Hazy, Smoggy, Foggy, Misty, and Cloudy entered the fray as the Hazers in the 2018 Winter Marble League Draw. With a cloudy pattern inside, these light-gray marbles stood out instantly from all the other teams in the competition. It remained to be seen how the novice team would hold up against series mainstays, like the Chocolatiers, for example. The Hazers did not impress during the first qualification, only gaining two points towards the twenty they needed to qualify, but they scored strong in the coming rounds. With six, eight, and eight points from the second to the fourth round, the Hazers earned the honor of being the highest scoring rookie team to qualify for the 2018 Winter Marble League.

Perhaps the thing that makes the Hazers so unpredictable is their sheer mystery. It seems to many fans that their talent in competition appeared out of nowhere, and they’re right. Marblebase journalists have been unable to get any leads on the Hazers’ origins for years, either from the team or from outside sources. That said, in early 2019, a journalist found a Hazers souvenir shop in eastern Asia, south of Hunluen. When interviewed, Smoggy sidelined the question, saying:

“Where we come from is not important. Who we are now and what we do here is what is important.”

Needless to say, their success has caused much controversy. In a previous blog post, entitled Are certain Marble League teams using PEDs?, it was detailed that:

“For the Hazers, their strong start has given them some unwanted scrutiny as to what is inside the middle of their marbles. Their Hazy color has caused many to believe that they could be adding weight to create an advantage” (Evonsion).

Though the post discredited these rumors, discourse concerning the team’s potential use of PEDs has been rampant on sites like Reddit, where users have stated:

“I’ve seen some various condemning photographs…that they are actually using weighted centers and that their signature “haze” is the residue left from applying said weights to their midsections,” along with “This picture could mean that the Hazers swap themselves out with other, heavier gray marbles before starting each event” and “Insert joke about the urine samples being too hazy to test.”

Since the JMRC has made no statement on the Hazers using PEDs, though, it is important to disregard these conspiracies brought forth by the fans. Furthermore, these allegations likely would not be being brought against the Hazers if their performance in the 2018 Winter Marble League was not so strong. The team earned silver medals in the first and second events, putting them in first place overall with forty points.