eye, the “Crimson Cat,” but the second spot was harder.

“Lots and lots – half my team, even – felt we should go with Blue Eye,” said White Eye. “But I talked to Red Eye and Blue Eye about this as well. Yellow Eye and Green Eye both had just one bronze to their names, and I thought I had to take a risk on one of them to hone that champion’s mindset in them.”

As some Felyni pundits predicted, Yellow Eye’s superior form to Green Eye at Polaria gave them the nod for Marbula One. The “Flashy Feline” joined the team captain on a promotional shoot in the dunes, thrusting Yellow Eye into the eyes of marble sports fans.

Official promotional poster for the Crazy Cat’s Eyes Marbula One team.
(Art Credit: Jack Ironhide)

With no circuit up to grade for Marbula racing in Felynia, manager Bullseye struck a deal with Limers’ manager Blimey, renting out their legacy Sotsevsa track for training between each Grand Prix. Two weeks before the Minty Mania GP, Red Eye and Yellow Eye would take turns setting times at the Sotsevsa “Lime Lap,” shaped like an L and allowing the Cat’s Eyes to practice coming out of turns and accelerating on straights.

An artist’s rendition of the Sotsevsa track (we confirmed the real track has no trash can).
(Design Credit: Spex)

News of this was only revealed close to the end of the Marbula One Season’s first half, and even then some racers first reacted to the training regime as if it were a practical joke.

But, according to Yellow Eye, “us and Coach only had tapes to review before figuring out our training, and we saw all the times that racers would get wiped out on the hairpin or the turn. And the Limers gave us a good deal! Red Eye and I just checked up on each other to make sure our turns stayed perfect.”

Race day came soon enough. At the Minty Mania GP, Yellow Eye volunteered to start in the opening pair of qualifiers, setting a lap time alongside the defending Racer Champion, Speedy. It took a moment for anyone to notice Yellow Eye gained ground on the opening esses, and then the newcomer kept clean off the final walls while Speedy could not. Yellow Eye had the faster time, and the fastest time overall.

Yellow Eye watching Speedy roll out at the Minty Mania GP. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

There are no lack of replays of those first four GPs for the Cat’s Eyes. Yellow Eye never conceded the lead except for a few seconds during their win at Minty Mania. Red Eye started on the second row of the O’raceway GP after a double overtake in qualifiers, ending with a silver. Yellow Eye continued the podium streak with a bronze at the Honeydome. At the Aquamaring, Red Eye almost always stuck to the inner lane on the drag strip that scrambled others’ race lines, fending off challenges from the Thunderbolts’ Bolt to win with 26 points.

No team so consistently challenged or took the lead in every race of the season’s first half. Greg Woods had all the superlatives to describe them: “the team to beat,” “superb grip,” “absolutely peerless.”

Or take how other racers described them. For Bolt, Red Eye “simply does not let up no matter how fast their past laps were. It’s exhausting just to remember.” For Momo of Team Momo, “I saw the three or four lengths I was behind Yellow Eye at Minty Mania but just couldn’t close it after the restart. I never felt so close and yet so far.” Bumble, Starry, Billy, and Tumult all recall how a Cat’s Eye overtook them on the slightest slip-up.

Red Eye with an early lead change at the Aquamaring GP. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

In truth, both Cat’s Eyes had lost momentum in the early laps of the O’raceway and the Honeydome as well, yet fought back and podiumed in both. But neither had the right feel for the tight turns on Tumult Turnpike and Arctic Circuit, Yellow Eye placing seventh and Red Eye eighth respectively. The racers began to have doubts, wondering what changed in the last two races.

Despite their doubts, they still podiumed in four of six GPs, scoring 102 points, ahead of second-place by a gold medal’s worth in points. For the first time, the Racer’s Standings had first and second both occupied by the same team, Red Eye at 52 points and Yellow Eye at 50.

Even with such a lead in the Championship, the Crazy Cat’s Eyes kept to their routine. Invited to the Marble League Winter Special next to the Himarblelayas, the team had several weeks to spare. They spent all of it practicing at Sotsevsa or other circuits where they were invited.

Bullseye spoke frankly about the mental toll of spending so long away from home. “It got to the point that my team, every day after practice they’d call me about if I could get them Felyni Falafel. That’s the kind of food your parents know how to make and no one else. I had to hunt for a chef from back home to fly over to them!”

At the Winter Special, Coach White Eye wanted to give their Marbula One stars extra rest and sent Blue Eye into the opening 5 Meter Ice Dash. Placed into a “heat of death” with Smoggy, Clementin, and Minty Drizzel, that extra rest paid off when Blue Eye charged past Clementin and set a new event record.

The three-way photo finish during Heat 1 of the Ice Dash. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

“It was not easy fighting to win in every heat!” said Blue Eye. “Something sent me leaping into the air in the semis, sensing Smoggy speeding up to push me aside in the final… I only won because I kept my cool.”

The other teams’ consternation at yet another Cat’s Eyes gold was short-lived. Fans could only cite the Second Half Curse as the team placed no higher than eighth for the remaining events, including a first-round elimination in Ice Hockey marked by poor defense and a last-place showing by Red Eye in the Snowboard Cross.

Seeing that the team finished eleventh overall with a total of 35 points, Red Eye replied: “White Eye is one of the greats, but all I can say is that I’ve been focused on going fast on straights for months. You can’t just tell me to slalom!”

In the end, the team had scored eleventh before and they took the results in stride. Red Eye made an early trip out of the Himarblelayas to acquaint themselves with the Raceforest track. Just a week and a half later, they’d find themselves near the front of the starting gate, watching the lights about to go out to start the Raceforest GP.

Leaping out the start with defending Racer Champion Speedy, Red Eye was always battling in the top two in the race, speeding down the racing line and looking for the overtake every turn.

Speedy chasing Red Eye at the Raceforest GP as Razzy pulls away. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

As Red Eye recalled, during a chaotic three-racer battle with lapped racer Razzy: “Razzy and Speedy are world-class, but I could see them swerving back and forth trying to make a cheap pass around me and each other. You can’t risk losing your grip on a slow track like this, so I ignored them and kept to the plan.”

Whirling past Speedy after they bounced against a tight turn, Red Eye kept to the very consistency they cited and won their second gold with the fastest lap.

The bar was raised to the highest level in the Cat’s Eyes’ friendly rivalry, and yet Yellow Eye met it. After a beautiful five-racer overtake out of the conveyor belt sent them to third, Yellow Eye gained ground with every poor turn and bump made by others on the Momotorway to win that GP. Suddenly the Cat’s Eyes had 51 more points and 153 points total, eliminating ten teams from the Teams’ Championship with four more GPs to go.

Yellow Eye takes the lead from Clutter at the Momotorway GP. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The world truly changed for the Cat’s Eyes after those back-to-back golds. In a good way, according to Cyan Eye: Demand was overwhelming for watch parties held on whatever grounds were open around Felynia Coliseum. The first party was held during Red Eye’s Palette Park practice trials, and on many stands one saw two fans balanced on top of one another, all rooting for their captain on the Jumbotron.

In a bad way, according to Red Eye: the mood changed for them when they saw Speedy’s press conference before Palette Park. Asked repeatedly about facing Red Eye in the race, the Speeders captain shouted: “What do you want to know?! I don’t know how they trained to be this good and I don’t want to know how.”

After Red Eye’s fourth-to-last showing at that GP, Yellow Eye told us: “I still have huge respect for Speedy after that silver, but why did they say that? When we work as hard as we did, you’d think these greats would show us any respect.”

