It should be noted that since this show utilized two Visual Effect and two Music Effect judges, each judge's score in each of the two captions was added together and then divided by two. Each averaged Effect score (Visual and Music) was added together and then not divided for the total General Effect score. The three Visual captions (Performance, Ensemble and Color Guard) and the three Music captions (Brass, Ensemble and Percussion 1) were added together and then the resulting score was divided in two for the total Visual and total Music score.
Also of note is that the two days of the San Antonio DCI Southwestern Championship is considered as one single contest. Therefore, score or placement comparisons between corps from the two different nights with what happened at the Atlanta show are considered to be valid.
View the complete scoring recap from Atlanta.
Blue Devils (1st place – 95.65) took all captions and sub-captions except for Percussion, which placed 2nd by 0.20. The corps won total Effect, total Visual and total Music and maintains a 1.90 spread over 2nd place, the same spread enjoyed over The Cavaliers in San Antonio a week ago. From the Southwestern Championship, Bluecoats closed up the score between the two corps from 2.35 to 1.90, but BD still seems as dominant as ever.
Bluecoats (2nd place – 93.75) scored 0.90 behind Blue Devils in total Effect, tying for 3rd with The Cavaliers. The corps tied The Cavaliers for 2nd in total Visual, 0.75 behind BD, and took 2nd in total Music, just 0.25 under BD. Once again, the corps won Percussion, but fell to 4th in Music Ensemble. A 4th place finish in averaged Visual Effect and 4th in Visual Performance were the only other captions that placed lower than 2nd.
The Cavaliers (3rd place – 93.10) stayed in 5th place in Music Ensemble, despite the caption score going up 0.60 from the night before. The 4th place score in Music Effect offset the 2nd place score in Visual Effect. Though only a 0.30 difference separated the scores from the two Music Effect judges, one had the corps in 5th and the other in 2nd.
Carolina Crown (4th place – 92.55) still has issues to address in the Music captions, taking 5th place in Brass and 7th in Percussion. Despite that, Music Ensemble took 2nd, only 0.20 behind Blue Devils. The corps took second in total Effect by a scant 0.05 and fell from 3rd in Visual Ensemble in Murfreesboro to 5th, even though the caption score dropped by just 0.10.
The Cadets (5th place – 91.45) took 5th in total Effect and total Visual and 4th in total Music. A 7th place finish in Color Guard was the corps' weakest caption, falling to both Santa Clara Vanguard and Blue Stars, but beating Phantom Regiment by 0.40. The corps' brightest spot was 3rd in Music Ensemble, just 0.30 behind Blue Devils' winning score in that caption. (Remember to divide those caption scores in half to see how they affected the overall score.)
Phantom Regiment (6th place – 90.00) closed the overall gap with The Cadets from 2.15 to 1.90 in one night. One Visual Effect judge had the corps in 6th and the other in 10th. The total Visual placement of 8th and the 7th in Brass are currently holding the corps back from gaining on The Cadets, but Percussion is maintaining a strong 3rd place, only 0.30 behind Bluecoats.
Santa Clara Vanguard (7th place – 89.55) took 10th in Percussion, losing that caption to Blue Stars, Boston Crusaders and Glassmen. The corps' 0.45 deficit to Phantom Regiment is more than due to a 0.80 deficit in total Music alone, mostly from the difference between the corps' 10th place in Percussion to Regiment's 3rd. The night before, the corps beat Regiment and also had a higher score in San Antonio.
Blue Stars (8th place – 88.90) must have been thinking about that 0.40 deficit to Boston Crusaders in San Antonio that kept the corps out of the Murfreesboro show, as in Atlanta the corps beat Crusaders by 2.75. Only Brass fell to the Crusaders in Atlanta, and Color Guard opened up a spread of 1.10 after being 0.30 higher than the Crusaders in San Antonio. Perhaps most notably, a 1.60 advantage in total Effect thoroughly reversed the 0.70 deficit to the Crusaders from San Antonio. That's a net change of 2.50 in Effect in just one week.
Boston Crusaders (9th place – 86.15) took 11th in total Effect, the 11th place in Music Effect pulling down the 9th place in Visual Effect. A 9th place finish in total Visual (9th in Performance and Ensemble and 10th in Color Guard) and a 9th place in total Music (8th in Brass and Percussion and 9th in Ensemble) account for why the corps is sitting just 0.40 above Blue Knights.
Blue Knights (10th place – 85.75) took 10th in total Effect and total Music and 11th in total Visual, tying Crusaders for 9th in Visual Performance. While gaining on the 9th place group, the corps is now only 0.20 above the Madison Scouts after being 2.35 ahead in total score in San Antonio.
Madison Scouts (11th place – 85.55) gained 4.00 in total score from San Antonio, the highest of all corps except for The Academy, which also gained exactly 4.00. Now 1.25 above Glassmen after being 0.30 behind in San Antonio, the corps is making its biggest strides of the season and is threatening to knock off Blue Knights.
Glassmen (12th place – 84.30) is now 1.70 above The Academy, after being 3.25 above the corps in San Antonio effectively closing the gap by 1.55 in one week. The 9th place in Percussion was the corps' bright spot, as other than the 11th place in Visual Performance, all other captions finished in 12th or 13th.
The Academy (13th – 82.60) has hopes of sneaking into the World Championship Finals for the first time as a World Class corps, but only provided if the corps keeps its momentum going. However, the only captions to place in the top 12 were Visual Performance (12th) and Brass (11th). Total Effect placed 14th, Color Guard was 15th and so was Music Ensemble.
Colts (14th – 81.80) were 13th in total Effect, 15th in total Visual and 16th in total Music, staying just 0.20 above the Troopers. The 0.80 deficit to The Academy came off a 0.30 score advantage in San Antonio.
Troopers (15th – 81.60) took 14th in total Visual and 15th in total Effect and total Music. The Music placement is made up of an 18th place in Percussion balanced by 12th place in Music Ensemble.
Spirit (16th – 79.80) took 14th in total Music, 16th in total Visual and 18th in total Effect, staying 1.30 above Crossmen due to a 0.65 advantage in total Visual and a 1.20 advantage in total Music.
Crossmen (17th – 78.50) took 16th in total Effect and 17th in total Visual and total Music, despite 20th place finishes in Visual Performance and Brass.
Pacific Crest (18th – 77.85) was fairly consistent across the board, placing between 17th and 19th in all captions.
Teal Sound (19th – 75.85) was even more consistent across the board, placing 18th or 19th in all captions.
Mandarins (20th – 75.15) was 17th in Brass, 18th in Visual Performance, 19th in Percussion and 20th or 21st in everything else.
Jersey Surf (21st – 72.35) tied with Pioneer for 22nd in Visual Effect, was 22nd in all Visual captions and took 22nd in total Music.
Cascades (22nd – 72.00) was 21st through 23rd in all captions.
Pioneer (23rd – 71.70) was 22nd or 23rd in all captions.