This is reposted from the subreddit so blame the weird formatting on that 😂
Check out the subreddit also: https://www.reddit.com/r/FantasyMarchingArts/

A few days late but here's the first real report! If you don't want to take time to read all the unnecessary info (which I don't expect many to) then there's a **tl;dr** for each day to recap

# We're one week in, so let's take a look at the first week of Fantasy Marching Arts Season 85!

>We'll recap one competition from each day of week 1, pointing out winners, almost-winners, and just things that stand out, so enjoy reading!

March 2nd saw the first competitions in S85: [Corps in the Inland Empire VII](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/event/50607) helped kick off the season with a lot of big name corps right out of the gate. Nine-time Division 2 world champion and one-time Div. 1 champion, [Corps of Unspecified Identity](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/profile/27/c) from Wiesbaden, Germany took home gold in Division 1 with an impressive season-starting score of 86.590. Compare this to Unspecified's starting score from last season: seven and a half points lower than this year's starting score with a 79.090. Not only did Unspecified top their last-season starting score, but they took first in every caption and scored ahead of second place [Continuum](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/profile/561/c) by almost six points, leaving a good amount of wiggle room at this point. This is looking to be a good season for Unspecified-- keep an eye out for them in S85. Continuum starts S85 with an 80.765, and third place went to the [Wondermint Rainbow Cavaliers](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/profile/9683/c), scoring a 76.520, creating a pretty impressive 10 point spread between first, second, and third.

In Division 2, [Florida Dragon Regiment](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/profile/2277/c) scored above fifteen other Div. 2 corps, including the competition host, the Minutemen. Regiment scored 65.560. It was a pretty close race for the individual captions, however, as the silver-medalling [Red Blazers](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/profile/8682/c) took Best Brass Performance, Best Percussion Perf., Best Visual Perf., AND Best Guard Perf. Even more interesting, the 6th place corps, four-time Div. 3 world champion and first-time Div. 2 competitor in S85, [Kanpeki-sa](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/profile/10141/c) took first in both GE captions. Very interesting start to what looks so far like an interesting season in Division 2. The Red Blazers took silver with a 63.430 and bronze was earned by the [Striders](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/profile/9727/c), who got a 61.105.

Finally, eight Div. 3 corps competed in this event, led in the end by [Rose City D&BC](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/profile/9828/c), who took first with a 50.585, followed by the [Laredo Conquistadors](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/profile/10109/c) with a close 50.585 and was followed by the [West Guards D&BC](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/profile/10170/c) with a 48.715.

>**tl;dr: Div 1: Corps of Unspecified Identity starts the season pretty strong compared to other seasons, Continuum and Wondermint follow them to kick off the season. Div 2: Florida Dragon Regiment take 1st, but Red Blazers win most caption awards. Kanpeki-sa is a lower-scoring corps that happened to win both GE captions. Rose City D&BC won Div 3.**

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The following day, ***March 3rd***, **Nemesis** hosted the [Green Mountain Invitational](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/event/50459), in which they debuted their very patriotic show, "The Election" and scored second with an 82.805 in Division 1, just below **Corps of Unspecified Identity**, earning first with an 87.295 with their show, which was undisclosed. This is a marginally smaller gap between first and second than we saw at yesterday's event, where Unspecified reigned over second place by 5.825. The spread between Unspecified and silver medalist Nemesis at Green Mountain was 4.490. This doesn't mean much this early in the season, but an early season lead doesn't end up meaning much if a corps doesn't improve as fast as their competition. Third place went to yesterday's silver medalist, **Continuum**, and their show, "The Abyss."

Division 2 at Green Mountain was won again by **Florida Dragon Regiment**, with an improved score of 66.235 with the **Red Blazers** widening the first-second gap by a bit with a score of 63.975. [Mirage](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/profile/7390/c) scores a 59.550, earning them the Div. 2 bronze medal. Similarly to yesterday's event, **Kanpeki-sa** won Best GE in both music and visual as well as best ensemble visual performance despite scoring fourth, and the **Red Blazers** had the best Brass, Percussion, and Visual scores, however the **Regiment's** guard definitely put in the work as they earned the highest Div. 2 Guard score at Green Mountain, adding to their ensemble music caption award.