Perhaps the pressure got to Yellow Eye too, caught in the back half for most of Misty Mountain GP and ending in 13th. Just as the outside press focused on Red and Yellow Eye after Momotorway, they now hyped up the odds of Speedy or Hazy seizing the Racer’s Championship.

White Eye announced the day before practice that Red Eye would challenge Speedy at the Savage Speedway with doubters all around them. “At Team CCE, we’re prepared to show we’re the best,” said the coach.

Red Eye breaks away from the pack at the Savage Speedway GP. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The rest is history: Red Eye silenced the crowd with a lap 0.1 seconds faster than all others in the Qualifiers, followed by a pole position. Speedy could only watch on as Red Eye never looked back from an early challenge by Prim. The Cat’s Eye extended their lead every lap until they finished a full eight seconds ahead of the runner-up. Red Eye scored the first “purr-fect” 27-point weekend in Marbula One history and clinched the M1 Season Championship for the Cat’s Eyes that evening.

The Speeders fans trickled out of the stands with a whimper, and the other garages kept to themselves after pleasantries during the podium ceremony. But it didn’t matter for Felynia’s racers. Both of them and White Eye took a call from Blue Eye, who raved about the celebrations on Felyni streets: the sight and sound of fireworks above going into the night.

“They’ve been gone too long,” recalled Blue Eye. “I said, ‘you’ve got to come home and check this out.'”

The coda of the Cat’s Eyes’ Marbula One season was Yellow Eye’s tenth place finish at the Midnight Bay Circuit. The team didn’t capture first and second in the Racer’s Standings, not without trying; Yellow Eye just was too inconsistent navigating the circuit’s turns. But with the season over, one lapse was no longer worth putting off all the reasons to celebrate.

Using the “share of total points earned” measure, the Cat’s Eyes’ Marbula One season is the second most dominant season in JMR history (behind the Bumblebees’ Hubelino Tournament 2018 showing). Red Eye won more GPs than any other racer and scored nearly as many points in six races as the Savage Speeders did over one season of eight GPs. Yellow Eye placed third in the Racer Standings and led more laps in their career than all but 2 other racers. It’s the Cat’s Eyes alone who now look to form a Marbula One dynasty.

Before leaving Midnight Bay, Speedy was asked about losing the Racer’s Championship to Red Eye.

“There’s no doubt Red Eye is destined to be one of the greatest of all time, so congratulations to them,” said the Speeders captain. “I think back to what I said about them out of passion, and no champion deserves to be questioned that way. I want to apologize for that and hope we can compete as friends, not enemies.”

The Crazy Cat’s Eyes claim victory in the Marbula One Season 2 Team Championship. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

Eight months after they parted for Sotsevsa, Red Eye and Yellow Eye flew back to Felynia to begin practice at the Coliseum. The sheer sight of what awaited them outside the airport: tens of thousands of Cat’s Eyes formed like a rainbow, gleaming under the desert sun. Red ribbons and streamers filled the air, lifted as if by rockets, their exhaust the yellow flares and their engine the sound of crowd din and horns. In the center of it all, there was a giant red banner unfurled for this crowd’s heroes: “DON’T STOP FE-LIEVING”.

Local reports were that Red Eye was overcome with emotion, then told the crowd: “Let me invite you to my training grounds, my second home. We’ll put on a show.”

Inset of a promotional poster from the Felynia High Council.
(Art Credit: Louisly)

The same week that all 2021 Marble League teams were to attend the Qualifying Group draw at Felynia Coliseum, the Felynia High Council organized an exhibition Practice Race. Televised across Marblearth to exhibit the natural beauty and wildlife beyond the city, the race fielded one racer from every team present at Polaria last year. The track was a classic sand rally track on the outskirts of the Cat’s Dunes. Red Eye took the front row alongside Wispy, Razzy, Ocean, and Momomomo of Team Momo.

Perched on stands next to the starting gate, the Cat’s Eyes attendees erupted as Red Eye took the inside line and was in the top 8 after the opening turn. As their fans now expect, the new Racer Champion fell to the midpack to tenth after the first sector, but clawed up the ranks from there. Their rivals lost grip on the banked turns, took long detours, or even fell prey to the local beetles. A last-minute block from the Chocolatiers’ Bonbon meant Red Eye had to be content with fifth, still the best showing that day of any racer from the last Marbula One season.

Further local reports described Red Eye as aloof when rolling past Rapidly, Razzy, and other Marble League veterans. In contrast, the Cat’s Eyes captain conversed with Snowstorm, Bonbon, and especially Indie of the Indigo Stars. To the third-place finisher Momomomo, Red Eye was quoted: “Happy to go one-on-one out here next time.”

Red Eye reaches the finish line to complete the 2021 Practice Race. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

Looking for a final interview before this year’s Qualifiers, we were told Red Eye and Bullseye had an audience with Cleocatra themselves out on the dunes, while local media have Blue Eye and Yellow Eye booked up to the Marble League. We were able to talk with White Eye and Green Eye the day after the Coliseum’s grand opening and asked them about their newfound fame.

“It’s hard to believe, you know? Not just how the city feels about us now, but also thinking if our team could fall to the Host Curse,” said Green Eye. “I have to admit I’m on edge!”

“What I say, though, is that it’s not about what others expect of us. It’s that we now know what we’re each best at,” said White Eye. “Green Eye’s the perfect fit for the funnels and Blue Eye’s our high flyer. Nobody will beat Yellow on the track or Red on the circuit. Every day after practice, we tell ourselves that we can and will take gold in every event we see.”

In RetRollSpective, the Crazy Cat’s Eyes once wanted to be the jack of all trades, only to realize they are masters of speed and balance. They coordinated better than before in the 2020 Marble League, but it was their Marbula One Season 2 domination that made them the host team with the most momentum ever going into their main event. To the extent that they need it, best of luck to the Crazy Cat’s Eyes in the near future; keep on rolling!

Credits

Writers: Fouc, Ghostly, Stynth
Editors: Ramen Powder, Smacg13, Skyfall_707
Artists: Jack Ironhide, Louisly
Graphic Designers: Pim Leurs, Spex, Tim Ritz
Photographers: Jelle’s Marble Runs, Nugget, Piney
Release: 16/07/2021

RetRollSpective – O’rangers

Hello and welcome to another RetRollSpective, where we reflect on the history of marble sports teams that have appeared in the tournaments of Jelle’s Marble Runs. This time, we’re going to cover the O’rangers, champions of Marble League 2017 and Marbula One Season 3, and arguably, the most popular marble sports team. Read on to find out how this team has charmed the competition!

The official logo for the O’rangers, designed by Tim Ritz.

The O’rangers are not just a team—they are a family of marbles with a strong heritage that has dominated for generations. The O’Marbles run an orange farm, close to the city of Orlango, that also specializes in bull-wrangling and, notably, off-road racing. The current head of the family, Mandarin, has emphasized this last aspect more and more in recent years, especially with the rise of televised marble sports. This drive and passion led Mandarin to found the O’rangers with their siblings Clementin, Kinnowin, Tangerin, and Orangin, in 2006, and the team began participating in local competitions shortly thereafter.

The O’rangers performed well enough over the next two years to draw attention from a marble troupe of teams, named the Fruit Circuit. After surveying the O’Marbles Farm (to verify that the O’rangers were fruit-based) the Fruit Circuit allowed the team to join the troupe. The O’rangers remained in the troupe for eight years until the Fruit Circuit’s demise in 2016, with the rise of the Marble League. The team was in fourth place, closely behind Mellow Yellow, Raspberry Racers, and the Limers, when the Raspberry Racers failed to finish the final race. The O’rangers finished the race modestly, with enough points to pass the Racers and move into third place behind Mellow Yellow in second and the Limers in first. The O’rangers’ third-place finish qualified them for the 2016 Marble League.

