Winter 2024 Champions Wildcard: Group 1 Preview

6 Comments on "Winter 2024 Champions Wildcard: Group 1 Preview"

1. AD | January 16, 2024 at 10:18 am |

   Quarterfinal Predictions:
   Game 1 – Sharon Stone
   Game 2 – Juveria Zaheer
   Game 3 – Kendra Westerhaus
   Game 4 – Erin Portman
   Game 5 – Daniel Moore
   Game 6 – Xanni Brown
   Game 7 – Lloyd Sy
   Game 8 – Connor Sears
   Game 9 – Michael Menkhus

2. MasterDoge | January 16, 2024 at 11:25 am |

   Hey, I can actually make predictions again!

   Match 1: Katie – Aside from being a strong enough player to lead Yogesh Raut going into Final, I do think Katie has the best prior statistics overall. The one thing that worries me, though, is that her Final Jeopardy betting strategy doesn’t seem to be as refined as the other champions in this event. Ultimately, I feel like the most likely outcome is a battle between Katie and Andy; while Sharon is one of my favorite champions from S39, her two victories were largely due to her four opponents combining for 24 incorrect responses, and relying on rebounding negs probably isn’t going to work as well for CWC.

   Match 2: Juveria – Unlike the first match, this one won’t be close at all, I think. Patti and Devin have excellent strategy (for the most part) but against a buzzer demon like Juveria, they’re probably gonna struggle. A lot.

   Match 3: Kendra – While this could absolutely go any way, I do think Kendra’s skill in the bottom two rows of the board will serve her very well here. This is definitely the closest matchup of all three of them, I think.

   Match 4: Erin – In spite of having lower buzzer numbers than Bryan, Erin is much better at controlling incorrect responses, and also played extremely, extremely well against Troy Meyer. But I don’t think the other two can be counted out at all.

   Match 5: Daniel – I think the outcome of the match will depend on which Daniel shows up. If Game 2 Daniel shows up, this will be anybody’s game. If Game 1 Daniel shows up, well… not so much.

   Match 6: Xanni – Along with having the most recent experience playing the game, I also believe Xanni has the best numbers overall of the three of them. Robbi has the potential to put up a fight, though!

   Match 7: Lloyd – Aside from how good you have to be to beat a player as strong as Ray Lalonde, Lloyd could have probably gone to ToC had the buzzer + Daily Doubles worked out better for him in his third game. Dillon is very strong on the buzzer, but his clue selection strategy will absolutely need to be improved if he wants a shot in this tournament.

   Match 8: Connor – Alec may have some of the strongest buzzer numbers of any player in this event, but Connor’s work on the Daily Doubles makes him the favorite to me. As long as Johanna and Alec keep Connor to, at most, one Daily Double throughout the game, I think they stand a chance; otherwise, Connor will likely just vault to a runaway.

   Match 9: Michael – This is solely based on one reason; buzzer timing. Michael is incredibly strong on the buzzer, and even in his loss in a runaway, he was able to buzz in first over 50% of the time. However, he’s really going to need to control his incorrect responses to go any farther than semifinals; more than 4 a game might make that a little difficult.

   Let’s see how wrong I am when these games all air 🙂

3. Leo B. | January 16, 2024 at 2:50 pm |

   Regarding differences in cadences of different hosts and players adapting to them, is my understanding correct that it is not so much players adapting to cadences themselves, but rather players adapting to the reaction time of crew member who is pressing the button activating the players’ buttons, adapting to the cadence of the current host?

   • MasterDoge | January 16, 2024 at 4:39 pm |

     From what I’ve heard from other contestants/champions, it’s a little bit of both.

     If a player mostly times their buzzing by the host’s voices, they might have to adapt to a new host’s different speech patterns and enunciations. If a player mostly goes off of the board lights, then they might have to adapt to the “buzzer judge” adapting to a new host’s difference speech patterns and enunciations.

4. Jeff | January 16, 2024 at 3:21 pm |

   Here we go with the last competitions of Champions Wildcard before the TOC. Tonight starts Group 1 of 2 and I am stoked and ready!

