A Brief Guide To A Successful Altador Cup

     The annual Altador Cup is here! The Altador Cup is a favorite event of many Neopians and they look forward to it each and every year. By now I’m sure you’ve already chosen who to support, whether it be the team you’ve been loyal to for years, or an underdog team you’ve never supported before. Everyone knows what the Altador Cup is, and how to participate. But do you know how to make the most out of it and have the most successful and enjoyable time? Here are my tips for the most successful and enjoyable Altador Cup experience this year!

     Take it slow

     There’s no easier way to get burnt out within the first week than to set crazy expectations and goals based on what you think you can do. The Altador Cup is a marathon, not a sprint. If you set out thinking that you’re going to max YYB and SOSD every single day on top of playing Make Some Noise and Slushie Slinger, you’re bound to get tired within a week. Instead, set your personal goals below what you think you can do. If your goals start small you don’t have to worry about Altador Cup overload happening. If you start playing and find yourself accomplishing your goals easily but not ranking up as much as you’d like, these goals can always be adjusted. The Altador Cup is supposed to be fun, so don’t stress yourself out thinking that you have to accomplish something you don’t want to.

     Take care of yourself

     It’s easy to get caught up in the idea of playing as much as possible to get to All-Star Rank and to help your team win, but you have to remember to take care of yourself too! Stay hydrated, eat a snack, and definitely take breaks in between games! Be mindful of your mood as well. If you don’t feel like playing--don’t. It’s better to take a break for a day and come back to the games rather than to feel you need to call it quits because there’s no enjoyment. The Altador Cup should not feel like a chore.

     Take care of your pets

     We talked already about taking care of ourselves, but just as important is taking care of your pets. Your pets love the Altador Cup just as much as you do, and they’re spending their energy cheering on your team, so make sure to keep them fed! The Altador Cup is a long event, if you spend all of your time playing the games and not feeding, grooming or playing with your pets, they’ll surely feel neglected. Being a Cup fanatic is simply no excuse for pet neglect. Take a few minutes a day to make sure your pets aren’t starving. Go ahead and read them a book while you’re at it.

     Take advantage of rest days

     I’ve known of a lot of people who complain about rest days and think they’re unnecessary, but I encourage you to take full advantage of them. Rest days are wonderful. They allow you to have a break from the game marathon that we all get consumed by. On rest days, work on things you enjoy. You could work on your stamps, your Neodeck cards, game trophies, feeding Kadoaties, training your pets, or just simply catching up with your friends! Whatever you choose to do, you should use rest days to your advantage and take a total break from all things Altador Cup.

     Engage with the community

     One of my favorite ways to enjoy the Altador Cup is to engage with other players. Get out there and talk to some other Neopians about the Altador Cup! This could be as simple as sending a neomail to a friend about how your games are going, chatting with your clan mates about game strategies and standings, or chatting with teammates on the public Neoboards. Every single team has a thread active on the Neoboards, and the players who chat in these threads are always friendly and welcoming. You can also engage with the community by submitting articles or stories to the Neopian Times, art pieces to the Art Gallery or a poem to the Poetry Contest!

     Show your spirit

     One of the things about the Altador Cup that I have the most fun with is team spirit. There are so many ways to show your spirit. You can dress up your pets with so many different themed wearables to show off your pride. If you’re lucky enough to have a pet that is the right color and species combination, you might even be able to dress your pet up as your favorite player! Apart from dressing your pets up, you can dress up you user lookup, pet lookups, shop layout, and even your pet pages. The possibilities are endless. You can add banners to these pages or even completely change the layouts! If all of that seems like too much work for you, why not just settle on a new neoboard font representing your team? Many kind and talented Neopians have made fonts for you to use already, but there’s something to be said about making your own. Don’t be shy about the team you’ve chosen to support, shout it from the top of Terror Mountain!

     Have fun!

     Last but not least: have fun! Like every site event, the Altador Cup is meant as a fun event to keep Neopians entertained. Don’t take anything too seriously. Don’t get mad if your team doesn’t end up on the podium at the end, there’s always next year. Don’t let anyone tell you that you let your team down by not reaching All-Star rank. Don’t tease people based on their team preferences. Friendly rivalries are okay, and encouraged, but just remember that at the end of the day--it’s just a game.

     You don’t have to do everything, or even anything on this list in order to have the best Altador Cup experience possible. Make this event your own and enjoy it how you want to. There’s no right or wrong way to have the best experience, do what works for you! Now, release the Yooyoos and let’s play ball!