However, the O’rangers were skeptical of the competition that lay ahead of them. To test the waters, Mandarin, Clementin, Kinnowin, and Tangerin went undercover in the first event of the Marble League, going under the names of O1, O2, O3, and O4 to compete. The four placed ninth, scoring no points for the O’rangers. Seeing that the competition was serious, the four revealed their true names and represented the O’rangers for the rest of the 2016 Marble League. Their true identities were reflected in the reupload of the 2016 Marble League in 2019, with the graphics displaying the correct names of the team instead of O1-O4.

The O’rangers did not earn any points until the third event, Collision, where they placed fifth and got three points (although they had received a bonus point in Event 2 due to a track defect). The team earned a gold medal in Long Jump with Kinnowin representing the team, breaking the Marble League record at 103.8 centimeters. Although the O’rangers did not get another medal in 2016, they got enough fourth and fifth-place finishes in the next few events to secure an overall fifth-place finish at the end of the tournament. They had landed eight points away from taking fourth place, and just one point above the Rojo Rollers in sixth, a team with three medals to its name.

Kinnowin’s first gold medal was earned in the 2016 Long Jump. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The O’rangers patted themselves on the back for a successful season but knew in their hearts that they wanted more. This became apparent at the O’Marbles Farm when Mandarin announced plans to build an official marble sports raceway on the property, which would remove a few acres of orange trees. Surprisingly, the city had few complaints regarding the developments. As a local fan put it:

“The O’Marbles didn’t just help our business boom back in the day, they were our business, and we’d be lying if we said that they aren’t to this day. Their orange business is the immigrant success story that marbles dream of telling, and their racing business is on another level of greatness. They’re active in the community and we support them every step of the way. OOOOOOOOOOOO!”

The team performed well in the 2017 Marble League Qualifiers, getting a third-place finish in the Relay Race and ending in third place with more than enough points to qualify. It was then that the O’rangers began to get recognized as a serious contender for competition in the 2017 Marble League, and the team experienced a large surge in fans. When the first of July came around, the stands were packed with a swath of fans in orange, holding signs and howling “OOOOOOOOOOOO!”. Needless to say, the O’rangers and their fans were hoping for a strong season, but they had no idea exactly how great things were going to turn out.

The O’rangers’ first medal in Marble League 2017 was earned by Clementin. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

This is not to say that the team dominated throughout 2017; this was quite the opposite. The team’s famed rivals, the Savage Speeders, dominated in the earlier half of the season, rising to the top three in the standings. But the O’rangers remained persistent. They continued to train even during the Marble League, and finally, in the fifth event, they earned a bronze medal and a spot on the podium. As the Savage Speeders ascended to the top of the standings, the O’rangers positioned themselves in seventh place, rising three spots. They stopped training immediately and took a pause, conserving their energy.

It was a strategy that, in the short run, seemed ineffective. The next event saw the Speeders get a gold medal while the O’rangers lagged in fourteenth-place. Their Fruit Circuit rivals, the Limers, had taken second overall in the standings as the O’rangers dropped to ninth. Few were looking at the O’rangers as a team that could surpass the unrelenting strength of the Savage Speeders. Very soon, everyone would.

O’rangers fans attempting to reach the arena after the team’s win in the 2017 edition of Block Pushing. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

Their first place in Block Pushing, as their first gold medal of the 2017 season in the seventh event and a new record to boot, launched the team into fourth place overall, four points behind the Limers and nearly a gold medal within reach of the Savage Speeders. The fans were ecstatic as they poured out of the stands, and the security officers could barely hold them back. It was a real energy that drove them, and it inspired the team itself to keep pushing.

Mandarin immediately followed up the team’s success in Block Pushing with a silver medal in the High Jump, which vaulted the team into second place, now less than a silver medal behind the Savage Speeders. The team that once seemed to be sweeping the competition had now lost its insurmountable lead within two events. The top of the standings was in sight for the O’rangers.

The Savage Speeders and Mellow Yellow had finally realized the momentum of the O’rangers, and in the next event, both teams got gold and silver respectively, denying the O’rangers an early victory. At the end of the ninth event, the standings looked oddly similar to the end of the 2016 Marble League: the Speeders were in first, Mellow Yellow was in second, and even Team Momo was in fourth place. The O’rangers clung to third, their fate hanging in the balance like a ripe orange on a tree.

“You know what I’ve realized over the years? It’s that nothing is set in stone when you’re competing,” Mandarin noted, years later. “Just when you think something is going to go one way, it ends up going in a way you’d never think it to. That’s the beauty of marble sports: they’re always unpredictable. And they keep us on our game, always striving to be the best that we can be even when things aren’t going our way.”

And strive they did. In the tenth event, Archery, the O’rangers closed in on Mellow Yellow’s place in second, remaining in third by two points. In the eleventh event, the Underwater Race, the O’rangers set another new record in one of the heats and finished in second place, securing second place in the standings and becoming one of two teams able to win the 2017 Marble League. Of course, that other team was the Savage Speeders.

The O’rangers’ final two medals at the end of 2017 propelled them to eternal glory in marble sports. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The O’rangers needed at least eleven points to overtake the Savage Speeders in the final event if the latter team scored no points. The Savage Speeders are a team known to be fast, one of the best teams at racing. The final event was the Sand Rally.

The O’rangers and their fans held their breath, watching the first heat of the event. They hoped for a miracle.

Swifty of the Savage Speeders, once in the top four, was swiftly falling back in the line of marbles racing to the finish. They reached dead last by the middle of the race and didn’t rebound back. The Savage Speeders’ fans were shocked.

“I don’t think our championship leaders are going to advance at this point. It would take a massive lunge for them to get up there!” Greg Woods exclaimed. “The finish line is nearly in sight, now—no, the Savage Speeders will not advance! They will not make it into the final, and they have to hope that that ten-point lead they have amassed throughout these eleven events is going to be big enough to survive the twelfth…”

Clementin was already at the starting gate. The loudspeakers were booming, Greg Woods’ voice ringing out the names of the teams moving on. The ball bearing lunged forward released the bar, and Clementin bolted forward in the lead. As Greg Woods told the fans about the Jungle Jumpers missing the event, the O’Marble didn’t care. They kept rolling forward.

Clementin did not sacrifice their spot in the top four, guaranteeing that they would move on to the final. They said nothing as they traveled back to the starting gate. Again, they lunged forward once the bar was released, eventually securing a dominant lead. As they turned the final curve of the course, Clementin eased up a little bit, allowing Starry of Team Galactic to rush past them and take the gold medal. But it didn’t matter: Clementin had done everything they had to do in the final event. And it paid off.

The O’rangers had won the 2017 Marble League.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

It was a comeback that once seemed impossible; a threshold once out of reach; a championship that shattered the fanbase, right under the Speeders’ eyes; and oh—did the fans scream “OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO” for hours!

The team automatically qualified for the 2018 Marble League upon their win in 2017, but it was their victory tour around the world that the team treasured the most about their win. It was such a big deal for the team that they shut down O’Marbles Farm for the occasion, inviting their entire family on the trip. This caused a month-long decline in orange production, but the world didn’t seem to mind. Celebration was in order, and the team reveled in it. When asked in an interview with Rick O’Shea, marble sports reporter, about how the team would try to replicate their success in 2018, Kinnowin replied:

“We can’t. But that’s what makes our sport great. It can be so unpredictable. It’s never going to feel the same though, because we were the first ones to come from the middle of the pack to win it all. Our names are going to be forever remembered as the ones who, uh, made the greatest comeback in Marble League history.”

