Azul Cup: Season 2

[Injured Pigeon]

Get ready to ignite your competitive spirit—Season 2 of the Azul Cup is launching this July! The international team tournament returns, bringing together national teams in a thrilling battle of strategy and skill.

What’s the Azul Cup?
The Azul Cup is a global online tournament where national teams, each comprising at least three players, compete in the acclaimed board game Azul. Hosted by Injured Pigeon on Board Game Arena, the competition unfolds in two stages: regional round-robin tournaments followed by a high-stakes finals round.

Season 2 Highlights
Start Date: July 2025

Format: 1v1, turn-based matches

Structure: Regional tournaments leading to finals

Team Composition: Minimum of 3 players per national team

Rotation: Teams can rotate players between rounds

How to Join
New Teams: Assemble a team of at least 3 top players from your nation and register by contacting myself or posting on the Discord Azul channel. Registration ends June 16th.

Existing Teams: Reach out to your national team captain via Board Game Arena. Captains are listed on the Azul Cup website: https://azulonline.wixsite.com/azul-tournaments.

Teams currently include:

• Brazil
  Bulgaria
  Canada
  Catalonia
  Chile
  China
  Croatia
  France
  Germany
  Guatemala
  Hong Kong
  Hungary
  India
  Japan
  Latvia
  Peru
  Poland
  Russia
  San Marino Republic
  Spain
  UK
  Ukraine
  USA

Why Participate?
Engage in a vibrant community of Azul enthusiasts, represent your nation on an international stage, and experience the thrill of competitive play. Whether you're a seasoned strategist or new to the game, the Azul Cup offers an inclusive and exciting environment for all skill levels.

Ready to take on the challenge? Visit the Azul Tournaments website to learn more and be part of this exhilarating event!
https://azulonline.wixsite.com/azul-tournaments

[Injured Pigeon]

A quick update on the status of registration, there still some countries with strong players that aren't signed up and some invited still to be taken up.
Registration closes June 16th, and the competition starts on July 1st.


Brazil – Confirmed
Bulgaria – 🛠 Assembling team
Canada – 🛠 Assembling team
Catalonia – Confirmed
Chile – Confirmed
China – 🛠 Assembling team
Croatia – 🛠 Assembling team
France – Invited
Germany – Invited
Guatemala – 🛠 Assembling team
Hong Kong – Confirmed
Hungary – 🛠 Assembling team
India – Confirmed
Japan – Invited
Latvia – Unsure
Peru – Invited
Poland – 🛠 Assembling team
RoW (Rest of World) – 🛠 Assembling team
Russia – Confirmed
San Marino Republic – 🛠 Assembling team
Spain – 🛠 Assembling team
UK – 🛠 Assembling team
Ukraine – 🛠 Assembling team
USA – 🛠 Assembling team

[Injured Pigeon]

Hi, we now have 23 teams confirmed, as shown below:

Brazil
Bulgaria
Canada
Catalonia
Chile
China
Croatia
France
Germany
Guatemala
Hong Kong
Hungary
India
Japan
Korea (South Korea)
Peru
Poland
RoW (Rest of World)
Russia
San Marino Republic
UK
Uruguay
USA

Spain, Ukraine and Latia couldn't quite get the numbers together.
It would be great if we could reach 24 teams, so if you're a 400+ ELO player with more than 100 Azul games played and you'd be interested in joining a Rest of World 2 team then please let me know. I'll keep it open for a few days.

[Injured Pigeon]

Season 2 starts on July 1st. The regional lineup for the 24 competing nations is below.
If you are competing please contact your team captain for your join link.

[Injured Pigeon]

Hobbs: Hello everyone, I’m Brian Hobbs…

Royce: … and I’m James Royce.

Hobbs: We will be your colour commentators for the competition.

Royce: Yes indeedy. Welcome back to the 51st Annual All Valley Under-18 Karate Tournament!

Hobbs: Yes! Wait… what?

Royce: Welcome back to the 51st Annual All Valley Under-18 Karate Tournament?

Hobbs: That’s not what this is.

Royce: Oh. Eternal glory! That’s what awaits the student who wins the Triwizard Tournament.

Hobbs: No.

Royce: Trainers, prepare for battle! The final round of the Pokémon League Tournament is about to
begin!

