‘Danger! The Tournament of Champions has what it takes to be the biggest yet

The Danger! Tournament of Champions (TOC) is like the Super Bowl for trivia nerds, but even if you’re not a trivia fan, you might want to tune in this time.

Not only is this year’s cast the most impressive set of contestants ever, but Danger! also sets up a new structure that could be the most exciting tournament in the show’s history.

How the tournament works

Every year, Danger! reunites a cast of its most dominant players from the previous season to compete in tournament-style competition.

Over the course of two weeks, competitors compete in a series of quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals, all vying to make their mark in the Danger! story and a prize of $250,000.

As a rule, 15 former players are invited to participate in the tournament. This year, the applicant pool has grown to 21.

Of those 21, 18 will play in the TOC quarter-finals, with the other three having been shortlisted to advance to the tournament semi-finals.

But who are these pre-selected semi-finalists?

Here are the super champions!

The three shortlisted candidates for the semi-finals are Amy Schneider, Matt Amodio and Mattea Roach.

These three candidates are considered Danger! “super champions” (a title given to competitors who exceed 10 consecutive win streaks), each of whom had one of the longest five consecutive winning streaks in the regular season.

Amy Schneider – 41 consecutive wins (2nd longest steak)

In terms of breaking records, Schneider might be the toughest contender at this year’s tournament. She holds the second-longest winning streak in the show’s history, is the winningest female contestant, and is the first openly transgender contestant to qualify for the Tournament of Champions.

Matt Amodio – 38 consecutive wins (3rd longest steak)

Although Amodio doesn’t have the longest streak among TOC competitors, his track record shows he was more dominant than Schneider per game. Amodio’s cumulative earnings on Danger! pass Schneider by more than $100,000, despite three fewer wins overall.

Mattea Roach – 23 consecutive wins (5th longest steak)

At just 24 years old, Roach is the youngest super champion in competition. But that’s certainly no reason to overlook them – just like Amodio and Schneider, Roach boasts a correct answer accuracy of over 90%.

While Schneider, Amodio, and Roach aren’t the only super champions competing in the tournament, their backgrounds are so dominant that the show’s producers felt the need to set them apart from the rest of the pack.

“We looked at Mattea, and Matt and Amy, we had to make a distinction between them and the rest of our players,” executive producer Michael Davies said.

The underdogs

Typically, contestants chosen to appear in the TOC have either had long winning streaks or are the winners of the show’s special tournaments, such as the College Tournament or the Teacher Tournament.

This year, however, two competitors competing in the Tournament of Champions have never won a regular season game.

Congratulations, Jessica Stephens and Rowan Ward on their victorious Second Chance exit! See you both next week – it’s going to be a screaming good time. pic.twitter.com/lMO3nelUOb

– Danger ! (@Danger) October 29, 2022

Rowan Ward and Jessica Stephens both lost the first time they appeared on the show. While losing on your first appearance has historically prevented a contestant from returning, Ward and Stephens managed to secure their spot in the table of contents by winning the show’s Second Chance contest, which was held for the first times this year.

While some may view Second Chance contestants as underdogs, that’s certainly not how Ward sees it. They enter the tournament with unfinished business with Amodio, who defeated Ward in their first appearance.

“And I want another shot at Matt Amodio,” Ward told NPR. “If I understand, who knows, but [I’m coming] in the Tournament of Champions with all the confidence in the world.”