Kinnowin’s interview with MSPN Racing. (Design Credit: MSPN)

True to Kinnowin’s claim, the O’rangers did not replicate their 2017 success in the 2018 Marble League. The team placed third in the Friendly Round and remained in the upper middle of the pack for most of the season. They were far from on the radar, as the Savage Speeders continued to dominate, the Hazers stunned the competition as the best rookie team since 2016, and the rising waters of the Oceanics tried to turn the tides of the podium. The O’rangers never lost their fans, but it didn’t look like the team would ever be near a second victory. They had no medals to their name after nine events.

But the team had been consistent in the first nine events, only scoring below eighth place once, in the Halfpipe event. The O’rangers were practicing the same strategy that they had the year before: they were conserving their energy. Taking a deep breath, they entered the tenth event, Biathlon, and finished with a silver medal.

The O’rangers shot up to second in the overall standings.

A moment that redefined the stakes of Marble League 2018. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The fans were shocked. After medaling only once, the O’rangers were, once again, formidable competition in the Marble League. Of course, they were thrilled. Could the O’rangers replicate last year’s success? Their “OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO” echoed through the Arctic Circle.

However, the O’rangers lost focus after their silver. Although they were still one of four that could win the tournament at the beginning of the final event, the O’rangers faltered in the first heat, only earning five points and assuring their fate: they could not win the 2018 Marble League or finish in the top three. While other fans, particularly Speeders fans, were elated, O’rangers fans were understandably distraught. They had still experienced an amazing season, but Kinnowin’s prediction rang true. The O’rangers finished eleven points behind the Oceanics, still placing in fourth, but missing another chance to prequalify…or so they thought.

The O’rangers finished as runners-up in the Amazing Maze Marble Race. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The O’rangers participated in both offseason events for Marble League teams, training at their O’raceway in between. Despite doing well in previous water races, Mandarin failed to replicate the team’s successes with the 100 Meter Water Race, for they finished in twentieth out of twenty-seven teams. That said, the O’rangers had a successful showing in the Amazing Maze Marble Race, finishing as runners-up to the Raspberry Racers in first, ahead of the Savage Speeders in third, and ahead of the Limers in fourth. The race proved, again, that the O’rangers were a force to be reckoned with in marble sports.

Although the O’rangers lost their 2019 hosting bid to the Oceanics, the team took the Oceanics’ qualification spot, thus automatically qualifying for the second year in a row. In the Friendly Round, the team won both Block Pushing and the Underwater Race, repeating similar successes from the 2017 season. They finished second, just one point behind the Oceanics.

The O’rangers entered the 2019 Marble League with one new addition: their coach, Rango, who, initially, was not sure how to take the reins of the team. Kinnowin, once the star of underwater events and now the captain of the team, had a bad run in the Underwater Race and finished in a startling fourteenth place for the first event of the season. Clementin, hoping to rectify a disappointing start for the team in Funnel Spinning, crashed into the wall just past the starting gate, stopped themselves due to head trauma, and was unable to finish the event. The O’rangers fell to dead last in the standings for the first time in their history and seemed to have crashed to rock bottom alongside the Oceanics, all happening as the Savage Speeders reigned at the top of the standings.

Clementin’s shocking DNF during the 2019 edition of Funnel Endurance. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

Coach Rango immediately rolled towards the course after the initial heat and was stopped by security as the officials, ascertaining that Clementin was in a good enough condition to leave the track, got the athlete off the arena. Thankfully, the doctors confirmed that Clementin had only a minor injury—but they were advised to stay off the roster for a few events, which Clementin accepted.

“I know a lot of fans were concerned, especially about the standings. Those are just numbers,” Rango asserted. “Safety is our number one priority. Even now, I’m not so sure if that starting area was as safe as it could have been, but I am happy—and lucky—that Clementin is okay now.”

After three more subpar finishes in the middle of the pack, the team earned its first medal of the season in the sixth event, Relay Run. The team collectively earned a silver medal after a tie in the semi-finals with the Pinkies, which led to a tiebreaker race that the team easily won. Mandarin, the marble closest to the finish line, did not get the best push-off from Clementin behind them, and the O’rangers lost the gold to the Green Ducks in the final leg of the race.

The O’rangers take the podium for the first time in 2019. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The team rose to ninth in the standings, its first foray into the top ten, but fell mysteriously to tenth place after placing fifth in Block Pushing. The team fell to eleventh after placing fifth again in the Summer Biathlon and remained there after just missing the podium in the Hurdles final. The O’rangers rose to ninth after placing sixth in the Hubelino Maze but would fall again just three events later with a fourteenth place finish in the Elimination Race. Mandarin, luckily, earned two consolation points due to a track defect, but the team dropped to eleventh overall, with the Raspberry Racers, Green Ducks, and Hazers at the top of the standings, and the veterans failing to catch up behind them. An eleventh-place finish by Tangerin in Surfing sealed the O’rangers’ fate in 2019: out of championship contention and unable to finish in the top three.

“While we’ve only finished in the top three once, it still hurt us to see that we couldn’t make a comeback,” admitted Mandarin, swallowing heavily. “We had our roughest start yet, but we couldn’t understand why we weren’t at least in the top ten of the standings, if not the top half. We had almost enough fourth and fifth place finishes to rival the Ducks,” he claimed.

The next event, Collision, had not been the O’rangers’ strongest two years prior. Their 2019 performance was a different story, as the O’rangers advanced, second in their initial group heat, to dominate over the Jungle Jumpers, edge over Mellow Yellow, and fight for the gold in the final round. The O’rangers won a gold medal for the first time since Block Pushing in the 2017 Marble League. Their fans were ecstatic, and their “O” chant rang through the crowd, louder than it had ever been. The team rose four spots into seventh place overall.

The O’rangers returned to the top step of the podium in 2019’s penultimate event. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The O’rangers’ hard work to climb back from nothing was finally starting to show, and Kinnowin’s fourth-place finish in the final event, the Sand Rally, earned the O’rangers twelve more points to finish the 2019 Marble League in sixth place overall, 139 points strong. The team’s longest season had finally come to an end, and, through its struggles, the O’rangers endured and were enriched, growing even stronger.

They earned an opportunity to put these skills to use in the first season of Marbula One. The O’rangers were the second team revealed for the tournament on 23 October 2019, and submitted Clementin, “Our Darling”, and Orangin, “True Orange”, to represent the team. Additionally, the team was selected to host the second Grand Prix at their O’raceway in Orlango.

The promotional poster for the O’rangers’ Marbula One debut. (Art Credit: Jack Ironhide)

Clementin earned pole position in their debut at the Savage Speedway Grand Prix on 15 February 2020, setting a time of 28.11 seconds. After beginning the race at pole position, Clementin lost the lead after hitting the attenuator. They remained in the top five until the third lap, where they were passed by Yellow, and aside from a brief reemergence during the seventh lap, did not return to the top five. Clementin finished the race in sixth, just behind Speedy, who had, interestingly, qualified for the race in last.

Orangin seemed to have been struck by the rumored “host’s curse” in their debut at the O’raceway Grand Prix on 22 February 2020, where they qualified in fifteenth with a time of 33.86 seconds. During the race, Orangin was able to move up to as high as seventh in the standings but could go no further, and fell out of the top ten. They finished the race in a disappointing fourteenth place, and the O’rangers fell from sixth to tenth in the overall standings.

