The Marble League Showdown is a chance at redemption. 12 teams that didn’t qualify for this year’s Marble League will compete in four events: the relay race; the halfpipe; the black hole funnel; and the sand mogul race. The top 8 teams will get a chance to compete in the ML 2021 qualifiers.

We open with the relay race. Snowballs, Rojo Rollers, and Team Primary win their heats, and Jungle Jumpers had the fastest runner-up time, so those four teams compete in the finals. The Snowballs lead for most of the race, but they mess up the handoff at the anchor leg, leaving a huge opening for Team Primary and the Jungle Jumpers. The Jungle Jumpers take the gold in a photo finish, followed by Team Primary and the Rojo Rollers in a distant third.

Next up: the halfpipe. Indigo Stars take an early lead in the standings with 31.86 total seconds, but then the Jungle Jumpers leapfrog over them with a 32.29. In the second half of the runs, the Chocolatiers jump into first place with a total time of 62.19 seconds, and the Jungle Jumpers can’t take it back, landing in a provisional second. At the end of 12 runs, the Chocolatiers get the gold, the Jungle Jumpers take silver, and the Indigo Stars get a bronze.

The third event is the black hole funnel. The Shining Swarm have a great Heat 1, with 46.60 seconds spent in the funnel, but the Indigo Stars best that in Heat 2, with 49.04 seconds. However, the Kobalts really shine in Heat 3, with both their marbles finishing after every other marble and a total time of 53.87 seconds. The Kobalts manage to keep it up in Heat 6, amassing a total time over 100 seconds and earning a gold medal. Shining Swarm and the Pinkies take the silver and bronze, respectively.

Finally, the sand moguls, employing the same elimination format as the relay race. Shining Swarm, the Pinkies, and the Jungle Jumpers win their heats, with Kobalts being the best runner-up. These four teams advance to the finals. In the final race, the Kobalts take an early lead and don’t let go. The Pinkies can’t catch up, but finish second. The Jungle Jumpers, meanwhile, manage to sneak past Shining Swarm and earn a bronze.

That concludes the ML 2020 Showdown. In the overall standings, the Kobalts win the tournament, the Jungle Jumpers come in second place, and the Chocolatiers take third. Congratulations as well to Shining Swarm, the Pinkies, the Indigo Stars, Team Primary, and the Rojo Rollers, who also move on. As for the Turtle Sliders, the Snowballs, the Limers, and the Jawbreakers, better luck next time!

Stray thoughts:

• It’s always interesting to see a wildcard triumph, like the Jungle Jumpers did in the relay race and the Kobalts did in the sand moguls.
• After medalling in the first two events, the Jungle Jumpers got last place in the third. Then they came back to medal in the fourth event. What a roller coaster!
• As a Limers fan, the final results were absolutely devastating to watch. Here’s hoping the Jungle Jumpers can qualify for ML 2021 and bring some green representation to the field.

See you tomorrow for the ML 2020 finale!

Complete stats for the Marble League 2020 Showdown can be found at the Jelle’s Marble Runs Wiki.