Competitive Edge: July 22-28, 2019

Overall Rankings

Based on average of all scores earned from July 22-28

1. Bluecoats » 92.973

2. Blue Devils » 92.923

3. Santa Clara Vanguard » 92.619

4. Carolina Crown » 90.685

5. Boston Crusaders » 89.944

6. The Cavaliers » 89.738

7. Blue Stars » 86.692 » +1

8. Blue Knights » 86.510 » -1

9. The Cadets » 85.390

10. Mandarins » 84.725

10. Crossmen » 83.138

12. Phantom Regiment » 82.738

~~~

13. Spirit of Atlanta » 81.938

14. The Academy » 79.358

15. Colts » 79.294

16. Pacific Crest » 78.583 » +1

17. Troopers » 76.004 » +3

18. Madison Scouts » 75.594 » +1

19. Spartans » 74.333 » +3

20. Gold » 73.625 » -1

21. Genesis » 73.092 » +4

22. Legends » 73.000 » +2

23. Music City » 72.550 » +1

24. Jersey Surf » 70.888 » +2

25. The Battalion » 69.750 » +3

~~~

26. Southwind » 69.017 » +3

27. Seattle Cascades » 68.381 » +3

28. 7th Regiment » 67.650 » +3

29. Vessel » 67.450 » +3

30. River City Rhythm » 66.400

31. Louisiana Stars » 66.217

32. Guardians » 65.275 » +2

33. Watchmen » 62.350

34. Shadow » 62.050

35. Impulse » 59.900 » +1

36. Colt Cadets » 59.450 » +1

37. Raiders » 58.525

38. Heat Wave » 57.683 » -3

39. Les Stentors » 54.200 » +1

Did Not Compete » Golden Empire, Encorps

Completed 2019 Tours » Columbians, Blue Devils B, Vanguard Cadets, Incognito, Blue Devils C

Carolina Crown

Top Caption Scores

Based on Saturday results

General Effect

World Class: Bluecoats (37.600), Blue Devils (37.375), Santa Clara Vanguard (37.200)
Open Class: Spartans (30.100), Legends (29.600), Gold (28.800)

Visual

World Class: Blue Devils (28.350), Bluecoats (28.125), Santa Clara Vanguard (27.913)
Open Class: Spartans (22.450), Legends (21.850), Gold (21.700)

Music

World Class: Santa Clara Vanguard (28.100), Carolina Crown (28.038), Bluecoats (28.038)
Open Class: Spartans (22.450), Legends (22.050), Gold (21.200)

Brass

World Class: Carolina Crown (18.850), Bluecoats (18.650), Blue Devils (18.550)
Open Class: Spartans (15.100), Legends (14.800), Gold (14.400)

Percussion

World Class: Santa Clara Vanguard (19.100), Blue Deivls (18.800), Bluecoats (18.600)
Open Class: Spartans (15.000), Legends (14.800), Gold (14.200)

Color Guard

World Class: Boston Crusaders (18.900), Blue Devils (18.800), Bluecoats (18.600)
Open Class: Spartans (14.300), Legends (14.200), Gold (13.800)

Blue Devils

What to Watch For

Leapfrog at the top: This week, the top of the leaderboard got crazy. Bluecoats and Blue Devils traded places in the top two spots through the weekend, with neither ever leading by more than 0.125 points. On the season, the Concord corps only owns two head-to-head wins over Bluecoats, but after a slim win Sunday in Winston-Salem, Blue Devils enter the second-to-last week of the season on top thanks to what continue to be standout numbers in the visual captions. Santa Clara Vanguard certainly isn't going down without a fight, either. Saturday in Atlanta, Vanguard was just 0.513 from the top spot, which is the closest the defending champions have been to Bluecoats in 11 meetings in 2019.