Hobbs: ...?

Royce: It’s time to separate the men from the boys... and the boys from the slightly older boys?

Hobbs: That’s Dodgeball.

Royce: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the biggest intergalactic basketball game in history!

Hobbs: Spacejam.

Royce: Then what the hell is this gig?

Hobbs: The Azul Cup

Royce: What the hell is that?

Hobbs: It’s only the most exciting tournament on BGA, the only international team Tournament that
Azul has ever known, and quite simply the best Azul tournament ever. EVER!

Royce: If you say so.

Hobbs: Well, MayMay is excited.

Royce: MayMay get’s wet watching Reish Galuta replays, so I’m not sure that means much.

Hobbs: Wow. We’re setting the bar low early this season.

Royce: Oh, it’s just getting started princess.

Hobbs: *sigh*. This season the Azul Cup is boasting 24 national teams from Argentina to Uruguay.

Royce: Your a g…

Hobbs: Don’t do it!

Royce: Fine.

Hobbs: And it’s not “Your”, it’s “you’re”.

Royce: Ooo.

Hobbs: 24 teams, 72 players, all competing in 12 regional tournaments. The nation in each group with the most victories qualifies for the finals and this season they’ll also be two wild cards with the best records joining them.

Royce: So, 6 teams in the final?

Hobbs: Yep, that’s what everyone wanted last season.

Royce: And by everyone… you mean Zeus?

Hobbs: And it all starts tomorrow morning as planned.

Royce: You mean as Zeus planned?

Hobbs: He’s very intimidating. He said he’d scheduled the tournament in for July 1st.

Royce: Oh, did he? Did he now? And did he also work overtime to help pull it all together for July 1st instead of leaving it just a couple more days to help manage the workload?

Hobbs: Erm…

Royce: That’s what I thought. But you know who did?

Hobbs: Was it Sandra from Admin?

Royce: Yes, yes it was.

Hobbs: I’m sure upper management will pay her more.

Royce: Sure, that sounds like upper management.

Hobbs: Anyway, I think Zeus prefers to be called Genki.

Royce: I thought that was just on Friday nights?

Hobbs: O-K… shall we make a start?

Royce: Sure, who’s up first?

Hobbs: Well, let’s start with the World Champions, USA.

Royce: USA! USA! USA!

Hobbs: The biggest shock is that Bangerz will no longer be competing.

Royce: Hang on, wasn’t he the team mascot anyway?

Hobbs: No.

Royce: He didn’t play though, right?

Hobbs: Yes, he did.

Royce: … wow. But now he’s left?

Hobbs: Yes, just as the season started.

Royce: So now what’s he doing?

Hobbs: Err… he’s the team mascot.

Royce: I knew it!

Hobbs: He has a Cockroach costume; I don’t know why.

Royce: He’s bat shit nuts that’s why baby! So, who is it they’ll admit in his place?

Hobbs: Admitted.

Royce: Sigh. OK enough now, grammar police, who have they admitted in his place?

Hobbs: Admitted!

Royce: That’s what I’m asking.

Hobbs: No. That’s who’s in the team, Admitted.

Royce: … never heard of the guy. Can we get Bangerz back? I know him.

Hobbs: Everyone knows Bangerz.

Royce: Yeah I know, it’s the law now, people like him have to be on a public register.

Hobbs: Anyway, no we can’t. It’s too much paperwork for Sandra. Admitted has been, well, admitted.

Royce: Well, with Kevin Wise, aka Captain America as captain…

Hobbs: He’s not.

Royce: He’s not what? Captain America? I know, it’s just what he’s known as now.

Hobbs: He’s not the captain anymore, Priptonite is.

Royce: What the…I bet Sandra wasn’t pleased about that either!

Hobbs: Yeah, she’s wasn’t happy with all these last minute changes.

Royce: So, let me get this straight. Last season’s world champions, despite a winning formula of Captain America at the helm, and Bangerz’ unorthodox game play that saw him finish 1st in last season’s finals, the only player from the USA to achieve that, they decide to change it at the last minute?

Hobbs: It looks that way.

Royce: Wow. I need to go see my bookie.

