One row further up at Mason vs. Hamilton will put you the equivalent of about 8 rows higher viewing angle. The first row at Mason is a good 8-10 feet higher than the field.
The drop off in scores is most pronounced for the lowest scoring corps. And both BDB (vs. OC Prelims and OC Finals) and Guardians (vs.OC Finals) had their scores go UP at WC Prelims last year.
The drop off also diminished significantly last year
- in 2015 the average OC score on Thursday was 93.38% of Tuesday Finals and 93.91% of Monday Prelims
- in 2016 those averages improved to 99.10% of Tuesday Finals and 97.61% of Monday Prelims - at 97.5% of their Finals scores, both Spartans and Music City would beat the best score achieved by Cascades this season.
If most recent scoring order was unchanged in a single competition, Pioneer would be the last qualifier for Open Class Finals if they were added to the Prelims lineup.
Keep in mind that in addition to the differences in the scoring sheets between DCE/DCUK and DCI, this was the first performance by The Company following overseas travel AND their first performance using borrowed equipment.
Typically the prelims order is set by the average of the two scores from Friday and Saturday preceding Championships. For corps that do not perform on one of those dates, the most recent score prior to those shows is used.
I believe your listing should indicate that Heat Wave's season was complete in 12th (after their performance Wednesday and prior to that of Guardians last night).
Thanks for the pictures and report CBD.
Interesting note from looking at the pictures - there sure was a lot of red on the field last night. Only Legends lacked the color in uniforms and/or guard flags.