(Written 07.02.2026)
This is going to be my most autistic blogpost on here so far.
I think the 2026 4chan Winter Cup should be wrapping up by now. Here's a topic I thought I would like to write about. It's been on my mind since at least last year's Winter Cup, for obvious reasons if you've been following the Cup, and have at least glanced at the previous blogposts on this site.
The 4chan Cup has held a somewhat special place in my heart. It was one of my favourite things to come out of image boards. I brought it up in my bronydom memoir I published last year. I mentioned the /mlp/ board there, and spending much time going on 4chan, and /mlp/ introducing me to 4CC.
Well, what is it, then? Simply put, 4chan Cup is a football championship, where each board that cares enough has its own team assembled by that board's community, with players that are usually a representation of that board's memes and culture. The teams are made in some variant of Pro Evolution Soccer, and are made to play against one another in seasonal tournaments, divided into the major (Elite) and minor (Babby) league. The players are CPU-controlled and the matches are played in Coach Mode, with live managers being able to make limited tactical changes via a message channel with the tournament's host. The matches are streamed live, and attract fans who can post team- and 4CC-themed emotes in the CyTube chat.
It rocks. The idea is brilliant. The Cup has existed since at least 2013, and since then the people involved in it have put in a lot of effort to mod PES to allow custom models and stadiums. Teams have become further customised with their own anthems, goalhorns, and even chants (played by the host using a special custom-made program just for that). Sometimes, the managers (at the request at the board's communities) may include prematch and half-time thematic hype videos.
But how did I even learn about 4CC? Well, in my bronydom post, I brought up Pixelcanvas, which is this r/place or wplace-like website made in 2017, where /mlp/ had its presence and was drawing ponies and pony-related pictures on its claimed part of the canvas. One of the drawings there was some sort of crest representing the Equestrian princesses Celestia and Luna orbiting their respective celestial bodies in a sort of yin-yang arrangement against a light-blue starry backdrop, with the letters "mlp" printed at the bottom, and two larger, orange stars featured prominently at the top. Below that crest, somepony wrote two messages: ">TWO STARS" and "GIDDY UP".
It was a nice logo. I was curious what it symbolised. Well, the middle part was obviously the flag of Equestria. I eventually figured it out, and made it to /mlp/'s 2017 Autumn Babby Cup thread. Ponies were playing in the Babbies, and I think the tournament had already ended by then, but I was curious enough that I found my way to the Cup's online wiki and used the match archive to view the games.
I don't know if you can still watch those old videos. To my understanding, the old archive's owner vanished without a trace one day and I'm not sure if the old archive is still available. Now there is a new archive, and I haven't checked if old matches are on there as well.
Anyway. Right off the bat I liked what I saw when I watched the first video. I downloaded and watched the entire thing, all 8 days and 64 matches of the tournament. Now, if you're unfamiliar with the format, the tournaments are usually hosted across 3 weekends, with each matchday consisting of 8 matches, with a brief intro and ending segment to each day. Sometimes, if anybody cares enough to do that, those matchdays come with custom intro videos. Those intros are, in professional parlance, "cool as fuck".
Check out this 2018 4chan Summer Cup matchday intro:
Uhh, okay, this one contains MAJOR SPOILERS to one of the ABSOLUTE FUCKING BEST, WILDEST BANGER OF THE MATCHES IN THE CUP'S ENTIRE GODDAMN HISTORY, so maybe hold off on that just yet. Uhhh, how about some other iconic intro I liked...
Umm, how about this one to the 2019 Spring Babby Cup Final Day:
Babbies usually do things a bit different, like this one hits the end of the 80s nostalgia theme for some reason... Usually, the intros and the entire cups are somewhat themed around the winner of the previous cup from that series, who gets to "host" the next cup by lending it some of the team's aesthetics. That cup was hosted by /pol/, and tbh I'm not quite sure how the 80s fits in there, but /shrug.
...Oooh, this one is really good, check out the 2024 Summer Cup intro:
K I N O
I
N
O
You know, rewatching some of these just now, it's occurred to me that a lot of what's said and shown there will be incomprehensible to a total outsider, and even someone who casually watches the Cup like me will not understand all the references. There is some 4CC lore involved in some of these.
