Okay so after a conversation with
Mike.Nightwing I have decided that I will write out the rules that I see to be an issue with the Blader's Kingdom Format and what I think would be good changes or tweeks to those rules so that we can try to improve the format. Everyone that has participated in a Blader's Kingdom event please give feedback as it is very important.
Now before I talk about the rules I want to address one thing that I feel is very inportant when it comes to running a tournament. Judges. By no means do I think that we need judges in the Open Rounds of a regular Blader's Kingdom Event. You are constricted by a time limit and you simply can't waste time over looking at video footage to see who got the last little spin. It's better to just accept ties and losses and move on in that part of the format. However, once we leave the Open Rounds and get into the Top Cut I do feel like we need some form of Judging there. We have tried many different things in order to elimitae the possibility of Bias Judging and it seems like trying to work around that possibility makes things harder, and takes longer. Unfortunately Beyblades community is very small compared to things like Yu-Gi-Oh! or Magic The Gathering. So we don't really get the luxury of having non participants as judges like those games do. I feel that all we can do is trust in our judges to make unbias calls and to be fair all across the board. However, this brings up another thing. Always needing second opinions. We need to start trusting our judges and giving them the upmost respect. With technology being our best friends and allowing us to record videos in slow motion we can actually see when a beyblade stops more clear than in regular time. This does work but it leads to a lot of players asking for second opinions because at the end of the day they don't trust the call the judge has made. I do have a solution to this which would be to have judes at each station but, then can not use any camera footage to determine the outcome. They must make a call based on what they see with their eyes and whatever they see and say is final. There will be no "evidence" for another judge to look at in order to overrule a call, thus forcing the players to start trusting eachother and showing more respect to judges. Organizer and Judges do a lot for this community and it often goes unappreciated, so I would like to see them get more appreciation.
Now that that is out of the way i can finally get to what rules I think need changing. So right off the bat I want to clarify that most of the rules are fine for the Open Rounds. I have rarely seen any issues happen in the Open Rounds. They mostly come up in the Top Cut, probably because players are no longer worried about time and are instead worried about getting that point. So most of the rule changes I have are there to give more structure for the Top Cut to remove some things that can be abused or anything.
First up is Mode changing, when it can be done and how it is done. Below I have witten out the "Phases" of a match so that way it can be more clear and hopfully keep things more simple and maybe less confusing to where people might think another player is being shady.
Duel Sequence / Rules of Engagement:
1.) Challenge or be challenged to a duel
2.) Coin wagering (showing wagering coins)
3.) Coin flip for stadium choice
4.) Deck assembly (60 seconds)
5.) Exchanging of decks between opponents/inspection
6.) Deck order presentation
7.) Start of the first battle / battle phase
Selection Phase: Both bladers reveal the bey for the battle.
Mode Change Phase: Both bladers turn around with their backs towards each other and reconfigure their beys to whatever mode they desire to use for the battle.
Set Phase: Both bladers turn back around to face each other and reveal any and all mode changes they have made to their beys.
Battle Phase: Both bladers launch their beys into the stadium and battle until a draw or winner has been determined.
Once a Draw has been determined both bladers start back at the Mode Change Phase before returning to the Battle Phase.
Once a Winner has been determined both bladers start back at the Selection Phase before returning to the Battle Phase.
If a Miss launch occurs and is called, Bladers return to the Battle Phase, not the Selection or Mode Change Phases.
8.) Winning blader collects wagered coins
As you can see I created a phase called the "Mode Change Phase". In this phase you no longer need to declare of you are changing modes or not. Both players just turn their backs to the stadium, make whatever mode changes they want, then turn back around and reveal what they changed. After the reveal of what they changed the blader's cannot try to change modes again until after the battle has concluded. So if it's a draw you could have a second chance to get the mode you need to win if they picked a mode you were not ready for. But in turn your opponent has the chance to possibly counter what they think you will do. This change will keep the battles more random and interesting as well as show the higher skill levels of some bladers. Those that know parts better will have a better chance at winning. Which honestly it makes sense to have it that way to me.
