Kia ora, Auckland. You came. You battled. You would not leave.

Armageddon Auckland Autumn ran over ANZAC weekend at the Auckland Showgrounds and SkillSlam made its biggest appearance yet. Three days. Over 3,100 battles. And one Dream Lab player who played 190 games, made 550 predictions, hit Level 15, and still had time to break 18 streaks.

Skill Slam is a live auto-battler where you take a quick quiz, get sorted into a Career Faction based on your answers, and go head-to-head against other players — stat vs stat, streaks on the line, faction glory at stake. No app download needed. Just your phone, a big screen, and a crowd that takes things personally.

Auckland? Auckland took things very personally.

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The Numbers

Here's what Auckland did across three days at Armageddon 2026.

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Who Signed Up

The most popular factions tell us what Auckland is drawn to.

Hype Machine and Dream Lab shared the top spot at 21% each — Auckland couldn't pick between creativity and media. But Heartbeat Inc. finished with just 3% of players and still claimed 4th place in overall points. One streak break will do that.

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The Legends

We had a prize on the line across the weekend — a brand new pair of Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones for whoever topped the combined leaderboard. Some players left a mark. Here are the ones who made us stop and stare.

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The Faction War

Every point you earned didn't just go to your leaderboard — it went to your faction. All weekend, the nine Career Factions were locked in a war for supremacy. Here's how it ended.

Final Faction Standings

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CHCH vs WGTN vs AKL

Three cities. Three very different SkillSlams. Here's the final picture.

Every city produced a different kind of champion.

Uncle Bev ground it out across 105 games in Christchurch. Scott Pilgrim exploded with one 18-win streak in Wellington. Ryder did everything — 190 games, 550 predictions, 18 streaks broken, Level 15.

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Every city valued different things.

Christchurch invested in purpose and creativity. Wellington chased tech and money. Auckland led with earning potential and hustle — the first city to prioritise Payday Power and Blag Factor over everything else.

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The faction war told a different story each time.

Christchurch was won by a small faction with one dominant player. Wellington was won by the smallest faction through exponential streak maths. Auckland was the only event where the biggest faction also won the most points. Dream Lab finally proved that numbers plus talent beats everything.

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That Quiz You Took? That Was Just the Warmup.

The 6-question quiz that sorted you into your faction was a compressed, gamified version of something much bigger.

It's called FutureMix AI, and it's the real deal.

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FutureMix is an AI-powered career exploration experience built by Nexties. Where SkillSlam gave you a faction in 60 seconds, FutureMix goes deeper — it builds a personal map of your strengths, interests, and values, then shows you study paths and career directions that actually fit you.

Think of it this way:

• SkillSlam told you what kind of work lights you up
• FutureMix shows you exactly where that could take you

If you were sorted into Dream Lab, FutureMix might surface graphic design degrees, UX bootcamps, architecture diplomas, or startup programmes you didn't know existed. If you landed in DarkMode, it'll connect you to software engineering, cybersecurity, data science, and AI pathways across New Zealand.

Every faction maps to real careers. Every career maps to real courses. And Nexties has them all.

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Explore Your Faction's Careers

Want to see where your faction could take you? Each link below takes you to real courses on Nexties that match your SkillSlam faction.

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What's Next

Christchurch started it. Wellington turned it up. Auckland brought the depth, the predictions, and the first Level 15 in SkillSlam history.

Three cities. Over 8,600 battles. Three very different champions. And we're just getting started.

In the meantime:

→ Try FutureMix AI — the full-depth conversation version of the quiz that sorted you into your faction. It's free, it's private, and it goes way deeper.

→ Explore courses on Nexties — browse degrees, diplomas, certificates, and short courses across every field. Like Netflix, but for your future.

Thanks for playing, Auckland. You brought the volume, the predictions, and one player who treated Day 2 like a full-time job.

— The Nexties team

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