Hobbs: But technically, this makes for a stronger team than last year. Admitted has played over 3000 games …

Royce: I’m googling his profile now…

Hobbs: … he has an ELO of over 800…

Royce: …Hang on, it says here he’s 124…



Hobbs: He’s truly a legend in the game.

Royce: … … he’s Priptonite’s dad, isn’t he?

Hobbs: Yes, yes he is.

Royce: Incredible, I guess it’s not what you know, but who you know!

Hobbs: Remind me how we got this gig?

Royce: I miss Bangerz already.

Hobbs: Moving on… So, the USA come in at about the 3rd highest ranked team this season, the same as last season... Admitted and Kevin are solid and dependable. Priptonite on the other hand, well, he can either be a force to reckoned with like a hurricane…

Royce: Or like a fart.

Hobbs: You mean, not quite as powerful?

Royce: No, I just mean he stinks.

Hobbs: But if we get the good Priptonite?

Royce: Honestly, this competition is going to run for weeks, this guy doesn’t have the stamina to keep up with younger ones, the likes of Djoker16, jojinse35 and C0d3N1nj4, these guys are the next generation of Azul.

Hobbs: Honestly, I wouldn’t count Priptonite out. There’s a lot of experience and wisdom in that man that these younger ones just don’t have, and a lot are betting that this is his season.

Royce: Pft. Can we talk about someone else? This guy gets more attention than a CN_Azul vs Kndr match.

Hobbs: Kndr might find that quite insulting.

Royce: I apologise, I made a mistake and now I’m bored of this, let’s move on.

Hobbs: OK, let’s talk about one of the new teams also in Group A, Korea?

Royce: Korea have joined?

Hobbs: Yes they have, and it’s a strong lineup at rank 8 with BlueAArrow…

Royce: … too many A’s

Hobbs: Seed seed…

Royce: Too many seeds.

Hobbs: and jojinse35

Royce: …

Hobbs: Are you happy with his name?

Royce: Yep, a good, and classic Korean name. Dependable. He won’t let you down… or take ages to track down… or leave your messages unanswered… or be late joining a tournament.

Hobbs: What?

Royce: Nothing.

Hobbs: Seed seed is only 18 years old, not old enough to drink in some countries, including his own.

Royce: Yeah, I hear that Korea are suspending his military service for the Azul Cup.

Hobbs: Oh, really?

Royce: Maybe.

Hobbs: Can we stick to the facts please. He has 1200 games played.

Royce: Sure, I saw his profile. But how many of them are actually Azul?

Hobbs: No, I mean of Azul.

Royce: Oh. His game list is as long as a turn-based game of Twilight Imperium.

Hobbs: Did BGA pay you to promote that?

Royce: No! But I hear that it will be coming out of BETA very soon and only available to play on BGA, get those premium subscriptions paid now.

Hobbs: Hmm… well, I guess he had to kiss a lot of frogs before he found his Azul. This team is one to watch for me and if they can notch 1 or 2 wins up against the USA this could make for a very interesting group indeed.

Royce: OK, well 1000 words is my limit for one evening…

Hobbs: But we haven’t spoken about Germany, China, the UK… there’s 22 more teams to cover.

Royce: Yeah, well that’s for another day.

Hobbs: Zeus won’t be happy.

Royce: What’s has he said the deadline is?

Hobbs: Tomorrow.

Royce: Oh well, Zeus can lick my…

Hobbs: OK!!! Maybe now is a good time to leave things. So, let me finish by saying to all the athletes…

Royce: *snigger*

Hobbs: … competing in the Azul Cup, GL, but most of all HF!

Royce: You’re such a geek.

[Transmission ended]

[Injured Pigeon]

Hobbs: Before we begin tonight’s instalment of Azul Cup News…

Royce: We need a better name.

Hobbs: I’m afraid we need to explain the events that transpired late yesterday evening when we went off air. It appears that our broadcast on Discord (https://discord.gg/xECfh9Ak) was hacked by none other than Bangerz…

Royce: A man we had the utmost respect for.

Hobbs: Who then went on air and attempted to discredit us and tarnish some of Azul’s most distinguished players. I can only apologise for the offense and confusion that this may have caused everyone.

Royce: No one actually thought that that was us, right?

Hobbs: Yes, I’m sorry to say they did.

Royce: I don’t know who should be more insulted, us or the people Bangerz ridiculed. Who bought the charade?

