The Purple Rockets are a purple team with white stripes which were introduced to compete in Marble ManiaX.
The team set the record for Diving in 2014, holding it for seven years until it was finally broken during Marble League 2021 by the Shining Swarm. Their record was officially recognized despite having never competed in the Marble League beforehand.
The team also used to compete in the Stardust Classic alongside teams like the Solar Flares and Team Galactic. They finished third behind the aforementioned Team Galactic and Stargazers in the 2020 Stardust Classic Reunion.[1]
The team won the first edition of Marble ManiaX in 2021, even though they finished last in the final event. This made them the first team in JMR history to win a tournament without winning a gold medal.
In August 2022, they were announced as one of the expansion teams of the Marble League, making their debut in the Marble League Showdown 2022.
Team Members[]
| 2021 - Present |
|---|
Orbit 
|
| Sulfur |
| Dwarf |
| Saucer |
| Blast |
| Color | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Team Member | |
| Reserve Member | |
| Injured |
Members Timeline[]
History[]
Pre-Marble ManiaX[]
The Purple Rockets are a marble sports team from Sheetersburg. The five members, Orbit, Sulfur, Dwarf, Saucer, and Blast, met at Sheetersburg University at the astrophotography club where they bonded over their love of marble sports. On an astrophotography trip into some woods, Orbit made a maze in the snow and the competed in races against each other, bonding the group together as a team.
After graduating in 2013, the team started to train. They had been taken in by a former professor, Rocket, who started to coach the team. They competed in an exhibition tournament in Sheetersburg in the winter, winning three out of four events. Later that year, the team were invited to compete in the 2014 Stardust Classic in Polaria. Sulfur made it to the finals of the Sprint and ended up in a photo finish with Radiance from the Solar Flares. Timing and scoring declared the race a tie and so a race-off was held which Sulfur won, earning the team the first gold medal of the competition. The team didn't win another medal until Event 4, Diving, where they set a record of 11.76 which stood until 2021 when the Shining Swarm broke the record during Marble League 2021.[2] The team earned one more medal, a bronze in Black Hole Funnel, finishing the tournament in third overall. The team returned to Sheetersburg and spent the winter teaching local students astronomy and building a training facility.
The Purple Rockets returned for the 2015 Stardust Classic where Saucer won a bronze medal in the first event, the Dirt Race. Orbit won a gold medal in the Hurdles and the team won gold in the Relay Run and Block Pushing. This domination meant they had won the tournament before the final event. Before the final event, Royal Stardust invited the team to host the final event at the team's training track, the Rocket Ring, which they accepted. Dwarf competed and won another silver medal, putting the team 33 points ahead of second place.
Unfortunately, the Stardust Classic disbanded after 2015 when several teams withdrew from the competition and Royal Stardust became busy monitoring the region of Polaria. The disheartened Purple Rockets disbanded and pursued careers in the space field. Orbit became an astrophysicist, helping to design the International Space Marble, Dwarf became a Team Galactic superfan, cheering them on from the stands in every event and often being one of the sign-bearers, Sulfur became a rocket designer, and Saucer and Blast joined coach Rocket as astronomy professors at Sheetersburg University and helped run the astrophotography club. The five marbles rarely saw each other during this time.
After Marble League 2020, Orbit saw Cosmo announce the Stardust Classic Reunion on CMM, inviting previous competitors to take part. The five members of the team met on a Nyoom Meetings video call and they decided to attend the Reunion. Orbit and Sulfur earned the team their first medal, a gold, in the second event, the Black Hole Funnel. A silver medal in the fourth and final event, the Starlit Speedway Grand Prix was enough for the Purple Rockets to finish third overall.
Following the Reunion, the team wanted more competition and started to look for somewhere to compete. Saucer and Blast decided to return to their jobs at the university instead. Orbit found a local youth league called the Marble Sports Games, and managed to reserve a spot based on the team's impressive Stardust Classic performances. During this time, two marbles from Rocketvok, Smokey and Smoggy (two marbles with the same name as members of the Hazers), contacted Coach Rocket and were admitted to the team.