Clementin, meanwhile, would continue to pull their weight, finishing in fifth and setting the fastest lap at the Momotorway despite qualifying in eleventh. Orangin began turning their season around at the Hivedrive, where they qualified in second with a time of 24.23 seconds. They led the race through the first lap, but fell victim to the hive several times and finished the race in eighth.

Orangin wins their team’s first Marbula One Grand Prix, an impressive feat for a reserve member. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The Greenstone Grand Prix changed the O’rangers’ Marbula One season for the better, mirroring the team’s strength during the latter half of Marble League seasons. After qualifying in second with a time of 33.76 seconds (just fifteen milliseconds behind pole position!) Orangin dominated the long and winding roads of Greenstone to clinch the team’s first win and gold medal. They led the race for seven of the nine laps and lost the lead only to Bolt, taking it back at the beginning of the final lap. The team rose to fourth in the overall standings.

Clementin did not fare as well at the Short Circuit, qualifying in fourteenth and finishing the race in tenth—but they set the fastest lap with a time of 22.10 seconds. Orangin competed in their final Grand Prix at the Razzway, qualifying in fourth with a time of 28.92 seconds. Although they never took the lead, Orangin never left the top five either. They were able to secure second place in the second sector of the last lap, and finished there, also setting the fastest lap with a time of 32.25 seconds.

Orangin’s success was one of the most compelling narratives of Season 1 of Marbula One and led to greater opportunities for the athlete. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The O’rangers had risen to third in the overall standings and remained there as the inaugural season of Marbula One concluded at Midnight Bay. Clementin’s qualifying run of 25.75 seconds was mired in controversy, not for their run, but for the run afterward—Speedy’s early start.

“I was personally used to being on the course at the same time as other marbles. That’s how we qualified earlier in the season,” Clementin explained. “I understand why the fans were upset, though, and I think Speedy could have waited a little while longer.”

Clementin qualified in eleventh, diminishing the team’s chances of winning the race and the season. They sealed the O’rangers’ fate by finishing in twelfth, and the team finished their season in third with 69 points. The O’rangers set three of the eight fastest laps during the Grands Prix, the most of any team in Season 1.

The O’rangers’ return to the podium at the end of Marbula One kickstarted a strong year for the franchise. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

“I have no regrets,” stated Rango. “Orangin had been itching for a chance to demonstrate their skills, and I knew they would thrive in this competition. Clementin, too—they both showed everyone the best of the O’rangers. They should be proud.”

Gloooooory Days

an addendum by The Emperor

For the first time since the 2017 Marble League, the O’rangers would have to compete in the Qualifiers. They managed to secure a third-place finish in Funnel Endurance and finished the qualifiers in eighth with 41 points. To start the main league, they tied with the Oceanics in tenth in Balancing. The O’rangers then asserted their dominance with a gold medal in the Halfpipe.

“Look at the O’rangers! Three up top, slaloming in tandem, back and forth they come! I would have to think that would have to be an easy victory for the O’rangers.” Greg Woods remarked as the OOOOOOs reigned. “Oh my gosh! So good that it’s in fact another new Marble League Record!” The O’rangers fans celebrated with an early gold, making it their second gold in the past four Marble League events, dating back to 2019.

“Will the team burn out early, or will the O’rangers continue to be a pressing force to be reckoned with throughout the season? Regardless, I am sure we’ll hear O’s reverberating throughout the Andromedome for events to come,” Stynth, a former JMRC member, remarked after the event.

The O’rangers’ “podium moment” at the end of Halfpipe. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

To follow up their gold from Halfpipe, Kinnowin snagged a silver in the Funnel Endurance, earning the team their second medal in three events.

“It was special, ya know,” Kinnowin said after the event. “Coming back and finishing on the podium was huge after getting stuck at the top last season. It showed we were ready this time. I think we could pass the Minty Maniacs if our fine form continues.”

And pass them they did. Clementin and Tangerin managed to do what no O’ranger had done before; win a second gold in the same year. With a gold medal in the Newton’s Cradle, the team vaulted atop the standings with two golds and a silver. That meant that the O’rangers now held the record for the best three-event streak in Marble League history, with 70 points.

“Going into an event where we weren’t even sure what it looked like, how it worked, and what it was, we saw a lot of teams get good scores before us. Walking away with the Marble League record was beyond our expectations!” Rango remarked after the event.

The O’rangers used their Block Pushing expertise to excel at Newton’s Cradle. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

Following a poor finish in the Long Jump, Kinnowin was chosen to represent the O’rangers in Hurdles, an event that the team had medaled in before. After placing sixth, the O’rangers sat in second in the standings, looking to redeem themselves in Block Pushing. And that’s exactly what they did. With their fourth medal of the season, a bronze, they jumped atop the overall leaderboard again.

“It was great, ya know?” Tangerin said after the event. “Four medals in the first seven events, it’s a great feeling. Especially given our general track record of having a bad first half.”

The O’rangers’ success in Block Pushing continued their dominance during 2020. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

To follow up their 105 points in seven events, (averaging out to a bronze per event) Orangin came in with another bronze in the Triathlon.

“Some coaches were a bit confused with my decision to put my reserve in such a complicated and long event. But I never had my doubts in Orangin’s skills on the Marbula One track, and I never had my doubts with Orangin here,” Rango said after the podium celebration. “We’ve excelled in all of those course aspects in the past, and I found nothing to display the contrary here.”

Another successful performance for Orangin; this time in the Triathlon. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

Tangerin, however, could not keep the momentum going with a twelfth-place finish in the Moguls. Following a tenth in the Sprint from Orangin, and a sixth-place finish from the gold medal Newton’s Cradle duo in the Black Hole Funnel, the O’rangers sat barely in first overall.

“We’ve got to make the final push now, and hold on to the championship from here,” Clementin said before the Relay Race. And that’s exactly what the O’rangers did. The team went with a strategy of subbing in Orangin in the place of Tangerin, which paid dividends early.

“It’s anybody’s race at this point, until the O’rangers stamp their authority in the bottom two handoffs, and reset the record!” Greg Woods exclaimed as the team obliterated the record by over half a second. The team would hold on to finish the event in second, with six medals in twelve events now, matching the Raspberry Racers one year ago.

The O’rangers would then go on to win another gold medal, their third of the season, in the High Jump, with Mandarin setting a new record of 40.5 centimeters.

“The key to High Jump is to just let yourself go like you’re shooting for the stars,” Mandarin explained. “The sky isn’t the limit.”

“It never was,” added Coach Rango. “This season has been our season, and we’ve redefined what it means to be an O’ranger. Have we done enough? No. We want to win it all, and with the next few events playing to our strengths underwater, in collision, and racing, I really think we’ll get there.”

Mandarin, the head of the O’Marbles, proved their worth in the Marble League with a dominant High Jump performance. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

However, what would happen next would become perhaps the most infamous moment of the O’rangers’ career, as they collapsed in a fashion that only their fiercest rivals had in years prior. The humiliation began with losing to the Oceanics in a water event, followed by placing last in Collision. Kinnowin would place eleventh in the Marathon, not high enough for the O’rangers to clinch the championship, as the team placed second overall, with 195 points and seven medals earned. The O’rangers finished as runners-up to none other than the Savage Speeders, who claimed their second Marble League championship in a stunning upset.

During the offseason, the O’rangers returned to Orlango to train. The atmosphere of the city seemed deprived, and the O’rangers fans seemed scarce in the city. There were rumors that an artist had graffitied an Amalanta Falcons logo on a billboard near the city, which would later be proven true by the team. The Falcons, a regional sports team, had notoriously choked their Mega Marble Classic title away after a commanding thirty-five to zero lead early on.