[Supernova](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/profile/3061/c) scored first in Division 3 with a 52.630, earning every caption award, followed by the **Laredo Conquistadors** in second with a 50.675 and [Dauntless DBC](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/profile/10163/c) in third with a 50.160.

>**tl;dr: Unspecified Identity wins Div. 1 again, but Nemesis joins the fray in second closing the gap between Unspecified and second place. Third place went to Continuum. In Div. 2, Dragon Regiment won again, while still only getting high music performance and best guard caption awards. Kanpeki-sa earned fourth, but achieved both GE awards again as well as best visual ensemble performance. Second went to the Red Blazers (who got best percussion, brass and visual,) and third went to Mirage. Supernova won Div. 3, followed by the Laredo Conquistadors and Dauntless DBC.**

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On ***March 4th***, **Continuum** hosted the [Soaring Sounds Invitational](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/event/50580). **Corps of Unspecified Identity** starts competing in private competitions rather than with everyone else, so you won't see them with everyone else here. In Division 1, **Nemesis** got first place with an 83.590, however only got Best GE Music and Visual as far as caption scores. Second place and host **Continuum** achieved the best ensemble performance of the night earning Best Music Ens. Perf. and Best Visual Ens. Perf., and third place **Wondermint Rainbow Cavaliers** won every other caption. Continuum's second place score was 81.975 and Wondermint's score was 78.235.

In Division 2, the **Florida Dragon Regiment** remains in the lead, winning Soaring Sounds Div. 2 with a 66.985. The Regiment was awarded only Best Visual Perf. instead of their consistent ensemble music award so far in the season. That instead went to the Div. 2 GE champion thus far, **Kanpeki-sa**, who earned fifth at Soaring Sounds, despite again winning both GE awards as well as ensemble visual AND ensemble music caption awards. Still very interesting. **Red Blazers** earned second with a 64.530 and was awarded high brass and percussion again, and took back best guard from the consistent first place Regiment who won it the day before. The **Striders** got third with a 62.550.

**Supernova** and **Laredo Conquistadors** took first and second respectively with a 53.080 and 50.680 respectively. [Acxiom D&BC](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/profile/10140/c) takes bronze in their second competition of the season with a 49.520. Interestingly, the spread between the third place Axciom and seventh place **West Guards** was a minuscule 0.490.

>**tl;dr: Nemesis won in Div. 1 but only achieved high GE in both of those captions. Continuum won second place and both music and visual ensemble performance and Wondermint won the rest of the captions while taking third. Div. 2 saw that Florida Dragon Regiment remained in first, winning high ensemble music, but Kanpeki-sa remains the GE beasts of Div. 2, all while staying out of the top 3. Red Blazers won high brass percussion and guard as well as second overall, and third went to the Striders.**

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There was only one event on ***March 5th***, **"**[California](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/event/50495)**";** hosted by Drum Corps Together. The top Division 1 corps that we've covered this far didn't compete, so some fresh faces were featured in the top three. The gold medal was given to the [Sigma Regiment](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/profile/2819/c) earning a 78.445. Sigma also earned the brass, percussion, and visual performance caption awards. Best GE was given to the [10th Regiment](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/profile/9778/c), who according to scores had the best ensemble performance as well, earning both ensemble music and visual awards. 10th Regiment got second with a score of 76.825. [Samurai](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/profile/8318/c) earned their third place spot with a 75.240 and also snatched the best guard performance award.

In Division 2, the **Red Blazers** secure first place, raising their previous score by about a half to a 65.085. In Red Blazers fashion, best brass and percussion was awarded to them. The second place corps, [Xperience](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/profile/9867/c), scored a 64.140, and earned only one caption award, stealing GE music from **Kanpeki-sa**, who was the fifth place finisher at the "California" event. Kanpeki-sa still won an odd amount of caption awards compared to their placement-- their program, "May You Never Walk Alone," not only is very developed for FMA (expect a review of their show sometime in the near future,) has proven very visually stunning, as in the "California" event, they were awarded every visual caption award (vis. perf., vis. ens. perf., and vis. GE.) I'm not quite sure if phenomena like this is common in FMA but this is certainly interesting. **Striders** earned themselves third in "California."