Hobbs: Well, there was MayMay…

Royce: Figures.

Hobbs: Reish Galuta

Royce: There’s a theme developing with these two.

Hobbs: Priptonite.

Royce: Whoa! It reads like the Forbes Rich list, only if you replace Forbes with BGA and Rich with dumb.

Hobbs: That seems harsh, with state-of-the-art AI technology the likes that Bangerz clearly utilised, anyone could be fooled.

Royce: Hah! There was nothing intelligent about that! He plucked at low hanging fruit.

Hobbs: Yes, it was crass, making fun of Sunny369’s name like that…

Royce: We’d never make fun of someone’s username. Ever-!

Hobbs: And to remark on Alexy’s receding hair was deeply personal.

Royce: Absolutely, that guy’s cranium is growing exponentially, no one’s hair line could keep up with that.

Hobbs: Yes, that was below the belt.

Royce: Alexy’s alright. He’s keeping his hair on about the whole situation.

Hobbs: I kind of feel bad for Bangerz. The official line coming from the USA camp was that “he didn’t have the time to commit to the tournament”…

Royce: O-K. But he had the time to hack our systems and mock up a fake broadcast?
Hobbs: Clearly being kicked out of the USA team has affected him more than anyone thought. Maybe we should call someone who loves him.

Royce: Good luck finding that someone.

Hobbs: I’m sure his Dad does.

Royce: I don’t know, this smacks of childhood trauma, maybe his dad loved him a little too much.

Hobbs: It’s a real shame.

Royce: I still like him, though it is reassuring that there’s an Atlantic Ocean separating us.

Hobbs: Shall we move on?

Royce: Oh yeah.

Hobbs: Well, after only 12 hours of play Group D1 has got off to a flying start, completing 7 games already. This group includes Reish Galuta, Injured Pigeon, Blaze2024, CodeNinja, Ant50 and amasiuncula.

Royce: They do realise that the Germans make 1 move a day, right?

Hobbs: This is a tough group, and I know that the UK team and at least Reisha Galuta have been putting some time in at the academy in the run up.

Royce: After last season, I’m not surprised Reish has, what has he been doing to prepare?

Hobbs: He’s been playing a lot of Azul Grey Wall.

Royce: …

Hobbs: This is a direct quote from him “My weak point in Azul is adjacencies. That's why I'm stronger on grey. I don't need to worry (much) about colour sequencing.”

Royce: …

Hobbs: Hmm, looking at the table, he’s not doing very well this season either.

Royce: …

Hobbs: He’s in 4th place.

Royce: …

Hobbs: Nothing to say?

Royce: I’m %#@&ing speechless. This guy. He makes ELO 900 players look bad. Hell, he makes Azul Experts look bad.

Hobbs: He’s won 1 out of his 4 games.

Royce: I stand corrected, way to go Reish! That’s an improvement over last season buddy. You’re doing g-r-e-a-t…

Hobbs: Yeah, maybe next season he will win 2 games?

Royce: Don’t be ridiculous! Well, I had a whole team Canada analysis lined up, that was a waste of time.

Hobbs: We could still do it.

sound of crumpling paper

Royce: Nah @#%$ it; if Reish can’t be bothered to try then why should I?
Hobbs: Do you want to talk about another team?

Royce: Fine.

Hobbs: How about Bulgaria, also in Group D. This team consists of CodeNinja, illian1010 and HuHu92.

Royce: Who? Who?

Hobbs: 92.

Royce: Right.

Hobbs: HuHu92 has started the competition quite strong, he’s defeated the Jackel…

Royce: Love that show.

Hobbs: and TheSupremeOverlord.

Royce: The what now?

Hobbs: The-Supreme-Overlord.

Royce: Elon’s playing Azul now?

Hobbs: illian has suffered a loss, but C0d3N1nj4 has defeated Reish Galuta.

Royce: Of course he has… Who is CodeNinja and are you sure you’re spelling it correctly.

Hobbs: I try not to fight the spell checker, it’s like playing Azul with Sapperlot, I don’t understand what it’s doing, and I won’t win.

Royce: Fair enough.

Hobbs: CodeNinja is the developer of the Azul extension?

Royce: He created Bangerz?