The Purple Rockets' debut in the tournament, hosted at the Blueberry Bowl, was not as successful as hoped. They managed to earn a silver in Balancing and the Marble Marathon and a bronze in Speed Skating, but this did not outweigh all of the other poor performances, leading the team to finish in last place. The team returned to Sheetersburg to train and meet up with Saucer and Blast and keep up with their astrophotography hobby.
The next season of the Marble Sports Games was hosted by the Valiant Vanillas in Vanillsinki. Unfortunately, the Rockets failed to qualify and entered the B-League. The team won three consecutive silver medals, finishing the B-League in second overall. After the games, they took a vacation, visiting Hunluen, Rocketvok and Meteorine.
The following season of the Marble Sports Games saw the Purple Rockets again miss out on qualifying. Their time in the B-League went poorly, just missing relegation after a string of mediocre events, finishing in eighth overall. Smokey and Smoggy decided to leave the team after the B-League, stating they had lost the spark of competition. The remaining members of the team returned to Sheetersburg and met up with Saucer and Blast and decided to take a break from training and spend time together as friends. They decided to watch Marble League 2021, all supporting Team Galactic, showing up for every event. Saucer and Blast realized they missed being part of a team and they decided to rejoin the Purple Rockets.
Royal Stardust decided to host the 2021 Stardust Classic, having enjoyed the Reunion, and decided to make it an annual tradition. Team Galactic were busy training for Marbula One Season 3 so Stardust needed an alternative venue. They asked the Purple Rockets if they would be interested in hosting the tournament, which they accepted. The mayor of Sheetersburg, Shuttle, offered to renovate the team's training facility, turning it into a large-scale stadium called the Space Station. The team reached out to Shuttle and offered them the chance to be the team's manager which they accepted.
The Purple Rockets invited multiple former teams to compete including the Stargazers, the Supernovas, the Asteroids, the Crazy Comets, the Blood Moons and the Shadow Riders. They also invited new team, the Eclipses. The Purple Rockets had a strong start, winning gold in Balancing. Unfortunately, they performed poorly in the next events, falling to last with three events remaining. Saucer won a bronze in the Sand Rally, a step in the right direction, followed by a second bronze in the Collision Course, lifting the team to sixth overall. Dwarf finished fourth in the final event, the Rocket Ring GP, making the team finish in fifth overall.
The team returned to the Marble Sports Games where they hoped to once again qualify, flying to Burnsville for the fourth edition of the tournament. While training for the event, Coach Rocket received an invitation to compete in Marble ManiaX.[3] The team hoped that the time since the last tournament would help them qualify by letting them rebuild chemistry as a team, but they once again failed to qualify. The B-League was happening at the same time as Marble ManiaX and so the team would have to balance both. They claimed that their love of competing would help them do both.[4]
Marble ManiaX[]
The Purple Rockets started the B-League with a bronze in the Heat Wave. The team arrived in Hunluen for the first event of Marble ManiaX, Extreme Diving. The team managed to score 63 points, enough for second place which they shared with the Black Jacks who also got 63 points, the first podium-tie in JMR history. Sulfur quickly flew back to Bunsville for the next event of the B-League, Track and Field, which they did not do well in. Sulfur, however, did well in the second event of Marble ManiaX, Domino Bowling, earning another silver medal for the team. Blast competed in the third event of the B-League, finishing in the top half in Funnel Spinning, while Dwarf finished fourth in Extreme Funnels, taking the team into first overall.
The final event of the B-League, the Gravitrax Slalom, saw the Rockets win a silver medal, finishing sixth overall and ensuring they advanced to the Qualifiers for the fifth season of the Marble Sports Games. The team returned to Hunluen for the fourth event of Marble ManiaX, the Obstacle Run. Despite doing poorly in the first round, Saucer managed to earn the Rockets' third silver medal in four events. Their road to victory had one more obstacle: Super Collision. Unfortunately, the team stumbled and lost their heat to the Balls of Chaos, finishing in last place, putting their victory in jeopardy. Thankfully, the Constrictors were eliminated in the semi-finals, securing overall victory for the Purple Rockets, the first time a team had one a JMR competition without any gold medals.[4]
2022[]
Marble League 2022[]
Unbeknownst to them, the Purple Rockets received a formal invitation by Jelle to join the Marble League and become one of the four new expansion teams the JMA were looking for. The team accepted without hesitation, knowing they wouldn't be able to participate in the Marble Sports Games. They would first be seen in the Marble League 2022 Friendly Round, where they would be competing against the other three new or returning expansion teams.
