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Congratulations /mlp/! |
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| Winners of the 2025 4chan Winter Cup |
/x/ Lore
Anything prior to 2017 Autumn
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2017 4chan Autumn Babby Cup
In early September of 2017, nearly a year after /x/'s last Cup appearance, newcomers XEon8x and Thunderlizard joined forces in an effort to perform a revival ritual on the team, which had fallen to a 48th place ranking since the disappearance of AequusNox. A management team consisting of young blood and veteran talent was quickly assembled, and in a few short weeks /x/ was officially back in the fray, joining 11 other teams in the 2017 4chan Autumn Babby Cup Qualifiers. The Spooks would go on to top their group with a 2-1-0 record, beating out /k/ and /i/ while drawing with /y/. That record was good for a 2nd place finish in the qualifiers and more than enough to qualify for the 2017 4chan Autumn Babby Cup -- /x/'s first Cup appearance since Autumn of 2016.
The 2017 4chan Autumn Babby Cup would open up with /x/ being placed in a Group C that could only be described as creative, creepy, and cute. /x/ won their first match against /po/ 2-3, thanks in part to a momentum-changing goal by Cthulhu at the end of the first half which erased a 1-0 deficit and fueled a second half onslaught. The second match-up came against /c/, who arguably outplayed /x/ but would have to settle for a 1-1 draw after a gritty five save performance by NOPE and yet another equalizing goal by Cthulhu late in the second half. After their first two matches, /x/ had four points and shared the top spot in the group with their third and final opponent, /gd/. Thanks to a /po/ win over /c/ immediately before that third match however, /x/ was through to the 2017 4chan Autumn Babby Cup knockout stage -- good thing too, as they managed just a single shot on target in a 0-1 loss to Group C winner /gd/. /x/ had their work cut out for them in the Round of 16, as the rigging hat pit them against a /wsg/ team that scored an impressive 13 goals in the Group Stage. To the surprise of many, /x/ overcame an early deficit and pulled off an extra time win, as a defensive-minded, possessive style of play from the Spooks limited the offensive juggernaut of /wsg/ to just two goals in 120 minutes of play. That match was followed by another, even bigger shock, as /x/ claimed a 2-1 victory over a heavily favored /sp/ team in extra time -- again coming from behind after being down early on a goal by Messi. A set piece goal by /x/-tan late in the second half would take the game to extra time, where a Cthulhu header off a beautiful Goatman cross put a dagger in the hearts of the /sp/ fanbase.
Coming off two memorable upsets, /x/ met a very capable /co/ team in the semi-finals. A goal by The Grey at the start of the second half not only opened up the scoring, but also marked the first time that /x/ had drawn first blood the entire Cup. The celebration did not last long however, as /co/'s Hope Corgi and Doom scored back-to-back goals just 5 minutes apart to give the /co/mrades a 1-2 lead with 23 minutes left on the clock. With their backs against the wall and their Babby Cup aspirations on the line, /x/ managed to conjure up another batch of that Autumn comeback magic. With a little under six minutes left to go and a /co/ throw-in coming from deep in their own half, Goatman snatched the ball away from 40 Cakes and made a quick pass to /x/-tan, who placed it in the direction of an open Cthulhu. The Elder God, as he had done so many times before this Cup, would find the net, tying the game up at 2 all and giving /x/'s season another gasp of air. Unlike the previous two knockout matches, there would be no need for extra time. In the final seconds of stoppage time, The Grey made a nifty pass from center to Cthulhu, who headed it in the direction of an open Goatman. Two exhausted /co/ defenders went in for a tackle, but it simply wasn't enough to take down the Skinwalker, who booted the ball past the /co/ keeper and into the net. After being deader then dead just a few weeks prior, /x/ was on their way to their first Babby Cup final.
That final would pit /x/ against /r9k/, a team that had been there before, but had yet to claim a Babby Cup of their own. Both teams played valiantly, with /r9k/ taking advantage of bad passing from the /x/ defense and drawing first blood just nine minutes into the match. As they had done all Cup long, /x/ fought back, finding an equalizer from /x/-tan and taking the game to the second half notched up at 1 all. A >tfw no gf goal put /r9k/ up 2-1 late in the second, and with the clock winding down once more, /x/ would have to hope for one final instance of comeback magic to keep them alive. What little magic they had left however, was not enough. In one of the more exciting finishes to a Cup, Goatman hit the post in the dying seconds of play. The rebound then headed in the direction of /x/-tan, who tapped the potential equalizer toward the empty net, only to have it deflected by Chad Thundercock and into the arms of the keeper. With that, /r9k/ took home their first Babby Cup championship, ending an improbable Autumn run for the Spooks.
2018 4chan Winter Cup
After a second place finish in Autumn, /x/ looked to prove any remaining skeptics wrong in its first Elite Cup appearance since the summer of 2015. Things got off to a historically inauspicious start however, as the Spooks conceded three goals in the first 8 minutes of play against reigning champion /lgbt/, who jumped to the fastest 3-0 lead in Cup history. With an enormously gay mountain to climb, /x/ would have to either get its shit together or play dead for another 82 minutes. The players chose the former. Goals by This Man and Goatman triggered the opposition and drew the game closer, but the sloppy start proved to be too much to overcome, as a 3-2 final left /x/ pointless and with little margin for error going forward.
Looking to brush off a sluggish start, /x/ played host to /n/ and their horrifying memebike. After 40 minutes of semen slurping exciting, tension-filled soccer, Goatman and Cthulhu scored goals just three minutes apart to give /x/ a 2-0 lead heading into the half. A second Cthulhu goal gave /x/ a commanding 3-0 lead, which was held for a 3-1 final. That bounce-back performance gave /x/ three much-needed points and placed them atop a 3-3-3-3 group heading into grip weekend.
Needing a win or a draw to advance to the Round of 16, /x/ traveled to the Awesome Dome to face off against perennial group stage escape artists, /f/. The /x/ attack looked strong to begin the match, but it was /f/ who would take a 1-0 lead into halftime, thanks to a Daily Dose goal and some impressive goalkeeping from Anonymous D. Despite the missed chances early on (not to mention the Curse of the Babby Cup Runner-up looming large), /x/ stayed composed and stuck to its high-pressure attack. The Spooks' perseverance was finally rewarded in the 63rd minute, as Goatman got a shot past Anonymous D to break the shutout and put /x/ in position to advance should the score hold at 1-1. Despite a furious push on the part of /f/, the score remained 1-1 as the final whistle blew. /x/ would advance to an Elite knockout round for the first time since the winter of 2014, becoming the 2nd team to defeat the Babby Cup Runner-up Curse.
/x/ was set to march into /an/'s Jungle to finish off the Round of 16, and it would have to do so without its bronze DMF (thanks, Ted Cruz). An early goal by /x/-tan gave the Spooks a 1-0 lead, and it appeared as though the absence of the Zodiac Killer wouldn't be a factor in this match. Not so. The second half quickly turned into a back-and-forth, six goal affair from which /x/ would eventually emerge victorious thanks to an /x/-tan tap-in deep into stoppage time (a hat-trick to boot!).
With all their medals back for the Quarter Finals, /x/ would play host to an opponent they know all too well in /mlp/. Having both come up to this point from the Autumn Fetus, the stage was set for an exciting fifth meeting between these two rivals. The Spooks and Horsefuckers did not disappoint, delivering a high-tension match highlighted by an eleven minute, three goal exchange that began '66 and left the game at 2-2 when the dust settled. This one would go to extra time and eventually to benuldies, where /mlp/ squeaked by 4-3 and ended /x/'s Elite Cup run (thanks again, Ted Cruz).