Smoke in the Valley
2025-09-27 – 2025-09-28 · Edmonton, AB · CANADA · 📍 13204 Rainbow Valley Road
Reps: BRENDA BLACK, KEN BLACK · Prize money: $15,000.00
Grand Champion: Phantom Smoke & BBQ (694.8916) · 23 teams
Reserve Champion: 🥈 SMELLAQUE
Entries
23
4 judged meats
Top score
694.8916
Winning margin
6.3772
GC over RC
Field average
651.67
median 663.33
Perfect 180s
0
Tightest race
Pork Ribs
3.9772 pts across the top 5
Top-10 cutoff
671.3832
10th place overall
Field spread
361.2344
winner to last place
Prize money
$15,000.00
on the line
Double threats
7
teams with 2+ top-5 calls
How hot was the win?
Top 71%
beats 29% of 1951 Master Series wins in the data
Traveled in
4%
of the 23 teams with a home region came from outside AB
Form held
Moderate
ρ = -0.46 between pre-contest rating and finish
Field strength
1546
avg power rating going in · stronger than 51% of contests
Storylines
👑 A dynasty in the making
UNDER THE RADAR has won this contest 2 times across its 4 tracked editions.
🧹 A double category winner
SMELLAQUE won Chicken, Brisket — a double.
📸 Photo finishes
Pork Ribs places 2–3: Brisket Butts and Kreiser Barbecue tied on 173.1200 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Pork Ribs places 9–10: Fire BBQ and MOTLEY QUE tied on 167.9888 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 4–5: Phantom Smoke & BBQ edged Hawt Hawgs BBQ by 0.0116.
🃏 An upset on the books
Phantom Smoke & BBQ came in rated below the field's top team, SMELLAQUE, and took the Grand Championship anyway — roughly a 17-in-100 shot on pre-contest ratings.
Score curves (score by finishing position — steep cliffs mean a spread field, flat lines a knife fight)
Category showdown (top / average / median score per meat)
Score distribution
Biggest rating movers (power-rating points won and lost at this contest)
Did form hold? (pre-contest rating vs overall finish — ratings called it if the dots climb to the right)
Where the field came from (home regions on file)
This contest over the years full contest page →
| Date | Where | Venue | Teams | High score | Grand Champion | Reserve Champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-10-10 | Pikeville, TN 37367 | 11 | 693.6456 | UNDER THE RADAR | SMOKE ON THIS | |
| 2015-08-28 | Pikeville, TN 37367 | 26 | 702.2744 | SMOKE ON THIS | ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN | |
| 2016-08-26 | Alan P Deakins Rd | 12 | 689.0856 | UNDER THE RADAR | RIVER ROAD GRILLBILLIES | |
| 2025-09-27 ← this one | Edmonton, AB | 13204 Rainbow Valley Road | 23 | 694.8916 | Phantom Smoke & BBQ | SMELLAQUE |
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 179.4400 | 174.8456 | 170.2972 |
| Pork Ribs | 175.4172 | 171.4400 | 167.9888 |
| Pork | 174.8456 | 170.8456 | 167.4056 |
| Brisket | 177.7144 | 172.0116 | 167.9772 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Master Series
Overall
23 entries · top 694.8916 · median 663.3256
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phantom Smoke & BBQ | |
| 2 | SMELLAQUE | |
| 3 | Q Cartel | |
| 4 | Brisket Butts | |
| 5 | KillerbunnyBBQ | |
| 6 | No Measurements BBQ | |
| 7 | PRAIRIE SMOKE & SPICE BBQ | |
| 8 | Bottle Hill BBQ | |
| 9 | Hunny & Hooch | |
| 10 | MOTLEY QUE | |