The first event of the Friendly Round would be Climbing, where the team got off to a slow start finishing 4th. Back-to-back 1st place finishes in 5 Meter Hurdles by Saucer and Balancing quickly followed to propel them into first overall, tied on points with Team Plasma. Unfortunately, Blast ended in 4th for the Triathlon while Ecto of Team Plasma won the event and the Purple Rockets settled for second in their first appearance in the Marble League.
The Purple Rockets returned for the 2022 Marble League Showdown and the first event, Swing Wave saw the team finish 8th. Two more top half finishes by both Saucer and Sulfur in the 5 Meter Sprint and Water Race respectively moved them into 7th overall. Unfortunately, they only placed 15th in the Relay as they fell to 10th after half of the events. Next, two finishes of 13th and 14th in Block Pushing and Funnel Endurance dropped them even further down the order and into 13th, one of the relegation spots. The Rockets knew this and were set to do well in the seventh event, Climbing. With a poor result in the Friendly Round, both Orbit and Sulfur were replaced with Saucer and Dwarf. This turned out to be the saving grace for the team, as they got the best run of the day to finish in first. They were launched 8th but were unable to win. Orbit had a mediocre race in the final event, Sand Rally to cross in 9th, which was where the Purple Rockets placed overall in the standings. Despite a confident start, they were the only expansion team to end up bottom half in the tournament.
Shortly afterwards, Orbit, the captain, represented the team in the Xmas Marble Race. They finished in a measly 26th out of 32 overall.
2023[]
To put things worse for the team, Purple Rockets were the only expansion team not invited to Marbula One Season 4, with the Black Jacks, Team Plasma, and Wolfpack all accepting their invitations and sending out their roster choices. The team instead spent their time with the Solar Flares at their training facility, preparing for the upcoming Marble League. Out of seemingly nowhere, they, along with the Flares, were invited to participate in 'Starbula One' organised by the Indigo Stars as an offseason tournament.[5]
In the five event invitational, Saucer would be chosen for the Starbula One Circuit GP where they finished in a respectable 5th place. With 9th in both the Street Race and Five-Star Relay, the Purple Rockets fell to 8th. Saucer again represented the team, this time in the Asteroid Field where they blasted through the obstacles to end with the bronze. Though an outside chance, they could still win the tournament with another medal in the Elimination Race. This time, Orbit was up and they managed to get past the first few rounds fairly comfortably until they made their way into the final five. With Blaze of the Solar Flares placing third, it was down to them and Snowy of the Snowballs in the final round. While the Snowballs had done enough to have already taken the championship, a final podium was still on the line for the Purple Rockets. Orbit managed to beat Snowy by two-thousandths of a millisecond to win the event. This was enough for the team to capture third overall by 1 point over the hosts, Indigo Stars.[5]
Purple Rockets were then invited into a small bracket tournament, G-FORCE Endurance. They went head-to-head with the Limers in Round 1, but couldn't get any form together and lost, finishing tied last with the Midnight Wisps.
Marble League 2023[]
The Purple Rockets were sorted into Group B for the Marble League Qualifiers after facing the Snowballs. The team started out the qualifiers with 9th in the Honeycomb Pursuit. With Saucer winning a silver in the 5 Meter Sprint and the team placing in 6th in the Wave, the team were 4th overall. Unfortunately Orbit finished the Funnel Endurance in last place which led them missing out on Marble League 2023 by six points behind the Rojo Rollers. They were sent to the Marble League Showdown 2023 as a result.
Entering the Showdown again, the team had a lacklustre start, only grabbing 12th in the Honeycomb Team Pursuit. The next event the 5 Meter Relay did not go much better, as the team finished 14th, dropping the team to 14th, the next three events were better for the Rockets, Saucer finished 8th in the Funnel Endurance, The team finished 5th in the Legion March Wave, and Orbit finished 8th in the Sand Rally bringing the team up to 12th, Unfortunately Blast had a disastrous performance in the Honeydome Grand Prix finishing dead last behind Club of the Black Jacks, This dropped the Rockets to 15th relegating them to Marble League Showdown 2024.