Next up I have the Layer Rotation changing rule. In Blader's Kingdom we are allowed to change the rotation of 1 bey per shuffle that has the gimmick to change rotation. Where as I am fine with having the gimmicks of layers that can change their spin direction be utilized, I am not a fan of there being allowed more than 1. I personally feel that having more than 1 layer that can change spin direction can lead to a lot more victories by getting lucky that one of your rotation chaning beys didn't have to use it's gimmick. As well as needing less skill because when you see your opponents line up (Since you show your order after inspection.) you can figure out which of your beys will need to change rotation and which one does not. I feel like this can give a very high advantage to someone and guarentee them at least 2 points. At least when it's onlt 1 rotation changing bey being used it only can give you a good match up for 1 battle giving you only 1 point. I also thought about Blader's Kingdom and how it's starting to spread to other parts of the country/world. Some places might not have players that can make a deck of 5 beys like most bladers in Maryland can. This will then limit them to doing Blader's kingdom in a 3v3 format rather than a 5v5 format. But it's not really right to have rule exceptions for one area and not for another (We should make the rules as universal as possible.) just because one can buy more beys than the other. And for a 3v3 format the ability to use multible Beys that can change their rotation would be a lot more broken than in 5v5.
Deck Structure:
Each blader has a deck of five (5) blades, each with unique parts.
No repeating parts are allowed.
Bladers may only include 1 Layer or Layer-Chip combination that allows you to change rotation. (You may use more rotation changing Layers that require chips, if they are being used with chips that lock them into a single rotation direction.)
Only one version of a driver is allowed per deck; ie. Destroy, Destroy’, and Metal Destroy all count as the same driver so only one per deck.
The F, S, V, & L gear are considered parts and can not be repeated in a deck.
Only official Hasbro & Takara Tomy parts may be used.
You may mix both Hasbro and Takara Tomy Parts.
No illegal beyblade modifications.
Only official Hasbro or Takara Tomy launchers can be utilized. There are no restrictions on custom launcher grips, as long as they do not provide an unnatural advantage for the user.
As you can see here I made the change to only allow 1 layer or layer - chip combination that can change spin direction in a deck. This will still allow people to use some layers that they want to use just not with a chip that can be used in both directions as well. Blader's will only get to use the rotation changing gimmick on 1 bey, just like in the WBBAs ruleset. Just unlike the WBBA they can still use other layers that can change spin direction, so long as they are fixed into 1 direction.
Finally the last rule that I think should be changed is this rule...
Each blader is allowed two (2) no contact ring outs, per duel, that occur in the initial few seconds of a battle. If the blades have been inside the stadium for a reasonable amount of time without making contact and one blade exits the stadium spontaneously that is considered a ring out finish for the opposing blader. After the usage of their two no contact ring outs any additional ones will count as one (1) point for their opponent.
Personally I think this rule should just be removed because it causes to much confusion and has been the source of a few debates. I understand the reason for this rule existing. Mike wants to give some leway to young children that might not know proper launch techniques and to people that have never played in some of the wacky stadiums used in the Blader's Kingdom Format. However, this rule really comes down to what an individual sees as being "a reasonable amount of time". Some people will say if the beyblade makes a full rotation around the stadium ridge it's fair game, while others might say 3 seconds is enough time. Well now you gotta ask yourself which would you follow? If I launch a bey into a stadium with Xtreme' as the driver, it could make its way around the ridge 4 times in 3 seconds where as in 3 seconds Accel' might only make it around 1 or 2 times. It is unfortunate to say it this way but if someone launches in and their bey decides to KO itself without hitting the opponent then it just is what it is. I rather lose the point than argue with someone and waste time as to weather or not it should count. In regular WBO events you aren't forgiven for messing up your launch and going straight into the picket. Sure sometimes bladers will be nice and let a little kid redo the launch without taking the point. And you can do that here as well, it's not really a big deal at the end. Hopfully it would lead to more players practicing how to control their launches more so that no matter what stadium they bare in they don't accidently self KO.
Anyway, I'm sorry for the long long lomg post. But Mike did ask us to give details on what we think should change so he can improve on his format and make it the best it can be. All in all I would like to thank Mike.Nightwing for his dedication to the Beyblade community and for the awesome format that is Blader's Kingdom. Please respond to this and let me and everyone else know if you agree or disagree with what I have said so that way we can try and improve this great format! Thank you.