| 11 | Big Dog BBQ Canada | |
| 12 | BBQ TEAM NAIT | |
| 13 | Kreiser Barbecue | |
| 14 | YOU NEED A BBQ | |
| 15 | EFFIN'EH GRAY'S | |
| 16 | Mc Que It | |
| 17 | Smokinbox | |
| 18 | Hogparts School of Smokecraft and Brew'ery | |
| 19 | Fire BBQ | |
| 20 | Homestead Smoke Shack | |
| 21 | Grilling with Short | |
| 22 | Yankee Twang BBQ Co. | |
| 23 | Hawt Hawgs BBQ |
Chicken
23 entries · top 179.4400 · median 170.2628
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SMELLAQUE | |
| 2 | Big Dog BBQ Canada | |
| 3 | BBQ TEAM NAIT | |
| 4 | Phantom Smoke & BBQ | |
| 5 | Hawt Hawgs BBQ | |
| 6 | PRAIRIE SMOKE & SPICE BBQ | |
| 7 | KillerbunnyBBQ | |
| 8 | MOTLEY QUE | |
| 9 | Bottle Hill BBQ | |
| 10 | Brisket Butts | |
| 11 | Mc Que It | |
| 12 | EFFIN'EH GRAY'S | |
| 13 | Q Cartel | |
| 14 | No Measurements BBQ | |
| 15 | Yankee Twang BBQ Co. | |
| 16 | Grilling with Short | |
| 17 | Fire BBQ | |
| 18 | Smokinbox | |
| 19 | Homestead Smoke Shack | |
| 20 | Kreiser Barbecue | |
| 21 | Hunny & Hooch | |
| 22 | Hogparts School of Smokecraft and Brew'ery | |
| 23 | YOU NEED A BBQ |
Pork Ribs
23 entries · top 175.4172 · median 167.4516
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | No Measurements BBQ | |
| 2 | Brisket Butts | |
| 3 | Kreiser Barbecue | |
| 4 | Hunny & Hooch | |
| 5 | Big Dog BBQ Canada | |
| 6 | YOU NEED A BBQ | |
| 7 | KillerbunnyBBQ | |
| 8 | Phantom Smoke & BBQ | |
| 9 | Fire BBQ | |
| 10 | MOTLEY QUE | |
| 11 | SMELLAQUE | |
| 12 | Smokinbox | |
| 13 | Q Cartel | |
| 14 | Bottle Hill BBQ | |
| 15 | Homestead Smoke Shack | |
| 16 | Yankee Twang BBQ Co. | |
| 17 | EFFIN'EH GRAY'S | |
| 18 | Hogparts School of Smokecraft and Brew'ery | |
| 19 | PRAIRIE SMOKE & SPICE BBQ | |
| 20 | BBQ TEAM NAIT | |
| 21 | Hawt Hawgs BBQ | |
| 22 | Mc Que It | |
| 23 | Grilling with Short |
Pork
22 entries · top 174.8456 · median 166.5430
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Q Cartel | |
| 2 | BBQ TEAM NAIT | |
| 3 | Phantom Smoke & BBQ | |
| 4 | Brisket Butts | |
| 5 | Mc Que It | |
| 6 | PRAIRIE SMOKE & SPICE BBQ | |
| 7 | KillerbunnyBBQ | |
| 8 | EFFIN'EH GRAY'S | |
| 9 | No Measurements BBQ | |
| 10 | Bottle Hill BBQ | |
| 11 | Hogparts School of Smokecraft and Brew'ery | |
| 12 | YOU NEED A BBQ | |
| 13 | MOTLEY QUE | |
| 14 | Big Dog BBQ Canada | |
| 15 | Smokinbox | |
| 16 | Hunny & Hooch | |
| 17 | SMELLAQUE | |
| 18 | Fire BBQ | |
| 19 | Grilling with Short | |
| 20 | Kreiser Barbecue | |
| 21 | Yankee Twang BBQ Co. | |
| 22 | Homestead Smoke Shack |
Brisket
22 entries · top 177.7144 · median 165.9944
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SMELLAQUE | |
| 2 | Q Cartel | |
| 3 | Phantom Smoke & BBQ | |
| 4 | Hunny & Hooch | |
| 5 | Homestead Smoke Shack | |
| 6 | PRAIRIE SMOKE & SPICE BBQ | |
| 7 | KillerbunnyBBQ | |
| 8 | Brisket Butts | |
| 9 | Bottle Hill BBQ | |
| 10 | Kreiser Barbecue | |
| 11 | Hogparts School of Smokecraft and Brew'ery | |
| 12 | MOTLEY QUE | |
| 13 | YOU NEED A BBQ | |
| 14 | No Measurements BBQ | |
| 15 | Grilling with Short | |
| 16 | EFFIN'EH GRAY'S | |
| 17 | Smokinbox | |
| 18 | Mc Que It | |
| 19 | BBQ TEAM NAIT | |
| 20 | Big Dog BBQ Canada | |
| 21 | Fire BBQ | |
| 22 | Yankee Twang BBQ Co. |