Marble ManiaX[]
- Main article: Marble ManiaX
| Event | Participant | Final Result | Place | Points | Overall Standing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Extreme Diving | All | 63 pts | 2nd | 7Ⅰ | 2nd |
| Domino Bowling | Orbit (C) & Sulfur | 106 pts | 2nd | 8 | 2nd |
| Extreme Funnels | Dwarf | Third Place Match Loss | 4th | 4 | 1st |
| Obstacle Run | Saucer | Final Loss | 2nd | 8 | 1st |
| Super Collision | All | Heat Loss | 8th | 0 | 1st |
Ⅰ With the tie between the Black Jacks and the Purple Rockets declared unbroken, both teams received 7 points each, equivalent to the average of 6 points (bronze) and 8 points (silver), following the official scoring system.
Marble League Showdown 2022[]
- Main article: Marble League Showdown 2022
Friendly Round[]
| Event | Participant | Final Result | Place | Points | Overall Standing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Climbing | Orbit (C) & Sulfur | 51.4 cm | 4th | 1 | 4th |
| 5 Meter Hurdles | Saucer | 8.308 sec. | 1st | 5 | 2nd |
| Balancing | All | 272 cm | 1st | 5 | 1st |
| Triathlon | Blast (R) | 18.940 sec. | 4th | 1 | 2nd |
Main Tournament[]
The Purple Rockets qualified for the Marble League 2023 Qualifiers.
| Event | Participant | Final Result | Place | Points | Overall Standing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swing Wave | All | 30 pts | 8th | 8 | 8th |
| 5 Meter Sprint | Saucer | 5.797 sec. | 6th | 10 | 6th |
| Water Race | Sulfur | 42.03 sec. | 8th | 8 | 7th |
| 5 Meter Relay | All | 8.498 sec. | 15th | 1 | 10th |
| Block Pushing | All | 158.95 cm | 13th | 3 | 12th |
| Funnel Endurance | Blast (R) | 2:00.67 | 14th | 2 | 13th |
| Climbing | Saucer & Dwarf | 76.7 cm | 1st | 25 | 8th |
| Sand Rally | Orbit (C) | 2:16.96 | 9th | 7 | 9th |
2022/23 Offseason[]
| Event | Participant | Final Result | Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xmas Marble Race | Orbit (C) | 34.32 sec. | 26th |
| G-FORCE Endurance | All | Heat Loss (0-3) | 7th |
Marble League 2023[]
- Main article: Marble League 2023
Qualifiers[]
The Purple Rockets competed in Group B. They failed to qualify for Marble League 2023.
| Event | Participant | Final Result | Place | Points | Overall Standing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Honeycomb Team Pursuit | All | 17.01 sec. | 9th | 3 | 9th |
| 5 Meter Sprint | Saucer | 5.878 sec. | 2nd | 12 | 5th |
| Legion March Wave | All | 77 pts | 6th | 6 | 4th |
| Funnel Endurance | Orbit (C) | 1:43.55 | 12th | 0 | 7th |
Marble League Showdown 2023[]
- Main article: Marble League Showdown 2023
The Purple Rockets failed to qualify for the Marble League 2024 Qualifiers.
| Event | Participant | Final Result | Place | Points | Overall Standing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Honeycomb Team Pursuit | All | 17.65 sec. | 12th | 4 | 12th |
| 5 Meter Relay | All | 8.560 sec. | 14th | 2 | 14th |
| Funnel Endurance | Saucer | 1:06.24 | 8th | 8 | 15th |
| Legion March Wave | All | 77 pts | 5th | 11 | 14th |
| Sand Rally | Orbit (C) | 1:43.26 | 8th | 8 | 12th |
| Honeydome Grand Prix | Blast (R) | 6:39.97 | 16th | 0 | 15th |
2023/24 Offseason[]
| Event | Participant | Final Result | Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christmas Marble Race 2023 | Sulfur | 47.44 sec. | 24th |
| Marble ManiaX Grand Prix | Orbit (C) | 2:22.86 | 8th |
Marble League 2024[]
- Main article: Marble League 2024
Due to the initial cancellation of the Marble League Showdown 2024, the Purple Rockets were allowed to enter the Qualifiers despite their bottom 4 finish in the 2023 Showdown. Despite this, they failed to qualify for Marble League 2024.