Hobbs: Be nice.

Royce: Oh. I know what you mean, you mean the most awesome BGA Web Browser extension…

Hobbs: I feel a plug coming on…

Royce: That’s what Bangerz said…

Hobbs: sigh.

Royce: Tell me more about this marvellous browser extension.

Hobbs: Well, it’s the first-ever browser extension designed specifically for the Azul game on BoardGameArena.com.

Royce: That’s quite specific.

Hobbs: It offers automatic tile counting…

Royce: Go on…

Hobbs: It also supports Grey Wall and Chocolatier variants…

Royce: Seems like a lot of work just for Reish Galuta…

Hobbs: It supports up to 4 players…

Royce: Seems like a lot of work for just Admitted

Hobbs: It counts the remaining tiles in the bag.

Royce: Nice!

Hobbs: It tells you how many rounds are left.

Royce: Sweet!

Hobbs: It links to a Learn Azul knowledgebase.

Royce: Has anyone shown this to Reish Galuta?

Hobbs: All in all, it’s great.

Royce: It sounds great. We should probably go and download it now. Where can I find this marvellous creation?
Hobbs: You can follow the link here: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detai ... agiialnkcc

Royce: Well, I think that about wraps it up for the night?

Hobbs: … hopefully we can move past Reish Galuta tomorrow?

Royce: Sure, I can’t see why not, everyone else is.

[End transmission]

[Injured Pigeon]

Hobbs: Welcome to another edition of the Azul Cup Report

Royce: Still not loving it.

Hobbs: Before we begin, I just wanted to acknowledge the conflict in Iran and Israel right now and let everyone know that our thoughts are with you all, especially our Azul family.

Royce: Why, what’s going on?

Hobbs: Missiles are flying all over, it’s terrible, it’s no wonder Reish Galuta has had a tough tournament.

Royce: Really, I had no idea.

Hobbs: And you’ve been giving him a hard time too. I hope you feel bad.

Royce: Oh, I do… but…

Hobbs: What?

Royce: That seems like a lot of effort to take one man out.

Hobbs: Not cool!

Royce: They should get The Jackel to do the job, more precise, less collateral damage.

Hobbs: Jesus Royce, that’s not funny!

Royce: And are we sure it’s not Canada firing the missiles?

Hobbs: I think we need to move on, Reish is a close friend of Pigeon and the Azul community, they may take us off the air.

Royce: OK. Let’s move on, no one wants Bangerz replacing us.

Hobbs: I apologise to everyone who may have been offended by that last segment. Please stay safe.

Royce: Ok, shall we do a quick round up?

Hobbs: Why not. Group A has got off to a fast start.

Royce: Did we get Dr Jekyll Priptonite or Mr Hyde Priptonite?

Hobbs: It looks like we jot Dr Jekyll Priptonite, yay! He’s on fire winning 4 of his first 4 games, with only CTCTCTCTCT to face. Debutant Admitted has also got off to a great start and has won his first 3 games.

Royce: And Captain America?

Hobbs: Not so good, in his first game he suffered a loss to BlueAArrow.

Royce: Oh my god, this shit writes itself, a classic Marvel vs DC showdown. And DC do it again!

Hobbs: Blue Arrow is a DC hero?

Royce: Of course! Growing up out of her parent’s shadow, daughter of Green Arrow and Raven, an archer 21 years old raised by Gabriel sylar. Arella Queen became the hero known as Blue Arrow.

Hobbs: And you say I’m the geek.

Royce: Everyone likes superheroes, Hobbs.

Hobbs: It’s no surprise that Germany have also got off to a strong start in Group B, and SchengW is leading the charge…

Royce: He’s the crap one right?

Hobbs: You can’t say that!

Royce: Oh, shit, yes sorry. I mean, he’s the “special” one right?

Hobbs: If by special you mean he’s won 4 of his first 4 games, then yes.

Royce: But he is in tournament 3, right? And that’s like the handicapped league of the Azul Cup?

Hobbs: Absolutely not! There’s some real class in tournament 3, Admitted is in tournament 3 and he’s the Azul World Series of Board Game champion!

Royce: Oh really? So, the USA do have some real talent.

Hobbs: Yes, Mr Zhao has real pedigree.

Royce: Mr what now?

