GEM's Crystal Ball: 2023 DCI Pre-Season Finals Predictions
Kicking off Year 2 of our rankings for the upcoming 2023 season
Following the 2022 season, many surprising announcements, ranging from notable staff changes to Santa Clara Vanguard announcing that they would not be fielding a corps for the following summer, came to us to ensure one thing: there will be shakeups. With an “extra spot” now open in finals, we can expect the dogfight for Saturday night to be even more intense than last year, with more people hungry to claim the prestigious title of DCI Finalist Corps. However, what big moves (if any) will also be made at the top? GEM’s rankers have had to ponder these questions, among others, when preparing their predictions.
From Prediction to Reality
A new Drum Corps International season is upon less! The 2023 season officially kicks off in two days, with five 2022 finalist corps scheduled to perform in Rockford, MI. Seven more shows are scheduled over the weekend in Indiana, California, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, and Illinois, and before we know it, the 2023 season will be in full swing.
GEM writers and contributors were asked to give their final rankings of the top 15 competing corps, regardless of class, based on where they predicted the corps would end up Saturday night, August 12, 2023.
1. Blue Devils - 333 points (60.9% first-place votes)
Final Official 2022 DCI Ranking: 1 ↔
With their 2022 production Tempus Blue awarding the Blue Devils an undefeated season leading up to a decisive victory on finals night, the prolific west coast corps will be looking to follow up with yet another dominant season with their show The Cut Outs. If they succeed, it will also be the corps’ first threepeat (a feat not completed since The Cavaliers did it from 2000-2002) going back to before COVID-19 with 2019’s Ghostlight.
2. Boston Crusaders - 316 points (17.4% first-place votes)
Final Official 2022 DCI Ranking: 2 (tie) ↔
After a stunning 2022 season with Paradise Lost ending in Boston’s highest placement in corps history, they are looking to follow up on that success and compete with the Blue Devils for the win. Their annual Concert in the Park and other public performances of their 2023 production White Whale bode well for the corps, and we could see a closer race at the top this year compared to last.
3. Bluecoats - 307 points (17.4% first-place votes)
Final Official 2022 DCI Ranking: 2 (tie) ↓
Bluecoats last season with Riffs & Revelations were a corps that peaked at the right time. They spent most of the season flirting with Carolina Crown’s 4th place until finals week when they tied with Boston Crusaders for 2nd place in both semifinals and finals. The only significant staff change was Kevin LeBoeuf taking over as brass caption head coming from The Cavaliers, who most notably helped bring the corps’ brass up to third place on finals night in 2019.
4. Carolina Crown - 284 points (4.3% first-place votes)
Final Official 2022 DCI Ranking: 4 ↔
With quite the shocking changes in leadership in the design and percussion sides of things, Carolina Crown seems to be pivoting their design philosophy quite drastically. Whether or not it will pay off is yet to be seen, but this may be their best chance to break the 4th place curse since it started in 2018. Last season, Right Here, Right Now started very strong but was surpassed by the Bluecoats in the late season, as mentioned above.
5. The Cadets - 228 points
Final Official 2022 DCI Ranking: 6 ↑
After returning to the top half of finals for the first time since 2016 with their show Rearview Mirror, The Cadets - now based out of Erie, PA, for the first time in corps history - will be looking to build off that success. Especially with last year’s 5th place corps not fielding, this corps will be looking to claim their place in the top 5 with their show Atlas Rising. While many would consider their loss of Tom Aungst as the percussion caption head a loss, there is a lot of excitement around the new leadership in that caption for The Cadets.
6. Blue Stars - 220 points
Final Official 2022 DCI Ranking: 7 ↑
Last season, Blue Stars achieved their highest placement since returning to World Class in 2006 and their highest ever score with their show Of War & Peace. This year, Blue Stars are in a prime position to make their way back into the top half of Finals for the first time since 1977 with their 2023 production In Absintheia. This corps’ color guard will be one to watch this and could become a contender for the Zingali in coming years if trends continue.
Lapsed Fan's Guide to DCI 2023
It’s Friday, June 23rd, which means the start of the 2023 DCI Summer Tour is just around the corner! We’re bringing back the Lapsed Fan’s Guide to DCI so that you can enter the Midwest Premiere on June 28th with every bit of knowledge you need to back up your hot takes on who returns to finals this year, as well as what corps takes home the Founders tro…
7. The Cavaliers - 208 points
Final Official 2022 DCI Ranking: 9 ↑
With almost every aspect of the corps’ leadership being replaced, The Cavaliers clearly intend to change directions away from Signs of the Times. Bringing in superstars from across the activity, most notably the return of Richard Saucedo as brass arranger for the first time since their dominance in the 2000s, The Cavaliers hope to course-correct with their 75th anniversary show …where you’ll find me.
