Drum Corps International voted at its annual meeting in Indianapolis to change how the performance order is determined for the later-season shows based on current season scores rather than the previous year.

The change was spearheaded by Mandarins executive director Jim Tabuchi. 

"The impetus for this policy change is to recognize the corps’ performance level of excellence [relative to] the current year, rather than basing it on the previous year,” Tabuchi said.

The new twist is that once a reverse scoring order is determined, then corps will be grouped in draw groups of three. Then those corps will draw against each other for performance order.

Performance Order Breakdown

1. Based on the reverse order of finish at the prior year’s DCI World Championships, the performance order for each DCI Tour Event prior to the DCI Southwestern Championship will be drawn in groups of threes (first through third, fourth through sixth, etc.), with the host corps having the option of appearing last when applicable.

2. For the first major regional events of the season — typically near the beginning of July — corps will appear in reverse order of finish from the previous year’s World Championships.

3. The Southwestern Championship draw order will be based on the combined reverse order of scores from the first major 2018 regionals in Denver and St. Louis, then drawn in groups of threes. World Class corps not appearing at the first major regional(s) will be placed in the San Antonio order based on their most recent score.

4. For all weekday shows after the Southwestern Championship, the draw order will be based on reverse order of placement from the Southwestern Championship and will be drawn in groups of three.

5. For the DCI Southeastern Championship in Atlanta, the draw order will be based on the reverse order of placement following the Southwestern Championship, then drawn in groups of three.

6. For the DCI Eastern Classic in Allentown, PA, draw order for each of the two days will be based on reverse order of placement following the Southeastern Championship, then drawn in groups of threes.

7. The World Championships Prelims draw order will start with Open Class corps determined by the reverse order of finish at the Open Class World Championship, followed by the World Class corps in reverse order of the average scores of the DCI Southwestern Championship, DCI Southeastern Championship, and the DCI Eastern Classic. In the event a corps does not appear at a specific major regional event, its last score received prior to that event will be utilized in the averaging.