Hobbs: Mr Zhao, that Admitted’s real name.

Royce: And he’s playing for USA?

Hobbs: Yes, that’s right.

Royce: Are you sure CN_Azul hasn’t infiltrated team USA?

Hobbs: Nope.

Royce: Really, because she’s infiltrated 7 places of the top 10 Arena rankings before.

Hobbs: He’s pure American all right.

Royce: More American than Bangerz?

Hobbs: Err…

Royce: No is the answer to that! Bangerz is thoroughbred redneck.

Hobbs: …

Royce: He drives a truck.

Hobbs: But…

Royce: His cousin, is his sister who’s also the wife of his dad.

Hobbs: Hang on…

Royce: He’s dumb as @%$£

Hobbs: But…

Royce: He’s rude, crude, loud and obnoxious. He’s the epitome of what it is to be American. Christ, he makes Donald Trump look European.

Hobbs: Look, Admitted, is in team USA.

Royce: Reish Galuta is Canadian, Mr Zhao is American, TheRavenReturns will be claiming to be Irish next.

Hobbs: Let’s move on.

Royce: Fine, what’s happening in Group C?

Hobbs: Well, Group C has gotten off to a slower start than the rest. In group D however,
new kids on the block India have had a great start with Djoker winning his first 3 games and Blaze doing likewise.

Royce: And… my god I hate saying this… the TheSupremeOverlord?

Hobbs: He has unfortunately started out with a loss.

Royce: He should get in touch with Bangerz to sort him out a new name.

Hobbs: So, some very strong starts in these opening stages, but presently no team has secured a spot in the finals.

Royce: Shall we go and play some Azul now? I have 5 tables waiting.

Hobbs: Sure, why not. See you next time folks.

[End transmission]

[Newb19]

Any USA team need another player? Message me.

[Injured Pigeon]

Hobbs: Evening everyone and welcome to another instalment of the Azul Cup Digest.

Royce: …

Hobbs: We have a thrilling guest joining us today.

Royce: That’s great, I’m getting a little bored of your company to be honest. Who is it?

Hobbs: It’s none other than Canada’s Reish Galuta!

Royce: You said it was a thrilling guest!

Hobbs: That is thrilling.

Royce: I thought you meant, someone like Phosphate_. Christ, Telborn would have been better than that. What does he want?

Hobbs: He called us up because he said he had some wonderful news to share with us.

Royce: Is he leaving team Canada to form a new Religious Cult team?

Hobss: Well, now you mention it… Let’s hear what he has to say, he’s been waiting on the line for 4 hours.

Royce: Wow, that must be exciting news.

Hobbs: Reish, are you still on the line?

Reish: YES! YES I AM!

Hobbs: It’s lovely to hear from you.

Royce: Amidst the sounds of falling bombs…

Reish: THANKS. IT’S GREAT TOOO BE HERE!

Hobbs: Are you sure it’s safe to talk right now?

Reish: IT’S FINE. I’M OOK. I’M HIDING UNDER A TREE.

Hobbs: A tree? Are you sure it’s safe?

Reish: YES. IT’S A BIG TREE!

Royce: Whoa there Reishy boy, maybe take it down a notch.

Reish: Soorry! I’m just so excited too share. So, earlier today…

Royce: Hang on there Reish lad, we have a script to stick to.

Reish: Oh, OOK I’m sorry.

Hobbs: You’ll get your chance Reish.

Reish: OK, it’s just that I…

Royce: Shh.

Reish: But…

Royce: Sh.

Reish: …

Hobbs: OK, let’s get the show started. Over in Group A tournament 1, Kevin wise has now suffered 2 losses in his first 3 games.

Royce: KA-BLAM for Cappy.

Hobbs: Whilst Sunny is off to strong start with 2 for 2. The crucial game in tournament 2 is Hong Kongs CTCTCT versus Priptonite, but it looks like it’s likely going to be a clean sweep for Prip. In Tournament 3, the Frenchman, FunkyBen has given France a fighting chance if Slokki can win his games and Drymimg…

Royce: Dry minge?

Hobbs: I said dry-mimg.

Royce: Pretty sure that’s what I said too.

Reish: Can I speak noow?

Royce: Don’t interrupt Reish, it’s rude.

Reish: Soorry.