And, uh. I know that a lot of these intros have been made by one and the same guy since 2018, who replaced the previous hyp video guy, and so some of those feel maybe a bit one note after you've seen a bunch of those, and they start to blend together after a while. And I don't know a whole lot about video editing, but I guess these are mostly collages of some video editing software's preset animations and transitions. And Elite league Cup videos usually use some Two Steps From Hell music, which today I guess you could call it epicslop, since TSFH usually makes... well I don't really listen to them, but usually I would describe their music as somehow just made for trailers. It's all a little samey, but it's not necessarily a bad thing. I would be lying if I didn't say it didn't get my blood pumping when I would hear it at most once a quarter, like that 2024 Summer Cup intro:
WAAALK TO THE UNKNOOOOOWN
WHEN THE TIME IS UP YOU WILL REPENT AND REMAND FROM
FIIIIIRE AND FROM STOOOOONE
AS THE DARKNESS OF THE PAST TURNS INTO THE LIGHT OF DAAAWN
What do any of these lyrics mean? I have no clue, lol. It's some quality hype music, though, if a bit generic. Today, I guess you could make bespoke AIslop songs with lyrics that actually mean something. But yeah, that music sure sets the mood.
I said in the bronydom blogpost that I was a fan of the fandom. These people have made some really cool things. Like, CyTube for example, where the Cup is shared, I'm fairly sure is owned by a brony. And that's just the tip of the iceberg, I can't think of more examples off the top of my head since I'm so focused on the topic of 4CC now. But yeah, with the Cup, I could say I was also a fan of the people making it what it was. For essentially a huge shitpost, it felt special to me.
Well, it's not all jokes and fun. The managers do get sweaty about tictacs (tactics), and are actively trying to weigh what's ultimately a dice roll match in their team's favour.
And indeed, I watched the Cup for just one team. No points for guessing which one. It felt extra special. The two stars on /mlp/'s crest meant two won Elite Cup championships, which the teams celebrate by obtaining the right to adorn their logo with a commemorative star. For a championship with only around, uhh... 14 Elite Cups played by then? and about 60 teams participating, and win rates hovering around 50% for all teams due to a generally random nature of the cup, this was quite the achievement. At the time when I started to watch the cup, I think only two other teams had two stars: /fit/ and /sp/ - though in the latter's case, one of the stars was revoked due to some match fixing drama that I didn't fully follow.
Well, if you wanna get into the Cup, try looking around. I won't spoonfeed you the link directly, but you don't have to look very hard at all to find the 4CC website where you can read all about it.
Now, if you're an insane sicko and wanna emulate what I experienced, try digging through the archive and start watching cups in which /mlp/ played starting from Autumn 2017 through 2025 and you'll understand why I titled my blogpost "A Wild Ride". I know, you won't, that'd be insane. You had to be there.
Right, so I'll try to explain briefly why it was wild. But anyway, back to Autumn 2017 and me rewatching archived footage. I said I liked the matchday intro I saw.
You know what's funny? There was no matchday intro hype video there. In fact, I didn't even know those existed at the time, so when I started seeing those in future cups, I was blown away by them, lol. No, Autumn 2017 was very barebones, with the host just playing some Pendulum music from their then-latest album, "Immersion" (that came out in, like, 2010 lol) to serve as matchday intro.
Not gonna lie, I never did find out why he chose to play that music. But it was enough to get me hooked, since at the time I was exploring electronic music, and "Immersion" was somewhat special to me, since I considered that album the beginning of my journey". I was well familiar with the songs that the host played to open the respective match days.
That was the start of a new journey with the 4chan Cup. Starting from the 2018 4chan Winter Cup, I was watching live, with other anons.
If you're familiar with the Cup, you already know where this is going. What a fucking Cup to start with, right?! I hinted before that Winter 2018 contained only the best game in the entire Cup's history. I shan't spoil anymore, but you were in for a treat as an /mlp/ fan. For context: Ponies had just promoted from the Babby league and were in the run again for another star. The fans were starting to believe and the chants of THREE STARS were starting to be heard again.
I would have just posted the match in question, but it saddens me to tell you I cannot find it on YouTube anymore. Whoever uploaded it either took it down, or deleted their account, and nobody bothered to reupload it. Maybe I should do it...
But check this out: /mlp/ have their own PeerTube instance called Pony.Tube, where someone did reupload the Best Game Of All Time! I told you those crafty bastards were very capable, didn't I? They even keep their little YouTube clone, because they can. Amazing. I've always envied them their productivity and creativity.
