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Recap: Ok, so after the first day everybody seemed to be confused as to what this Altador Cup was going to look like.  After today’s results things are starting to look a little more clear.  The virtual fog is starting to clear a little.  After the first day, many were wondering if Altador was going to be a strong team this year, or if Moltara was just really bad.  Well, after today’s results it looks as if Moltara is just going to be a bottom-tier team and Altador isn’t all that likely to have any chance at getting into the top half of standings (let alone the top 4).

After today it is even more clear that Kreludor is going to be a top contender to win the whole thing.  Right now they are the team to beat.  They have pulled off two impressive sweeps (this time sweeping Krawk Island).  The only other team that has swept both days is Brightvale.  So what is up with Brightvale this year?  There is still some mystery to the Brightvale team.  After sitting out last year it’s possible that they’ve gotten a nice boost, much like Kreludor did in the Altador Cup 3.  But this wasn’t all that expected seeing asKiko Lake didn’t get any sort of boost in the Altador Cup 4 after sitting out the Altador Cup 3.  But it’s also possible that they’re just a “middle-of-the-road” team that hasn’t faced any strong opponent yet.  Sure they swept Darigan, but Darigan has yet to really prove themselves in this Cup.  They did manage to beat Moltara, but that’s not saying much.  Today they swept Kiko Lake, which would have looked a lot better if Shenkuu beat Haunted Woods (since Kiko Lake beat Shenkuu).  But Shenkuu did poorly against Haunted Woods and it looks like Shenkuu is going to struggle in the first half of the Cup as always.  Bottom line is, it’s going to be hard to gage how good of a team Brightvale (or Kiko Lake) is until they get put to the test by a top team.

Two other teams that are looking strong this year are Meridell and Lost Desert. Both are undefeated in Yooyuball and both have a win against a decent team.  Neither have any win against a top team such as Kreludor, so it isn’t yet known exactly how good they are this year, but they are certainly off to a nice start.

Power Rankings:
Remember, these rankings are based on my opinion based on schedule strength and pre-season consensus, not just results.  Here are the top 7 “power-ranked” teams:
1. Kreludor
2. Lost Desert
3. Meridell
4. Brightvale
5. Mystery Island
6. Roo Island
7. Krawk Island

Official Rankings:
This year the official standings can be found here .  This year TNT has made a good move and decided to actually put up the official standings instead of us having to just guess and make up our own formulas.

Predictions:
Terror Mountain over Moltara
Haunted Woods over Darigan
Mystery Island over Virtupets
Krawk Island over Kiko Lake
Meridell drawing against Brightvale*
Maraqua over Altador
Lost Desert over Shenkuu
Tyrannia over Faerieland
Kreludor over Roo Island

*Game of the day

Discuss your thoughts in the comments.