“It’s a shame that some of our fanbase is…very…temperamental,” Clementin said while the team attempted to remove the graffiti. “I understand that we blew it, trust me, I beat myself up about it all the time. But it pains me to see such heinous acts by our fans from a poor performance.”

The O’rangers made a homemade breakfast for Stynth in Orlango. (Art Credit: Betawolfs)

“We still finished second!” Tangerin said. “Sure, we didn’t win. But I’m just happy we got an overall podium, and I wish our fanbase could be a bit more supportive.”

Following the return home, the O’rangers hosted a family reunion at the farm in an attempt to lighten the mood. As per reports of the locals, around 30 marbles in sparkling orange uniforms rolled up in a Rolls-Roldo limousine. The reunion lasted for a long time, as some of the family members, including Navelin, Sevillin, and Valencin, were still there by the time Stynth stopped by on their world tour!

“Family is everything, ya know?” A distant cousin of the O’Marbles, Hamlin, said. “They’ve been training out at the stadium for a while now, gotta reel ‘em in for family time sometimes.”

The O’rangers had indeed been working on upgrading their stadium, the Mandaring. Named in honor of the O’Marbles family leader and acting team manager, the stadium had been heavily considered to host the 2021 Marble League, and rightfully so: it was newly constructed, triple-tiered, and had a built-in fan section for O’rangers fans to yell to the stars.

The O’rangers’ home stadium: the Mandaring. (Art Credit: JackJack)

“It’s been hard not to think about how close we’ve been to…a lot of things this year,” Coach Rango admitted. “But we have to keep going. Feeling bad for ourselves isn’t going to change the past, and it could hurt our future.”

“No matter whether we win or lose, we’re still the O’rangers,” asserted Kinnowin. “We still had an incredible season. I’m looking forward to where we roll next, but all that matters right now is harvesting these oranges!”

The Mandaring was home to a top-notch training facility, as well, where the O’rangers spent fair portions of their days’ training after harvesting oranges as a family.

“We were down after the end of this season, but I can’t focus on that right now. While my family is harvesting oranges, I’m looking forward to harvesting the Racer’s Championship in Marbula One,” Orangin smirked. “The fans have no idea what’s coming. Just you wait.”

The track map for the Minty Mania GP. (Design Credit: Spex)

Upon being re-invited to Marbula One Season 2, the O’rangers once again chose Clementin and Orangin to represent them. Clementin started the opening Grand Prix of Minty Mania with a poor result of thirteenth-place. After being selected to host the second Grand Prix of the season again, Orangin sadly could not deliver the result that they needed on their home turf again, tying the O’rangers for last with Team Galactic, the Minty Maniacs, and the Savage Speeders. Following a fourth-place qualifying at the Honeydome, the team finally scored, with Clementin placing ninth. Orangin placed tenth at the Aquamaring, leaving the team in sixteenth place in the overall standings.

After another poor qualifying for Orangin at the Tumult Turnpike, and the now-infamous “Pinball” moment on lap 2, they managed to claw back into the top ten and finish in ninth. At the Arctic Circuit, the O’rangers finally got their long-awaited medal, with a silver.

Clementin’s sole podium moment during Marbula One Season 2. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

“Let the OOOOOOOs reign!” Clementin said celebrating after the event.

At the end of the first half of Marbula One, the O’Marbles traveled back to their farm to train at the Mandaring. Acting as Manager of the team now, Mandarin set up a press conference in Orlango while the rest of the team was training. The press conference had an astounding turn-out, as the booth was overflowing with passionate O’rangers fans.

Mandarin’s press conference with Cable Marble Media in late 2020. (Design Credit: Baron)

I think we’re in the middle of our glory days. We haven’t missed a podium since 2019, and while we didn’t seal the deal in Marble League 2020, and it’s not looking like we’re going to make the podium in Marbula One, I’m proud to be a fan of the O’rangers.” Term, a longtime O’rangers fan said at the conference. “The O’rangers have the most dedicated and passionate fan base in all of JMR. A lot of people like to say they’re obnoxious, but I think their love for the team and dedication just outshine the other fanbases.” Term remarked on the Amalanta Falcons billboard. “Sometimes they just go…a bit overboard.”

Another O’rangers fan, Melanie, said; “ I remember [when I first saw the O’rangers] and the moment I saw that bright orange, I instantly fell in love.” They remarked upon how they fell in love with the team. “A particularly fond memory I have? There are many…One of course was Marble League 2017, where we outran the Savage Speeders in the final three events. That was fantastic. Then of course there was breaking the High Jump record…I could go on and on.”

After the press conference, Mandarin received the invite for the Marble League Winter Special. The team accepted hastily and spent long days and nights training in the Mandaring. The O’rangers had to deny the invitation to the Fruit Circuit Reunion, which was scheduled to happen at the same time as the Winter Special.

Orangin hosted a meet-and-greet with Red Number 3 and Jelle Bakker. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

To start the season, it appeared that the O’rangers would be moving on to the semifinals in the Ice Dash until Smoggy from the Hazers drafted by at the last second. Clementin, furious with themselves, finished ninth.

“It was so heartbreaking. I thought I had ‘em, but I fell apart at the end.” Clementin said after the event. Kinnowin followed this up with a seventh-place finish at the Snowboard Cross. After an eleventh-place finish in Speed Skating, the team sat in eleventh place overall, but they would rise seven spots in the standings after breaking the track record at the Bobsled, securing gold.

The O’rangers won the Bobsled event by besting the Gliding Glaciers’ record. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

“OOOOOOOOOOOOO!” They all shouted in unison as they stood triumphantly on the top step of the podium. That marked the fifth Marble League Record the O’rangers had broken since the start of the 2020 Marble League, adding on to their Halfpipe, Newton’s Cradle, Relay Race, and High Jump records.

The O’rangers entered the final event, Ice Hockey, with a chance to win it all. After knocking out the Pinkies and Minty Maniacs, they faced the Raspberry Racers in the semi-finals. Sadly, they could not muster the energy to beat the Racers and were relegated to the third-place match. This meant that the O’rangers would not win the Marble League Winter Special, but instead settled for runners-up overall following their bronze in hockey.

The O’rangers won silver in the Marble League Winter Special. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

“I believe the team seems to be doing rather well.” JackJack, another O’rangers fan, said in an interview with CMM reporters after Ice Hockey concluded. “Their recent performances in Marble League 2020 and the Winter Special have been excellent, with two runner-up finishes. Now, they’ve got to get over the top of the hill and lock down a tournament win.”

Returning to Orlango to train for the second half of Marbula One, the team spent days in and out of the Mandaring, hoping that Clementin and Orangin could keep their podium streak alive in Marbula One. Orangin managed to finish ninth at the Raceforest, a notoriously difficult track that saw two yellow and two blue flags waved.

Despite starting at P10 in the Momotorway GP, Clementin was able to make up a considerable amount of places to finish fourth. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

Clementin managed to finish well at the Momotorway, though, and placed fourth. Clementin had now cracked into the top ten of the Racer’s Championship.

“WOOOOO!” Tangerin said after the event. “That’s our darling!”

Orangin finally qualified well at Palette Park, with a fifth-place qualifier. With a seventh-place finish, Orangin clocked in their best result of the season so far.

At Misty Mountain, however, things took a turn for the worse for Clementin. After all the commotion and chaos caused by the three yellow (and red) flags, Clementin stalled on the final lap of the race and did not finish. The O’rangers hit the bottom half of the standings again.