(On that note, check out /mlp/'s Mare Fair website: https://marefair.org/ - some incredibly talented people there, both in art and web design.)
So yeah, massive spoilers, but for the time being, you can view the game here: https://pony.tube/w/iNkfj68gbeBJgdhFgbdwcP
Just keep in mind that if you do, it's gonna potentially ruin any future 4CC matches for you. Looking back, this one was truly special.
The remainder of my journey was just chasing that dragon. As an /mlp/ fan, it was a truly grueling experience, filled with ups and downs. Mostly downs LOL.
It's hardly something I can hide from you at this point that /mlp/ did eventually get three stars in Winter 2025, becoming the first team to do so. I forgot to mention that up to that point ponies felt special since they were also the first team to get to two stars.
Yeah, uh, a crazy amount of effort and fan labour went into Cup aesthetics. I guess you had to be there. Watching the Cup on one monitor, and trying to keep up with /mlp/'s 4CC thread on the other, often while the match was ongoing, and trying to participate (challenge: IMPOSSIBLE)... Seeing the aesthetics gradually improve every year... Seeing the memes change with the seasons, particularly on very active boards such as /pol/...
My involvement gradually decreased from watching entire matchdays, to watching only /mlp/ games, to only checking in every once in a while to see if the ponies got far enough to warrant watching their games. It's a little sad that by Winter 2025, I was so burnt out on the Cup that I only got on CyTube for the final match when I saw that after many long years, ponies had a shot at three stars once again.
Well, I'm a little sad it's over and also glad that it happened. Past some point, I could no longer justify devoting up to 3 consecutive weekend evenings to watching the cup, which would often stretch onto the following days due to trying to read every message in the thread and save interesting images. I would consider my collection of 4CC images to be huge. I've saved over 1500 images. Unfortunately it was all a little too overwhelming for me.
I dunno, if anything, I thought it was interesting how my life seems to go in phases of finding new fixations. This one was very seasonal due to the Cup's nature, but it endured for many years. I was basically inactive on /mlp/ after winding down my involvement in the fandom when Friendship is Magic ended - save for the Cup threads, where I would do my best to contribute to the discu-- I mean, shitpo-- I mean, discussion.
On the topic of fan labour, it was very cool that some teams had their own fanmade drip. /mlp/, being the only team that matters - one of the teams with the biggest fanbase, and one of the only boards where 4CC threads were allowed outside of the Cup's board of origin, /vg/ - Video Game Generals, and /sp/ - Sports, - also had people make some team merch, and I even bought some. The 4CC /mlp/ scarf is one of the coolest things I got out of the fandom, even though I had been to quite a few pony conventions. I did not purchase much pony merch at all, even at the cons which had some cool stuff in the vendor halls, but 4CC was another story. I also bought some /mlp/ jerseys. These are my treasured possessions, lol. Even if they're now collecting dust in my wardrobe. I have no idea what I'm gonna do with them now that I've moved on from both ponies and 4CC.
I dunno how long the Cup is gonna last. You can see the diminishing viewer figures if you look through the 4CC history. Winter 2018 was the very high point, and it's been all downhill from there. At present, I think the Cup only attracts around 500 viewers on average anymore. It's certainly winding down. All good things must come to an end.
4CC was probably the coolest thing to come out of 4chan for me. I had fun while it lasted. I guess this blogpost shall serve as a little memento that states: I was there. It existed. It meant something to me.
EDIT 10.02.2026:
Oh lol, check this out, my e-mail I had sent to myself from the past has just arrived, and 4CC gets a mention:
>I am writing to you following /mlp/'s momentous victory in the 2025 4chan Winter Cup. Just 7 years after you started watching, which I think was the last time ponies made it to the elite finals. The feeling is bittersweet as this was the first time I had skipped the 4chan Cup as I did not feel like it was worth my time anymore. I feel a sense of closure as the dream of Three Stars has finally been achieved at long last, following an extremely long humbling arc and a curse that kept the team in the Babbies for years. I wonder if you still find time to watch the 4cc from time to time, do anything to contribute to the cup, or even feel like you belong.
Heh... That's funny, I completely forgot writing that. Yeah, unfortunately I don't do 4CC anymore. But hey, I was there to witness /mlp/'s crazy 2018-2025 run. That's gotta count for something.
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