The dawn of the third day of Skynet rose beneath brilliant blue skies over the Canal Basin. As the first brave souls walked through the doors, the morning silence was shattered by the unmistakable sound of a WWI bugle, calling the troops to consciousness and signalling the beginning of another day of tournaments.
Slowly, painfully, and fuelled by questionable amounts of caffeine, the sleep-deprived began stumbling back towards their computers. And with that, Day 3 was officially underway — starting with Rocket League!
🚗 Rocket League
With plenty of skill, a little bit of cheeky behaviour and an impressive number of goals, the afternoon disappeared in a blur of flying cars and questionable defensive decisions.
After some hard-fought matches, we discovered our hottest goal scorers and most determined defenders, with the surviving champions securing their places in tomorrow's Rocket League final.
But there was no time to rest...
🏎️ SuperTuxKart
After a short break to allow essential sustenance to be consumed — and, for some players, their first possible exposure to daylight — we moved into the finals of our mystery game: SuperTuxKart!
The racing was fast, furious and occasionally questionable.
After some extremely risky overtaking, Strike slid into third place, narrowly beaten by Haseeb in second, while Oraanthur powered across the finish line to claim the top spot!
🏆 1st — Oraanthur
🥈 2nd — Haseeb
🥉 3rd — Strike
🎟️ Raffles, Relaxation & Unreal Tournament
With the racing finished, it was time for some much-needed downtime. Raffle tickets were flying off the tables for the chance to win a Steam Deck, kindly provided by our sponsor Calibre Connection this year.
The venue settled into a slightly more relaxed atmosphere, with games and music filling the LAN as everyone prepared for the next big battle...
The Unreal Tournament finals.
The captains were called. The maps were selected. The players were released.
And then the shooting began.
After a suitably bloodthirsty battle filled with shouting, screaming and probably several accusations of cheating, the final standings were revealed.
🏆 1st — Team Degenerative Den Upper Management
🥈 2nd — Team Fairy Tail
🥉 3rd — Team Laser Explosion
Congratulations to all three teams!
🔫 The Admins Enter the Arena — Quake
As everyone took another much-needed breather, we all know what was really happening.
The players were secretly honing their skills for the Quake tournament.
Because, let's be honest, it's one of the few games VPope is actually good at.
After a few technical difficulties — because apparently even the Quake server needed a little encouragement — the tournament finally got underway.
With frantic dodging, questionable movement and some seriously lucky shots, we were able to crown our champion.
🏆 1st — Damage
🥈 2nd — ChurchBiscuit
🥉 3rd — Turtle
Unfortunately, VPope had to bow out this year, choosing instead to dedicate his time to the noble task of keeping the Quake server alive and stable.
A true sacrifice.
Probably.
🪱 The Night Winds Down
After an action-packed day of tournaments, the LAN finally began to chill out.
Games continued, music filled the venue and an impromptu Worms massacre provided one final burst of completely unnecessary violence.
As the night faded away, the Skynet movie selection turned to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, providing the perfect soundtrack to the gradual collapse of the remaining players.
Processors began to wind down.
Heads began falling onto pillows.
And, in some cases, directly onto keyboards.
And so, Skynet Day 3 came to an end.
But there is still one final battle to come.
Tomorrow, we return for the Rocket League final, where our surviving champions will battle it out for glory, prizes and the right to say they were victorious at Skynet.
And, of course, we have the raffle and Steam Deck prize waiting to be won.
So get some sleep.
You are going to need it.
See you all for the final day of Skynet! 🎮
Skynet 2026 – Day 4 - That's a wrap
Day 4 of Skynet started with the quiet hum of power banks, as the lights were raised and the sound system turned up to wake us from our slumber and call everyone back to the tournaments.
With staff moving slightly slower than usual — due to exhaustion, not age, I was assured — we got straight into the Rocket League semi-finals.
First up, we saw Solar Flare Foreheads take on Degenerative Den Upper Management. With plenty of goals, near misses and some very tense moments, Degenerative Den Upper Management secured themselves a well-earned 3rd place.
That meant we could get straight into the final, with Custard Buns facing off against Fairy Tail.
After a tense match featuring some risky moves and plenty of close calls, Custard Buns narrowly took the lead and secured the title of Rocket League Champions of Skynet 2026!
We then had an hour's break, giving the staff time to sort out the scores and prizes, as well as take part in a quick photo shoot to prove that we actually exist.
Before we could begin the prize giving, Pope requested that everyone step away from their computers and brave the terrifyingly bright outdoors. Our wonderful photographer, Vel, took the opportunity to capture some fantastic group photos outside Theatr Brycheiniog for our photo gallery.
After surviving the shocking experience of sunlight, we rushed back inside and got started with the prize giving.
One team after another was called up to receive their medals and Steam prizes, celebrating all the hard work, skill and questionable decisions that had brought them to the podium.
Pope then took the opportunity to thank our wonderful sponsors, Calibre Connections and SudoCyber. Without their support, we simply wouldn't be able to put on such an amazing event.
A huge thank you also goes to Theatr Brycheiniog, who provide us with the space and allow us access to their incredible facilities and special effects, helping make Skynet the event it is.
With the prizes handed out, it was time for the raffle!
The big prize this year was a Steam Deck, generously donated by Calibre Connections. With more than 1,100 tickets sold, the final draw was certainly a nerve-racking one.
And the winner?
One of our LAN veterans, Schepke!
When asked what he planned to do with his new Steam Deck, Schepke revealed that he hoped to use it while the family was on holiday. So, naturally, we're all assuming it will belong to his daughter within about five minutes.
And with that, we reached the end of the Skynet 2026 schedule.
The staff were given a whole 30 minutes to sit down, relax and actually play a game themselves before the final job of the weekend began: tear-down.
The boxes were packed away, cables were coiled, equipment was loaded up, and somewhere along the way we're pretty sure someone has already written "Skynet 2027" on one of the boxes.
And just like that, another Skynet comes to an end.
All of us at Skynet would like to say a massive thank you to every single one of you who attended, competed, supported us, helped out and generally made the weekend what it was.
Your support is what makes it possible for us to bring our little Welsh LAN party back year after year, and we genuinely couldn't do it without you.
We hope to see you all again in 2027.
Assuming, of course, that we can convince Pope it's happening!