The team was cautiously optimistic on the flight to Vellis. Clementin had had success at the Savage Speedway before, and the team hoped they could do it again. Sadly, however, Clementin could only muster an 11th place finish this time, and the O’rangers were knocked out of podium contention.

The final stop on the Marbula One agenda was Helarve; home of the Midnight Wisps. Orangin was chosen to represent in the finale this time.

“There’s been a lot of pressure on me recently,” Orangin said before the qualifiers. “From being promoted to one of the main team members, struggling in the first half of Marbula One, and now racing in the finale, I hope I can deliver.”

An overhead shot of Midnight Bay, the final Grand Prix. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

Orangin did indeed deliver another solid result, notching in six solid points with an eighth-place finish at the finale. The O’rangers would use this to squeak past Balls of Chaos and finish the season in tenth place.

“Sure, it may not have been the season we were looking for…” Clementin remarked. “But a top-half finish is still a top-half finish. Plus, it felt kind of nice to be in the midpack for once. We got too many nosebleeds from being so high up all the time…” they said with a smirk.

The team returned to Orlango, expecting disappointment from their fans. However, they didn’t find any. The residents all seemed to be at peace with everything, which “warmed our hearts,” Coach Rango said. The team had prepared a feast back at their farm to celebrate another successful season, as well as to the good times ahead.

“While we are athletes, we still are a family.” Tangerin, the new reserve member, said. “And family is what holds us all together, and makes us stronger as a team.” Orangin echoed Tangerin’s sentiments: “I think being a family has helped us bond in team events, and gives us just that extra push that we need. I hope we can continue the momentum in team events in Marble League 2021.”

The O’Marbles had a daily routine set up during the offseason. They woke up every morning with a batch of pancakes, then they headed out into the fields to harvest oranges. After that, they spent two to three hours training in the Mandaring. And to end their busy day, they watched a movie as a family, which was normally a Marble Cinematic Universe Movie. Orangin normally hogged the remote, (they responded to such allegations with ‘Hehe, I shall neither confirm nor deny this’) so they picked their favorite often (Captain Marble).

“We’ll be training harder than ever as the season approaches,” Kinnowin said. “But we still have to play to our strengths. Like we did in 2017 and 2018, taking a deep breath, and conserving our energy worked well. Last year, we did the exact opposite and fell flat on our faces at the end. We can’t do that again. We’re coming for the crown.”

The MarBeats performing at the O’Marbles Farm. (Art Credit: JackJack)

The O’Marbles held one final get-together on their farm before the flight to Felynia, featuring a guest appearance from the MarBeats. The farm was filled to the brim with O’rangers fans who had come to wish the team good luck.

“It’s heartwarming to see the fanbase supporting the team again,” Hamlin said with a warm orange cider; a new drink the O’rangers were manufacturing on their farm now. “They’ll do good. I just know they will.”

The team boarded a long flight to Felynia for the Marble League Practice Race, where the team would select Kinnowin to represent them. Kinnowin crossed the line in a respectable seventh place for the team, continuing their traditionally strong sand performances.

“It felt good, particularly considering there were 28 competitors here as compared to the normal 16. I’m confident for the Marble League.” Kinnowin said.

The team watched a sunset in Orlango as they prepared for Marble League 2021. (Photo Credit: JackJack)

In RetRollSpective, the O’rangers have not always been the champions that most of the fans perceive them to be. Regardless, the team’s history of comebacks and consistency has assured its place in Marble League and Marbula One history as one of their most persistent competitors, and therefore, one of their best. Whether or not the O’rangers win another Marble League, they have already made their mark on the tournament, and will always be remembered for their accomplishments. Best of luck to the O’rangers in the future, keep on rolling!

Credits

Writers: The Emperor, Stynth
Editor: Jacob723, Smacg13
Artists: Betawolfs, Jack Ironhide, JackJack
Graphic Designers: Baron, MSPN, Novawolf, Spex, Tim Ritz
Photographers: JackJack, Jelle’s Marble Runs
Release: 09/07/2021

The Teams You’ll Miss in Marble League 2021 – Group B

The official logo for the 2021 Marble League, designed by Pim Leurs.

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

After months of waiting to see which teams would compete in the 2021 Marble League, we finally know the sixteen teams that have qualified, including the four that prequalified at the end of the 2020 Marble League and the twelve that competed in the 2021 Marble League Qualifiers. And now that we know, the 2021 Marble League is just around the corner! All of the teams are already in Felynia, and soon, it will be time to light the torch in the Felynia Coliseum.

In our theorizing, meme-making, and hype intensifying, we’ll rally behind at least one of the sixteen teams that have qualified, if not all of them. From the Gliding Glaciers, who have returned from retirement with a new roster, to six-time veterans such as the Thunderbolts, they all have something unique to bring to the games, and they have brought their all to secure their spot.

Regardless, there is a certain tragedy that comes with the passing of the Qualifiers each year. There are sixteen spots in the Marble League each year, meaning that if more than twelve teams are seeking to compete, there will be cuts. This has been the case since 2017 when the first Qualifiers were held, and the Kobalts, Snowballs, Balls of Chaos, and Rojo Rollers failed to qualify. In 2018, twelve teams failed to qualify (four from each group), the most in a single season yet. In 2019, the JMRC established the former system of relegation, and in addition to the Limers and Team Momo missing their first Marble League, the Limers, Turtle Sliders, Kobalts, and Shining Swarm did not advance to the 2020 Qualifiers from the 2019 Showdown. The system of relegation adopted this year saved the bottom four Showdown teams from missing out on Qualifiers, with the 2021 Marble League Qualifiers mandating that the top six teams of twelve within two groups move on to the main tournament.

An official graphic explaining the changes in Marble League 2021’s relegation system. (Design Credit: Spex)

This year saw a mixture of teams get cut after the four events of Qualifiers. Some were beloved fan favorites. Others were hoping, after years of being unsuccessful, to finally 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.

Still, as we await the 2021 Marble League, we would like to reflect on the “forbidden six” from Group B. They deserve to be heard, and their legacies deserve to be honored. Any team could be in their position right now.

Pinky Pain

The Pinkies finish last in Funnel Endurance. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The Pinkies followed up a middling off-season from the Marble League with a middling performance in Qualifiers, failing to advance to the main tournament for the second consecutive year. Although the Pinkies did well in the Showdown, placing fifth with a bronze and a silver, their performances in the Winter Special and the Practice Race left much to be desired, with their results at thirteenth and twenty-seventh respectively.

Pinky Rosa was selected to compete in the Practice Race, an odd decision considering they are not the strongest racer on the team—Pinky Toe is. Sure enough, Pinky Toe competed in the Sand Rally during Qualifiers and scored a clutch come-from-behind victory in the final seconds of the race, mirroring their gold medal moment from the 2019 Dirt Race. Alas, winning the final event was not enough for the Pinkies, in part due to the Chocolatiers’ silver, and in part due to the team’s poor performances in other events.

With Pinky Toe’s recent ascent to the role of captain (and Pinky Rosa stepping down from said role), one has to wonder if the recent issues with the Pinkies have something to do with coaching. Although I was not able to secure an interview with Coach Pinky Promise, I was able to ask Pinky Panther about it before we screened Miraroll, an epic sports film about the Midnight Wisps’ 2018 comeback.

“I mean, I would have loved to be put in for Funnel Endurance,” they whispered to me. “That was out of our control, but I’m hoping that we as a team learn from that.”

With luck, the Pinkies will learn from that in time for the 2021 Showdown.

