There are four phases in the Altador Cup: Press Tour, Sign-ups, Tournament, and Results. Each phase of the tournament works a little bit differently, but they all work together to give you the full Altador Cup experience!
Press Tour: Two weeks prior to the Altador Cup, the Press Tour will go live. Every day, you will get new information on some of the various teams competing in the cup, including the team roster, a short story about what they've been up to, and in some cases, even an interview in the Neopian Times editorial called Quick Questions! There will also be trivia questions every day regarding some of the information found in that day's press tour reveals, which you can answer to earn both Prize Points and Neopoints. The Press Tour lasts one week.
Sign-ups: At the end of the Press Tour and one week before the Tournament begins, Sign-ups will open. This is the time in which you can choose the team you want to support for the Altador Cup, and sign up with them to contribute to their overall score and placement! The Sign-up period lasts one week. If you don't sign up for a team within that week, you won't be able to earn points for any teams or contribute to overall tournament scores.
Tournament: The main gameplay part of the Altador Cup! In this 9-day period, you will be able to play specific games (Yooyuball, Make Some Noise, Shootout Showdown, Slushie Slinger, and Obstacle Course Caper) to earn prize points and help your chosen team win the round! Each round, the various teams will compete against each other, and the one with the highest score at the end of the round wins. Winning and losing determines final placements in the Altador Cup, so give every game your all!
Results: The end of the Altador Cup. After each round has been completed, the final placements decided, and the tournament has ended, the results will be posted. You'll be able to see who won the Cup, where your team placed, and all your records from playing the Altador Cup!
During the course of the Altador Cup, you will also be able to access the Prize Shop. In the Prize Shop, you can exchange points earned through playing games in the Tournament period for exclusive, Altador Cup-only prizes!