Green Machine making moves: The Cavaliers had arguably one of the most meteoric weeks in drum corps; Tuesday in Mesquite, the Rosemont corps was more than 1.5 points behind Carolina Crown, and Wednesday in Little Rock, the corps finished about half a point behind Boston Crusaders. By Sunday in Winston-Salem, though, The Cavaliers found themselves more than a full point ahead of Boston — the first time that's happened since last season — and within just 0.175 points of Carolina Crown. The corps continues to surge in the music captions, and has put itself in position to move ahead of Crown for the first time since 2011.

The Battalion soars: The Salt Lake City corps wrapped up its fourth season, and once again made major strides, competitively speaking. The Battalion broke 70 points for the first time ever in its final event of 2019, earning an all-time corps-high score of 70.250, beating last year's top score by more than two points, and beating 2017's top score by more than 12.

The Cadets fight back: The block of corps right outside the top six continues to provide competitive intrigue. Blue Knights and Blue Stars have been close for quite some time, but The Cadets surged back into the picture this week, finishing within just two tenths of Blue Stars in Winston-Salem. Just Wednesday, in Hattiesburg, the gap between those two was a resounding 3.3 in favor of the Wisconsin corps. The Cadets' strength continues to be music — percussion in particular. In conjunction with the close margin between Blue Stars and The Cadets in Winston-Salem, Blue Knights built themselves some breathing room in seventh, with nearly a point separating the Denver corps from Blue Stars.

Phantom Regiment solidifying Top 12 spot: Regiment has been the corps to chase at No. 12 in the World Class for most of the season, but the distance between 12 and 13 continues to work in the Rockford corps' favor. Corps like Spirit of Atlanta certainly aren't out of the race, but with Phantom Regiment holding a lead of 1.425 in Winston-Salem, it's safe to say the corps is in very good position to continue its nearly five-decade streak of Finals appearances. Furthermore, the corps' chance to jump up a spot isn't out of the question. Phantom Regiment pulled within half a point of Crossmen in Atlanta, and that's the closest the two have been all season.

Legends

Open Class race on the horizon, Pt. I: Spartans, Legends and Gold — the three corps that would appear to have the strongest chances to earn Open Class medals — will soon finally have their first chance to all meet up in the same place. For now, though, Spartans and Legends have at least gotten to know each other quite well. Legends have yet to top Spartans head-to-head, but it's been close; in four meetings, the Nashua corps has held an average lead of 1.4 points. The two will meet one more time before next week's Open Class World Championships in Marion, Indiana.

Open Class race on the horizon, Pt. II: In the three corps' first two chances to face off together this week, things were quite tight between River City Rhythm, Louisiana Stars and Guardians. Among the trio, River City Rhythm and Louisiana Stars traded places in the top spot, with the Louisiana corps earning a lead of just 0.25 Saturday in Oskaloosa, with Guardians just under a point behind River City Rhythm. For reference, the three corps finished 7th (Guardians), 8th (Louisiana Stars), and 9th (River City Rhythm) in 2018, and with two fewer competitors in the mix the Open Class ranks this year, they'd theoretically be competing for a spot among the top five.

Deadlocked: The Academy and Colts have seen each other head-to-head all summer long, with Saturday in Atlanta marking their ninth meeting. Colts took the first six, by margins as large as 3.4 and as small as 0.65, but The Academy pushed ahead in two events last week. After a full week away from one another, the Arizona and Iowa corps tied for 14th in Atlanta, each with a score of 79.875. Last year, The Academy held 14th most of the season before Colts jumped ahead quite late in the game, and the race to either win back or hang onto that 14th position will once again be one to watch down the stretch.

Madison Scouts bounce back: After falling to Troopers for the first and second times since 2009 on Monday and Wednesday respectively, Madison Scouts regained their lead over the Casper corps both Friday and Saturday. After earning an advantage of 0.325 in Trussville, Alabama, the corps opened up a lead of 0.825 in Atlanta. Scouts' strength, in this race, continues to be music; the corps held a lead of nearly a point in that caption, to make up for a slim loss in general effect and an equally slim lead in visual.

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