Qualifiers[]
| Event | Participant | Final Result | Placing | Points | Overall Standing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ice Dash | Sulfur | 5.459 sec. | 27th | 1 | 27th |
| Halfpipe | All | 56.28 sec. | 24th | 4 | 28th |
| Snow Drag | Saucer & Dwarf | 152.85 cm | 9th | 19 | 23rd |
| Short-track | Orbit (C) | 8 laps (28.20 sec.) | 23rd | 5 | 26th |
Results[]
Marble League[]
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Marble League Showdown[]
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Marble ManiaX[]
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Career Events[]
| # | Events | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total Podiums |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2022 | 17 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
| 2023 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 30 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 7 |
Team Members' Individual Scores[]
Marble League Showdown[]
| Marble | Competed in | Individual events participated in |
Medals Won | Total Individual Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blast | MLS22 MLS23 |
Funnel Endurance (2022) Honeydome Grand Prix (2023) |
0 gold medals 0 silver medals 0 bronze medals |
2 pts |
| Dwarf | MLS22 MLS23 |
0 gold medals 0 silver medals 0 bronze medals |
0 pts | |
| Orbit | MLS22 MLS23 |
Sand Rally (2022) Sand Rally (2023) |
0 gold medals 0 silver medals 0 bronze medals |
15 pts |
| Saucer | MLS22 MLS23 |
5 Meter Sprint (2022) Funnel Endurance (2023) |
0 gold medals 0 silver medals 0 bronze medals |
18 pts |
| Sulfur | MLS22 MLS23 |
Water Race (2022) | 0 gold medals 0 silver medals 0 bronze medals |
8 pts |
Marble ManiaX[]
| Marble | Competed in | Individual events participated in |
Medals Won | Total Individual Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blast | MXS1 | 0 gold medals 0 silver medals 0 bronze medals |
0 pts | |
| Dwarf | MXS1 | Extreme Funnels (S1) | 0 gold medals 0 silver medals 0 bronze medals |
4 pts |
| Orbit | MXS1 | 0 gold medals 0 silver medals 0 bronze medals |
0 pts | |
| Saucer | MXS1 | Obstacle Run (S1) | 0 gold medals 1 silver medal 0 bronze medals |
8 pts |
| Sulfur | MXS1 | 0 gold medals 0 silver medals 0 bronze medals |
0 pts |
Italics - As reserve member
Gallery[]
External Links[]
- Purple Rockets on the JMR Website
- Purple Rockets RetRollSpective
References[]
- ↑ Stynth, The Emperor (30th June 2021). RetRollSpective – Solar Flares. Project Marblearth.
- ↑ Jelle's Marble Runs (24th August 2021). Marble Race: Marble League 2021 - E12 Diving.
- ↑ @Jellesmarbles (6th December 2021). “Blasting off to the city of Hunluen to do some serious extreme sports are the Purple Rockets!”
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 theemperor42 (14th July 2022). RetRollSpective – Purple Rockets. Project Marblearth.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Fouc, PippinPlover, Stynth (21st July 2023). Star Love. Project Marblearth.
| Marble League Teams | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Active | Balls of Chaos · Black Jacks · Bumblebees · Chocolatiers · Crazy Cat's Eyes · Gliding Glaciers · Green Ducks · Hazers · Indigo Stars · Jungle Jumpers · Kobalts · Limers · Mellow Yellow · Midnight Wisps · Minty Maniacs · Oceanics · O'rangers · Pinkies · Purple Rockets · Raspberry Racers · Rojo Rollers · Savage Speeders · Shining Swarm · Solar Flares · Snowballs · Team Galactic · Team Momo · Team Plasma · Team Primary · Thunderbolts · Turtle Sliders · Wolfpack | |||
| Retired | Golden Orbs · Hornets · Jawbreakers · Quicksilvers · Team Momary | |||