**Rose City D&BC** gets another win in "California," scoring a 51.855, earning Best Ensemble Visual, Ensemble Music, and Visual Performance caption awards. The [Spartan D&BC](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/profile/9976/c) earned second with a 51.050 as well as Best Brass, Best Percussion, and Best Guard. Best GE in both music and visual went to the third place corps, [Cougar Pride](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/profile/8657/c), scoring 50.915.

>**tl;dr: New faces in the Div. 1 top three, first place went to the Sigma Regiment, as did high brass, percussion and best visual. Second went to the 10th Regiment who got high GE, and best ensemble music and visual. Third place went to Samurai, who snagged best guard. Red Blazers got their first Div. 2 win of their season at "California." They took with them best brass and percussion awards. Xperience took sec2nd place as well as GE Music, which would normally go to Kanpeki-sa, who earned all visual caption awards (ensemble, performance, and GE) while still scoring out of top three. Speaking of three, third place went to Striders. Div. 1 first place went to Rose City D&BC, second went to Spartan D&BC, followed by Cougar Pride, who took both GE captions.**

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[Corps on the Stars](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/event/50441) hosted by Galactic Sound took place on ***March 6th***, and eight Division 1 corps competed. **Continuum** found their way to first, scoring an 83.195 and taking high ensemble music, ensemble visual, and both GE caption awards. Second went to **Wondermint Rainbow Cavaliers**, with a 79.795, and took high brass, percussion, guard, and best visual performance caption awards. [Canada Corps](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/profile/9431/c) makes it to the top three at CotS, whereas they've been unable to break 4th place at every competition covered here. Their show, "Equilibrium," scored a 78.935.

The battle between the **Red Blazers** and **Florida Dragon Regiment** continues in Division 2, with Regiment coming out on top with a 68.255. The Blazers follow with a 65.315. Kanpeki-sa didn't compete in CotS, so GE went to the Regiment, as did every caption award but high percussion, guard, and visual performance. A new face in third, after scoring sixth for the last two days, [The Rising Glory Drum Corps](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/profile/9277/c) scored a 61.250.

**Laredo Conquistadors** were the only corps to compete in Division 3, so with a score of 51.700, they took home their first gold of the season :)

>**tl;dr: Continuum won Div. 1, good job Continuum. They got to take home high ensemble music and visual as well as both GE caption awards. Seems like normal DCI scoring actually... Wondermint Rainbow Cavaliers get second and snag high brass, percussion, guard, and best visual performance. Canada Corps got third after trailing in not third for a while. In Div. 2, Red Blazers and FL Dragon Regiment are still fighting it out, this time Regiment won, leaving Blazers in second and Rising Glory Drum Corps in third after consistently scoring sixth. Laredo Conquistadors competed alone in Div. 3, so they won, but they still did a good job at CotS, scoring over a point over their previous score at Soaring Sounds. Nice job, Conquistadors, like your repertoire :)**

[March Madness: Texas](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/event/50496), hosted by Drum Corps Together was the big competition on ***March 7th***. Only four corps competed in Div. 1. **Sigma Regiment** took first again, scoring 79.975 overall and winning high brass, percussion and guard, as well as best visual performance. In second was **10th Regiment** with a 78.035. 10th Regiment took home both GE captions and both ensemble music and visual performance caption awards. Third place was the [Atlantic Volt D&BC](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/profile/9716/c) with a 72.590.

**Striders** won their second Div. 2 competition in the season with a 64.980 and earned high percussion and best visual performance caption awards. **Xperience** was close behind them in second with a verrryy cool 64.420 but didn't win any caption awards interestingly. Third place went to **Galactic Sound** with a score of 63.855, and they earned the award for best guard. **Kanpeki-sa** is back to steal both GE captions, best music ensemble and best visual ensemble performance from fourth place. Fifth place went to **Rising Glory Drum Corps,** who managed to snag best brass. Cool beans, these kind of things are cool beans

**Rose City D&BC** keeps up their tight and undefeated win streak in Div. 3, winning CotS with a 52.700. They achieved best music ensemble performance, best visual ensemble performance and best visual performance. Second place went to **Spartan D&BC** with a score of 51.640, only 0.060 away from first. Spartans won high brass, percussion, and guard. Third place went to the GE caption winner, **Cougar Pride**, with a score of 50.895.

