GEM's Crystal Ball: 2022 DCI Week 5 Open Class Finals Predictions
Our first Open Class Finals predictions of the season as Open Class competition heats up in the final stretch of the season!
Welcome to General Effect Media’s first ever Crystal Ball for Open Class Finals Predictions! We are kicking off our first round of Open Class Finals predictions today as the 2022 DCI season is in its final stretch and as Open Class corps begin their final tour leading up to finals.
GEM writers and contributors were asked to rank all Open Class corps attending this year’s World Championships week based on where they predicted the corps would end up in Open Class Finals on Tuesday night, August 9, 2022. Results shown are for the top 10 corps as ranked by our voters.
Beginning last week, we devised a new system that determines how we aggregate and determine our rankings, similar to how the NCAA publishes top 25 rankings for various collegiate sports. With this system, each corps receives points from voters inverse of placement. More specifically, each corps receives 15 points for each first-place vote, 14 points for each second-place vote, 13 points for each third-place vote, and so on. Rankings are then determined by the total number of points each corps received. 7 voters participated in our rankings this week, so the maximum number of points a corps could receive is 105 (15 points x 7 voters). With this system, votes are appropriately weighted to better aggregate rankings and show variation in how voters voted more easily. For example, if two or more corps score closely in a total number of points, it shows variation by our voters and where they believe that group of corps will end up.
1. Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets (104 total points)
Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets started off the season with three third place finishes behind Blue Devils B and Gold. SCVC then passed Blue Devils B on July 16 at the Gold Showcase and have won four shows since. Their last show was on Sunday, July 24; they don’t perform again until August 5, three days before Open Class Prelims.
2. Blue Devils “B” (98 total points)
Blue Devils B reached a new season high score of 74.75 on July 24. They are poised for their sixth straight top 20 finish in World Class Semifinals in their first return to Indianapolis since 2018. Their next performance is on August 6 in Charleston, IL.
The 2019 Open Class Champion has had a strong 2022 season and is undefeated to date. After a two-week break, Spartans returned to the DCI tour last weekend and scored above 70 at shows in New Jersey and New Hampshire in back to back nights. They perform again tonight and tomorrow night at shows in Pennsylvania and Michigan.
Gold began their 2022 season with a five show winning streak before eventually falling to second place on July 10 in Stanford, their most recent performance. Unfortunately, a minor covid outbreak within the corps has taken them off of the performance field since then. After making a long trip east, they finally return to the field tomorrow night at the Southeastern Championship in Atlanta, joining Heat Wave as the two Open Class corps at the event.
5. Guardians (69 total points)
Guardians made their long awaited debut last week, performing at three shows in Texas, including San Antonio where they scored a 64.475. The corps traveled north this week and will perform again tomorrow night in Central Illinois, where they will face competition from other Open Class corps for the first time this season.
6. Southwind (65 total points)
Southwind performed in their first two competitive events of the season last week, placing second behind Spartans at both shows. The Alabama-based corps is on pace to pass their 2019 high score of 72.363; doing so would set a new high score for the corps since they returned to the field in 2015. Southwind follows other east corps to perform at five shows over the next week and a half before Open Class prelims.
7. The Battalion (53 total points)
The Battalion are excited to be making their first ever trip to Indiana for Open Class Finals in the corps’ six year history. They debuted in their home state of Utah over two weeks ago and last performed on July 16, finishing with a 60. Like Guardians, The Battalion made a long journey this week to perform in tomorrow night’s DCI Central Illinois event.
8. River City Rhythm (52 total points)
Minnesota’s only DCI corps, River City Rhythm returns to competition in 2022 after being one of only three Open Class corps to participate in last year’s non-competitive DCI Celebration event. RCR has performed in six shows throughout the 2022 season so far, most recently breaking 60 at their last performance on July 13. They join Guardians and The Battalion tomorrow night in Illinois for their next show.
9. Louisiana Stars (42 total points)
Louisiana Stars have performed in only one event so far this season in Tupelo, MS on July 14, finishing with a 57.15. This is only the seventh season in their history and are looking forward to maintaining their streak of five consecutive top 10 finishes in Open Class, a streak that started in 2016 with their first appearance in Open Class Finals. The Stars will be back in action tomorrow night in Central Illinois.
10. Calgary Stampede Showband (36 total points)
The Calgary Stampede Showband come to Indiana in 2022 in a very unique position; the group is no stranger to DCI having previously performed in SoundSport in 2017, but this season marks their first competitive appearance. Calgary Stampede will only be appearing at DCI events during World Championships week and will be competing in International Class, a class last used in 2018 when Jubal from the Netherlands made the trip to finals. It is unclear yet whether or not Calgary Stampede will be competing in International Class for just prelims or in both rounds; for the sake of these rankings, we are assuming that they may compete in Open Class for finals.
That does it for our first Crystal Ball for 2022 Open Class Finals! Keep an eye out for our next set of rankings right before finals!