Competitive Edge: July 23-29

Blue Stars building momentum: After having recently scored within 0.187 points of the Blue Knights — a corps they hadn’t beaten head-to-head since 2016 — the Blue Stars moved into the top eight Saturday night in Atlanta by just over three tenths of a point. The Wisconsin corps’ visual scores have been increasingly impressive in recent weeks; its sixth-place finish in color guard certainly sticks out most in the scoring recap from Atlanta. The Blue Stars have been a top-eight finisher just three times — 2008, 2009 and 2010 — since rejoining the World Class ranks in 2006. 

Boston breaks through: For two full weeks, Boston Crusaders had been nipping at the heels of The Cavaliers. In four recent meetings, starting with the July 15 regional event in St. Louis and leading up to past weekend’s event in Atlanta, Boston had been anywhere between one and five tenths behind the Rosemont, Illinois corps. The Crusaders pulled off the upset by a hair-thin margin of just five hundredths in Atlanta, before opening their newfound lead to over a point Sunday in Winston-Salem. 

Mandarins taking center stage: While the Mandarins may be seated above Phantom Regiment in terms of their average score, the Sacramento corps has yet to defeat Regiment head to head. However, Mandarins — which had never been within less than two points of the Rockford corps prior to this season — pulled within two tenths Thursday in Birmingham, and one tenth in Atlanta. At Saturday’s event, Mandarins led by a tenth in general effect and 0.475 in total visual, but Phantom Regiment’s strong music scores kept it in the Top 10. Color guard has also been a telling caption between these two; Mandarins’ guard earned ninth place in Atlanta, while the Rockford corps’ took 15th.

Devils gaining breathing room: After a stretch of three consecutive meetings that saw the Blue Devils lead the Bluecoats by three tenths or less, the Concord corps used this weekend to open up a commanding lead. Saturday in Atlanta, the Devils led the Canton corps by just under half a point, but Sunday in Winston-Salem, that advantage ballooned to 1.55. The Blue Devils also made up some ground on Santa Clara Vanguard this weekend, with an average of half a point separating the two familiar rivals in Saturday and Sunday’s events.

Potential Top 12 shake-up: Spirit of Atlanta made major noise this week, rising to within 0.601 of the 12th-place Crossmen at its hometown regional event. Just a week prior, the Atlanta corps had been 2.663 off its opponent from San Antonio, firmly situated in 14th place behind The Academy. Spirit’s distance behind Crossmen this weekend also marks the closest the two have been since 2013, which is the last time Spirit defeated the San Antonio corps, and the last time it appeared in the DCI World Championship Finals. In Atlanta, Spirit featured impressive 11th-place finishes in brass, percussion and, subsequently, total music, while also scoring just three tenths behind Crossmen in general effect.