Hobbs: So, as I was saying, team France could still qualify, and if not, they may be in contention for one of those coveted wild card spots. Over in Group B tournament 1, things are being highly contested. Both Zeus and brztwa…

Royce: That’s just a noise.

Hobbs: Have won their first 3 games against the same opponents, they only have Ramapalit and each other to play. This is quite the clash, and their first time competing against one another. Brztwa has only played around 400 Azul Games, and it seems like he came out of retirement to join us in the Azul Cup, his previous game being played all the way back in March of this year.

Royce: Wow. The longest Priptonite lasts is 3 minutes.

Hobbs: I’ve seen him take longer breaks than that from Azul.

Royce: Who’s talking about Azul, his wife knows what I mean.

Reish: Te-he-he

Royce: Shut up Reish.

Reish: Can I just quickly talk about what I accoomplished tooday?

Royce: Soon Reish, soon.

Reish: You’re all going to be so prood of me.

Hobbs: In tournament 2 of group B, AbCdEfGhIj12345…

Royce: The man whose name must be copy-pasted…

Hobbs: Is crushing it again. Defeating Acc1dd, who was on a good run, and securing 3 for 3 victories.

Royce: At the other end of the table, Baffo has been battered, and finishes without a single win.

Reish: Heh. Loser.

Hobbs: …

Royce: …

Resih: What? Noow would be a great time for me to tell you my noows.

Royce: Ignore him and he might go away.

Hobbs: And ShengW is the first to do a clean sweep, 5 victories in 5 games. Well done SchengW. It looks like Germany will be sailing through to the finals.

Reish: OK. That is goooooooood, but wait until you hear what I did tooday.

Royce: We’re on group C now Reish, you’re group D, because you’re rubbish. You can have your moment then.

Resih: *sigh*

Hobbs: So, in Group C, the top 4 ranked players in that tournament are yet to lose a game. Brazil’s Bruno Lana is at the top of the table with 2 wins out of 2, and I think he may be one to watch, especially in his game against Phosphate_, he has however lost to Phosphate_ nine times already.

Royce: When he beats someone 10 times, CN_Azul does a little dance for him. You don’t want to know what happens when he reaches 20.

Reish: I dooo.

Royce: Bad Reish, bad Reish.

Hobbs: In tournament 2, we saw our first draw of the competition with Brazil’s Leosmar and Japan’s yukimura1130, both sit at the top of the table, neither with a loss. This group remains wide open with many games still to play.

Reish: So groop D? Is it Grooop D now?

Royce: It is. And this better be big Reish?

Reish: Oh. it is, it’s huge.

Royce: That’s what Bangerz said.

Reish: I’ve been waiting all day for this.

Hobbs: Go on then Reish, spit it out.

Royce: That’s what Bangerz said.

Hobbs: Let’s just listen to him, look at him, he’s trembling with anticipation.

Reish: Well, in my game earlier today…

Royce: Oh no, we’ve run out of time. I’m so sorry Reish.

Reish: NOOOOOO! Wait, I beat…

[End transmission]

[Injured Pigeon]

Hobbs: Good evening Azul fans, and welcome to the Azul Cup Telegraph

Royce: This is getting worse.

Hobbs: I am Bengerz!

Royce: Please don’t…

Hobbs: I am Bengerz?

Royce: No, you’re not. And neither am I.

Hobbs: Come on, we agreed to do this…

Royce: That’s when I thought everyone was going to do it.

Hobbs: Everyone still might.

Royce: No, everyone will say they will, but then they won’t. And we’ll just look like another couple of tits like MayMay and Injured Pigeon do.

Hobbs: So, we’re not Bangerz?

Royce: No, I’m afraid the great remake of the classic “I am Spartacus” scene that Injured Pigeon may have imagined after he sent 35 individual invites to join him, and in doing so had to prove to Discord that he was not a robot by taking a “spot the odd one out” test at least 25 of those times as his posts were identified as spam, was all for nought.

Hobbs: That didn’t really happen did it…?

Royce: I don’t want to talk about it… Even Prip, his pal, his buddy, his best Azul friend in the whole wide world said he’d join him, and then didn’t.

Hobbs: MayMay is still doing it.