A Fallen Redemption Arc

The Kobalts just barely lose a photo finish to the Chocolatiers. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The intense photo finish between the Chocolatiers and the Kobalts in the final seconds of Qualifiers was a defining moment not just in the 2021 season, but in the careers of both teams. As the Chocolatiers shed their identity of “choking away” their potential, the Kobalts lost their chance to complete their redemption arc, which had spanned for nearly a year after their surprise victory in the 2020 Showdown.

“We thought things had turned around for us,” lamented Cerulean. “And we were so close to fulfilling that by qualifying for the Marble League.”

Had the Kobalts finished in second instead of third, they would have done so with twenty-three points overall, one point ahead of the Chocolatiers if they were the team in third.

“Two years ago, I wouldn’t have been able to give this interview because I wasn’t able to face the facts,” Azure stated, referencing my article from the 2019 season. “But this time…I understand what happened, and I’m confident that I gave it my all in the Sand Rally. Bonbon just had more of ‘their all’ to give than I did. As we train for the Showdown, we’re going to look into how much more we can give, both as individual athletes and as a team.”

The rest of the team nodded in agreement. Although they were visibly upset from the results of Qualifiers, I could also tell that they were ready to work harder than they ever had to prepare for the 2021 Showdown. Best of luck to the Kobalts there.

Feeling the Sting

The Bumblebees chase the Limers in Relay. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

One of two teams in Group B that participated in the 2020 Marble League and failed to qualify this year, the Bumblebees’ career in Jelle’s Marble Runs has been more of a stint than a successful venture. Following their four golds and resulting championship in the 2018 Hubelino Tournament, the Bees have simply gotten by in the rest of their appearances, qualifying for the 2020 Marble League in twelfth place (on the bubble of the four-way tiebreak), placing eleventh with one silver medal, and finishing thirteenth in Season 2 of Marbula One.

Before this year’s Qualifiers, the Bumblebees purchased the Hornets franchise with the support of the Royal Family of Buzznya, taking over the inactive team’s assets as they relinquished their spot in Qualifiers. Although none of the Hornets athletes were accepted into the Bumblebees’ roster, they all traveled to Felynia to watch Qualifiers, and following the tournament, I received a response for my interview request from both Honey and Vespa. How could I turn that down?

“The past few months have been really busy,” Honey confided. “I think I’ve dealt with it the best out of anyone on the team.”

“You have,” Vespa shrugged, agreeing. “Everyone else got caught up in what this means for ‘the rivalry’ and the press. It never mattered much to us, and with your third place in the funnels, you proved that.”

“It matters more to some of my teammates than others,” Honey clarified. “It’s when it gets in the way that there’s a problem. When you’re in the zone to perform the best that you possibly can, nothing else should matter but that. If something else does, you’ll only get stung by that before you know it.” Vespa chuckled, causing Honey, too, to chuckle.

Although my conversation with the two athletes was short, it helped me understand the primary issue that the Bumblebees are facing. With luck, they’ll overcome that in the 2021 Showdown.

Slipping Away

The Turtle Sliders travel across the outskirts of Aslipi towards the airport until they find a lone taxi. (Photo Credit: Vector)

As I witnessed the Sand Rally, I was amazed to see Crush from the Turtle Sliders rebound from hitting the large orb obstacle at the very beginning of the race to nearly reaching the podium. For a team that hadn’t gotten a fair opportunity to qualify for the Marble League until this year, I almost believed that the Sliders would get that validation this time around.

Amazingly, the Turtle Sliders nearly missed out on attending Qualifiers. The above picture, captured by the paparazzi outside the freeway in Aslipi, shows the Sliders rushing to the airport the day before the tournament. Due to unfavorable flight conditions, the team had difficulty finding a new flight to Felynia until that day, and difficulty finding a ride to the Aslipi Airport until they decided to trek there themselves.

“After two years in the bottom four of the Showdown…can you blame us?” voiced Dash. “This was our chance to prove ourselves, and we were not going to let that go.”

Despite a difficult first half, the Sliders’ fourth place in the Relay Race left the team just under the cusp of qualification. Had Crush placed second or above in the order of the top four, they would have qualified on the bubble—or above.

“This is technically our third time failing to qualify: once last year, twice this year,” Shelly observed. “We had a great offseason, so this is difficult for us to take in. But if we don’t grow from it…what’s the point?”

“We’ve yet to make it through Qualifiers, but that doesn’t mean we never will. We’re stronger than that,” promised Crush.

With luck, we will see that prevail through the Sliders’ performance in the Showdown.

Solar Eclipsed

The Solar Flares barely lose Relay at the line to the Green Ducks. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

A team completely new to the tournaments of Jelle’s Marble Runs, the Solar Flares admitted they weren’t expecting to make it into the 2021 Marble League.

“We certainly hoped we would, especially after we did so well in the Wave event,” Flare recalled. “We were honored to make it to the podium in that, even if we didn’t qualify.

Nevertheless, we understand that we were competing for the first time against the best of the best. Whether or not we’re among them is something we’re ready to prove in spirit, albeit not in practice.”

The team placed third in the aforementioned Wave event, which they had practiced as a team since their first sessions in Meteorine. They were in a provisional qualifying position until the Relay, where they placed last and fell to seventh overall. The Flares continued to dip from there, falling to eleventh overall with a seventh place in the Sand Rally.

“I felt good about Funnel Endurance from the Herbotamia Invitational,” Scorch said. “The Relay threw us all for a loop though. It’s not like we hadn’t trained for it, but every other team had a handle on what they were doing.”

“And even in that photo finish, the Green Ducks had the grace to finish ahead of me,” admitted Radiance. “Ultimately, being in the Showdown will give us the experience we need to be the best we can be.”

With luck, the Solar Flares will get that experience in the 2021 Showdown.

Voided Out

Team Galactic loses the battle and the war in the Wave. (Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)

The Solar Flares followed me from their room to the penthouse of the hotel, which the Crazy Cat’s Eyes had reserved for Team Galactic as thanks for hosting the previous year. There, Team Galactic was hosting a potluck dinner with their friends, including the Flares, and some of their most trusted fans, including Mellacus, Novawolf, The Emperor, Phoenix, and others I recognized from around The Marblebase and my experience as a former JMRC member. I opted to bring two pounds of noodles with homemade tomato sauce and was pleasantly surprised to see the dish disappear by the end of the night.

As I caught up with my former JMRC colleagues, I inched closer to Team Galactic, who, despite hosting, were sitting alone together in the kitchen. It was clear that despite their efforts to stay in good spirits, Team Galactic was feeling low.

I could tell that they weren’t up to an interview, but Starry spoke up anyway. “Thank you for contributing to the dinner and not showing up just to get press from us. You’re a real one.”

In one of the only times I’ll quote myself in one of these, I replied, “I try to be.”

“We know we let down our fans, from the Wave to the final event. And I know they weren’t content with me being chosen for the Sand Rally,” said Cosmo, looking down. “I did the best I could, and I know it wasn’t good enough. I won’t let that go as much as the fans won’t.”

“But we also know that we’re better than this,” asserted Astron. “Whether we weren’t prepared this time around or had a bad four events, we do know that we’re going to come back from this. No matter how long it takes…we’re going to get another gold medal one day. We’ll make the podium one day. And one day, we’ll win it all.”

With luck, Team Galactic will begin that journey in the 2021 Showdown.

Conclusion: 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 strong 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.

Pinkies, Kobalts, Bumblebees, Solar Flares, Turtle Sliders, Team Galactic: 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

Writer: Stynth
Editor: Ramen Powder
Graphic Designers: Pim Leurs, Spex
Photographers: Jelle’s Marble Runs, Vector
Reference: Marble League 2021 Qualifiers | Jelle’s Marble Runs
Release: 30/06/2021