>**tl;dr: Sigma Regiment is the winner for Div. 1, winning high brass, percussion and guard, and best visual performance. 10th Regiment came in second, winning high GE in both captions as well as ensemble music and visual caption awards. Third was given to Atlantic Volt D&BC. Striders took Div. 2 gold, winning high percussion and best visual performance, with Xperience following them in second, but they didn't win any caption awards. Third place Galactic Sound won best guard. Kanpeki-sa is back to their old antics of stealing caption awards from a low placing position, as they placed fourth overall, but still took both GE captions as well as best visual and music ensemble caption awards. Best brass was won by Rising Glory Drum Corps from fifth place. March Madness: Texas was pretty cool for Div. 2. Rose City D&BC has yet to lose in Div. 3, as they win again here overall, as well as best music ensemble, best visual ensemble and best visual performance. Spartan D&BC came in second and won high brass, percussion, and guard. Cougar Pride took both GE captions from third place.**

The last day of week 1 was ***March 8th,*** and the [CLASS Southern Regional](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/event/50472) was hosted by CLASS. In Division 1, **Nemesis** finishes their first week in first place with an 85.950 but only won the GE captions again. Second place **Continuum** got an 84.315 overall and took only best music ensemble performance. **Wondermint Rainbow Cavaliers** came in third with a 81.105, and earned themselves high brass, percussion, and guard. Wondermint over this first week has proven that their individual sections truly excel as just that, individual sections; their drumline is tight-- they play incredibly well with each other and do their part in portraying the show theme just masterfully, their hornline plays runs with insane accuracy and quality that maybe doesn't come across as well in some other Div. 1 corps, and their guard seems to be always perfectly together despite tens of yards of distance in their show. All the work is there, and it's amazing, and really there was never a point for them where I feel like the individual sections didn't mesh well as one big section, I just feel like some corps like Continuum did it at a bit of a higher level. It's still just one week in, so anything can happen still.

As for Division 2, only three corps competed in the Southern Regional, and they're all corps we haven't talked about yet. First place went to [Spirit of Bucktown](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/profile/9863/c), winning overall as well as every caption award. Their score was a respectable 61.500. Just below them in second place with a 57.410 is [The Mist](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/profile/8983/c)**.** [The Burning Shadows](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/profile/8979/c) placed third with a 53.410.

[Goblin Village Drum Corps](http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/profile/10162/c) is competing in their second season this month, and they were the only Div. 3 corps to perform at CLASS SR. They scored a 49.525.

>**tl;dr: In Div. 1, Nemesis wins with only their high GE captions, Continuum proves they've got the best corps ensemble-wise by taking second place and both the best visual ensemble and music ensemble caption awards. Third goes to Wondermint, who also won best guard, percussion, and brass. Div. 2 saw three newer corps compete, Spirit of Bucktown coming out in first followed by The Mist in second and The Burning Shadows in third. Goblin Village Drum Corps was lonely in their division and got a respectable win.**

# RECAP:

Ok so it has been a killer start to season 85, and here are some things to watch out for:

* **Corps of Unspecified Identity**
* This season has seen the highest opening scores for this already amazing and decorated corps. Something tells me they will certainly be a medalist come finals.
* **Kanpeki-sa**
* This corps has some decoration to it as well, and from what we've seen this week, it also has a very interesting play style. The highest it's placed all week was fourth, and that was only two out of the five events they competed in, and yet this corps consistently had the highest scores in both captions of GE and typically won the visual performance and ensemble captions as well. I think we're all more than looking forward to what this corps has to offer for us the remainder of the season.
* **Red Blazers and FL Dragon Regiment**
* With the high caption scoring Kanpeki-sa out of the way placement wise, there's certainly a lot of room for a tug-of-war match between two of Division 2's greatest corps: the Red Blazers and Florida Dragon Regiment. They've been back and forth between first and second a number of times this last week, enough I would say to warrant keeping an eye out for these two down the road

​

Thank you very much for reading that you very much more if you read everything! Means a lot

I'm excited to see where this sub goes, please let me know of any feedback you might have regarding posts or really anything

Check me out on FMA, username is connorgavin7502 and I run the Emerald City Cadets!

Excellent summary of the week. Looking forward to reading more in the weeks to come.

Already looking forward to next weeks