8. Phantom Regiment - 190 points
Final Official 2022 DCI Ranking: 8 ↔
Peaking late in the season with their show No Walk Too Far in 2022 as a strong recovery from their pre-COVID downward trend, Phantom Regiment has picked up the prestigious visual team from the inactive Santa Clara Vanguard (which means we can expect a bent-leg Phantom). They are also departing from much of their identity as “the corps who plays classical music” by bringing rock band Muse’s Supremacy into the mix of their 2023 production Exogenesis.
9. Mandarins - 176 points
Final Official 2022 DCI Ranking: 10 ↑
Contrary to Phantom, Mandarins started stronger in the early season before falling to 10th place by finals week with their show The Otherside. With that show, Mandarins became the first 10th-place corps to score above 90. Joining the team this year to possibly bring the corps' design more outside of the box is brass arranger Vince Oliver, who helped create their 2023 production, Sinnerman.
10. Troopers - 116 points
Final Official 2022 DCI Ranking: 12 ↑
After a late-season surge that was nothing short of miraculous with VorAcious, Troopers will be sticking with their rising stars on the design team to bring us an even more western show with To Lasso the Sun. With Rennick’s main corps off the field for the season, he has reportedly been spending more time with the Troopers’ percussion, which could bolster what was already their strongest caption throughout the season last year by even more.
11. Blue Knights - 106 points
Final Official 2022 DCI Ranking: 14 ↑
Making the most significant jump in our rankings compared to last year’s finish is the Blue Knights, who have overhauled their design team from Vibe to recover from last season’s disappointing finish hopefully. Their announcement of Unharnessed earlier this year intrigued many, as it combines Verdi’s Requiem with very tonally contrasting rock and R&B songs by artists The Doors, Lenny Kravitz, and Pharrell Williams.
12. Colts - 89 points
Final Official 2022 DCI Ranking: 11 ↓
Much like the Troopers, Colts’ return to finals last year with The Silk Road came after an over a decade drought, and the Iowa drum corps will be looking to maintain their coveted top 12 spot. Speaking of Iowa, you can expect corn to be featured in this year’s production, Where the Heart Is, as Colts will pay tribute to their home state. With much less information available than Troopers, more doubt can be reflected in the rankings due to the nature of the unknown.
Lapsed Fan's Guide to DCI 2023
This is part two of our Lapsed Fan’s Guide to DCI 2023, a refresher on anything and everything you may have missed since the end of last season! Part One is here! WHO’S STEPPING UP? As we are so close to the season, many corps have either done public performances or had chunks of their shows uploaded to various social media sites, including YouTube and Ti…
13. Crossmen - 72 points
Final Official 2022 DCI Ranking: 13 ↔
Narrowly missing finals for the first time since 2013 last year with their show A Möbius Trip, Crossmen are expected to be competitive for a spot in finals once again. One of last year’s pitfalls arguably was a vision in the design that did not turn out, having to cut out the aspect of the show where it could start on any of the four movements. This year’s program, Meetings at the Edge, appears to be a bit of the corps returning to their roots, utilizing artists that the corps used to be known for in the 1990s and 2000s, like Pat Metheny.
14. Madison Scouts - 62 points
Final Official 2022 DCI Ranking: 15 ↑
Speaking of a return to roots, Madison Scouts announced the return of Scott Boerma to the design team, the brass arranger who brought us classics like A Drum Corps Fan’s Dream and Jesus Christ Superstar. With last year’s program Installation 85 not scoring as well as many would’ve expected, the Madison Scouts hope to get their name back into the finals conversation with The Sound Garden. Early season videos of their drumline in the lot and their preview performance show a lot of promise.
15. The Academy - 21 points
Final Official 2022 DCI Ranking: 16 ↑
A corps that has been trying to recapture the magic of their 2016 show Drum Corpse Bride which brought them into their first-ever DCI Finals, The Academy has regularly stayed in the first few spots outside of finals in recent years. This includes their familiarly playful A World of My Creation last year based on the familiar Roald Dahl tale “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” Not much is known about their 2023 show Sol et Luna, but their goal of returning to finals is unchanged.
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Donald Angelica Best General Effect Award
Blue Devils - 52.2% first-place votes
John Brazale Best Visual Performance Award
Blue Devils - 87.0% first-place votes
Jim Ott Best Brass Performance Award
Carolina Crown - 47.8% first-place votes
Fred Sanford Best Percussion Performance Award
Boston Crusaders - 47.8% first-place votes
George Zingali Best Color Guard Performance Award
Boston Crusaders - 82.6% first-place votes
How we determine our Crystal Ball: 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. 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.