   Predictions for the 9 Quarterfinal Games are such:

   #1 – Sharon Stone – this to me is between Sharon and Katie and wow, it was hard to choose. I went with Sharon because she took down a very strong (and fun) Lisa Striken in Runaway fashion and then also won her 2nd game in a Runaway. Katie took down a strong Yogesh Raut and that had me nearly me picking her. Pretty amazing that you can be a 1 day Champion like Andy Tirrell who took down 21 day Champion Cris Pannullo and be the underdog to me. Now Andy will probably win in a runaway tonight?

   #2 – Juveria Zaheer – she has taken down a Second Chance very recently. Her initial appearance on Jeopardy she was taken down by a very strong Hannah Wilson and she’s whip quick on the buzzer. Patti Palmer is a very strong player. She took down 3 day champ Jake De Arruda (who took down 6 day champ Troy Meyer) only to lose to 4 day champ Matthew Marcus. Oh and when she took down Jake, she won $32,200. I just have that gut feeling with Juveria’s recent experience and being a demon with the buzzer, that Patti got very unlucky with a super tough opponent. Devin got very unlucky to draw these 2 great players as well.

   #3 – Martha Bath – this should be very close between Martha and Kendra I’d say. Martha beat a strong 3 champ in Emmett Stanton and lost to a strong 2 day champ in Michael Menkhus (in Quarterfinal 9). Martha won $30,800. Kendra lost to 8 game champ Stephen Webb, so I could be wrong here. Nik Berry just played a play in game, but I can’t see him taking out these 2 ladies. We’ll see.

   #4 – Erin Portman – Erin scored $31,201 in her lone win before losing to 6 game champ Troy Meyer. Bad timing to get “that” opponent in Game 2. Bryan White won 2 games in Runaway fashion for a total of $32,007. Rachel Clark has the experience of just playing a play in game and beat 3 day champ Brian Henegar, but I don’t see her advancing.

   #5 – Daniel Moore – this “should” be Daniel’s game to win, but it definitely depends on the Daniel that shows up. He won 2 games and the initial win was versus 2 game winner Ittai Sopher (in Quarterfinal 9). Holly Hassel would be my 2nd choice, as she did defeat 6 game champ Suresh Kirishnan. Ron Cheung was the guy that took down the guy, as in the guy that took down Andy Tirrell, who took down Cris Pannullo.

   #6 – Xanni Brown – the clear cut favorite to win this one I believe. Not only did she get recent experience in winning Second Chance Week 2, her initial loss was to none other than Cris Pannullo. Probably a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time in having to play Cris. I’ll give 2nd to Lynn De Vito as she did win again 9 game Runaway winner Ben Chan and 3rd to Robbi Ramirez.

   #7 – Lloyd Sy – Lloyd won against 13 day champ Ray Lalonde and then lost to 2 game Runaway champ Patrick Curran, so I put this as his game to lose. Kelly Barry will probably make it competitive though, as she did win against 8 game champ Stephen Webb. Dillon Hupp won $21,999 in his win, which is nothing to sneeze at.

   #8 – Connor Sears – this should be pretty competitive. I take Conner because he defeated 2 game Runaway champ Patrick Curran and then lost to eventual 3 game winner Yogesh Raut. Alec Chao won his game against a strong 3 day champ in Melissa Klapper. Johanna Stoberock won against Quarterfinal 7 competitor Dillon Hupp.

   #9 – Michael Menkhus – Ittai Sopher is a strong 2 game winner in his own right, but I just see Michael advancing here. Michael took down a very strong Martha Bath and then lost to 4 game winner David Sibley, who lost to 21 game champ Cris Pannullo. Tamara Ghattas beat Alec Chao, who plays in Quarterfinal 8.

   This will be fun and any player winning wouldn’t surprise me, as Mr. Long Nguyen started slowly in his “Second Chance” and then destroyed his competition.

5. Jeff | January 16, 2024 at 3:52 pm |

   Just from looking at my list of the Season 39 Champions, it appears that we have 28 players left for Group 2 of Champions Wildcard. 25 of those players + 2 Second Chancers will be competing in the Group 2 Champions Wildcard. There will be 1 play in game. That leaves 27 players playing for the 25 spots. So based on my calculation, there will only be one 1 or 2 game champ that will not be coming back on the show or play in game.