Royce: Yeah, MayMay is a suck up. Still, Bengerz seems to have been distracted by MayMay now, so it’s not been a complete %$@&ing waste of time. Just mostly.

Hobbs: So, shall we get straight to it?

Royce: Why not. I’m in a foul mood today.

Hobbs: Well, after today’s events only 2 tournaments remain unfinished, and one group has concluded in a very exciting finish – so where do we begin?

Royce: I don’t care.

Hobbs: Let’s start with Group A1. Sunny has finished all his games without a loss to top the group and secure the victory for Hong Kong, who finish the tournament on 10 points. Skloki still has 3 of his games to play and could finish 2nd with 4 wins, which could leave France also on 10 points thanks to 2nd placed Funky-Ben in A3.

Royce: Is 10 points good enough for a wild card spot?

Hobbs: Good question Royce…

Royce: I’m just reading what it says on my script…

Hobbs: Let me answer that. Thanks to a final victory by Ramapatit in group B1, Russia is presently the only runner up that has 11 points, so they have qualified for a wild card spot. So, 10 points looks likely to be enough to be considered for the 2nd wild card spot.

Royce: It says here I have to say, “But how will it be decided?”

Hobbs: In this case, it will follow normal tie break rules, Royce, head-to-head record, if the tie is within the same groups, and then points.

Royce: Great. Possibly 3 teams finishing on 10 wins I guess *someone* will have the thankless task of adding all of those up!

Hobbs: Yes, I guess *someone* will.

Royce: We should let Genki do it.

Hobbs: We do the work, Genki gets the credit, we knew what we were signing up for.

Royce: What if the teams tie on points?

Hobbs: Err…

Royce: Ooo, we could hold a Klingon Death match to decide!

Hobbs: So, Group B is all done and sees Germany easily qualify, and runners up Russia joining them in the finals. Well done, Russia.

Group C1 is the only other tournament not yet to have finished. The battle of the titans rages on with Bruno and Phosphate. This game seems to be grabbing everyone’s attention. When we checked in earlier there were another 3 spectators at the table…

Royce: Let me guess, Kndr, CN_Azul and Self evident?

Hobbs: Ooo, I couldn’t possibly say… but no, not them. Both players were tied on 19pts in the 4th round and Bruno has the option of taking 1st player for the 5th… will he take it?

Royce: Will he finish the game in time?

Hobbs: He has 17hours remaining on the clock and I don’t blame them for taking their time. China is on 10 pints, Brazil is on 9.5… the winner of this game qualifies for the finals, and poor Hungary will have to go to a tie breaker to see if the qualify for a wild card spot. I’m pretty sure if the Chinese team loses it will be a devastating blow for them as they were hotly tipped as one of the favourites yet again going into this competition.

And finally, we have Group D, and this group has been the most fiercely contested. Against all odds the UK team have managed to accrue 9pts to join India and Bulgaria at the top of the table – this of course all thanks to Micalis defeating Djoker in the final game of the group. India therefore lost their opportunity to qualify outright.

Royce: So, 3 teams on 9 points! Now what happens?

Hobbs: Buckle in, things are about to get technical. So, India have won 2 of the Bulgarian players.

Royce: So, Bulgaria is out?

Hobbs: No because the UK have defeated all the Indian players?

Royce: So, the UK qualifies?

Hobbs: No because Bulgaria won two of the UK players.

Royce: I’m more confused than the random guy Injured Pigeon accidentally sent the Bangerz headshot to and said, “Join me – I AM BENGERZ”.

Hobbs: I bet you’re not…

Royce: I’ve got it. So, none of them qualify, we tell China and Brazil they can both go to the finals, and we can finally end the epic Bruno vs Phosphate game?

Hobbs: Now you’re just being silly. So, in this situation we must add up all the head-to-head games from all of the tied teams. In this case India has won 2, Bulgaria has won 4 and the UK has won 4.

Royce: So, India failed to qualify?

Hobbs: Sadly, so. Just one more win from any of them would have clinched the victory. So, now all that remains is totalling up the points, which I will do now…

Royce: Wait! If we don’t do it, do you think someone would do it for us?

Hobbs: Genki won’t do it.

Royce: He might…

Hobbs: Goats might fly, but fine. We can always add it up tomorrow. Have a good evening, all.

[End transmission]