I just want to start of this report with thanking @[~Mana~], @[Shindog], @[Kei], @[Wombat], @[The Supreme One] and @[kjrules17] for helping out with everything from getting this tournament approved, logistical planning, advice, answering my questions. It’s very inspiring for me to have received so much help from people all over the US and and the World to make “Empire City Strikes Back” a reality. I also cannot forget to thank @[Ardmore Bladers], @[NatedogPhilly], and @[Vincen] for helping out as judges. You guys were tremendously instrumental in making this tournament run as smooth as it did.



Preparation is Key!


I was very surprised to see the turnout for Empire City Strikes Back given the fact that we were hit with rain again and further postponement seemed like a possibility. Despite that, we had 25 players show up ready to battle it out, rain or shine. What seemed to be gearing up to be a disaster of a tournament, shaped up to be one of the most memorable ones I’ve had the pleasure to be a part of. Players brought positive attitudes and upheld the highest standards of sportsmanship and support throughout the rainy day.


There were some tough decisions to be made logistically to make both participants and parents happy. We wanted to make sure that:


1) everyone was comfortable
2) the tournament would move quickly while also giving everyone a fair shot.



We did not have the luxury of an indoor alternative, so players came prepared for the weather. Judges had to use umbrellas to keep our 3 stadiums as dry as they could. This worked well and battles went undeterred by the rainy weather. Despite having 25 players, we decided to run Double Elimination as the rain was not showing any reals signs of letting up.


Some important things I learned after running Double Elimination:

• Proper seeding is SO important. At “Empire City Strikes Back”, I made sure that players were properly seeded according to their Bey Rank. This gave our new players a way more enjoyable experience as they did not have to go up against seasoned bladers right away and would face players on their skill level. This led to everyone feeling like they had a fair shot at the final. I also feel like this allowed for us to have two new, unranked players (@[CitrusNinja3] and @[supremeboss57]) place 2nd and 3rd respectively. I am very glad that the Organizer’s guide made seeding for Double Elimination very clear and easy to follow. Without it, I don’t think we would have ended with so many satisfied participants.
  
• Prioritizing the Loser’s Bracket makes managing Double Elimination very efficient. This allowed for participants and their families to leave and avoid the bad weather when they were eliminated, while also allowing judges to more through matches at an efficient pace. Had we not consistently prioritized the Losers’s Bracket, “Empire City Strike Back” would have lasted way longer than it should have. Our tournament went from 12:20 PM to a little after 3:00 PM
  

I was very thankful for the Organizer's Guide for detailing this in such a way that is easy for any organizer to implement. Overall, taking great care to be as thoughtful as possible in our planning left us with happy participants who were excited for the next Brooklyn tournament.


Group Stage:

Spoiler (Click to View)

While judging matches, I saw a mix of tactics and approaches to the Group Stage.


I ran czS.10S.Xt+ (inspired by @[Angry Face]’s post on the combo) for the entirety of the Group Stage. I, unfortunately, found mixed results with. During my first Match against @[CitrusNinja3]’s czS.0B.Br in same spin, I was able to OS his combo once, but subsequently loss 2 points to his combo out spinning mine. I tried to switch to Defense Mode to try and KO bearing on the ridge, but was unsuccessful, with CitrusNinja3 winning the final point by OS. This placed me in the Losers’s Bracket where I won 2 matches with czS.10S.Xt+. For my final match of the Loser’s Bracket, I lost to @[NewRocChampion1]’s in an opposite spin match-up against his cZA.0G.At To my surprise, his czA.0G.At was able to burst my czS.10S.Xt+ twice, quickly eliminating me from the top 4 of the Losers’s Bracket.


@[Ardmore Bladers] was able to advance to the top 4 of the Winner’s Bracket, going undefeated by using pP.00C.Xt+ for all his matches.


CitrusNinja3 also went undefeated by using czS.0B.Br and czA.00P.Ds for his matches.


NewRocChampion1 was able to make it to the top 4 of the Losers’s Bracket, leaning on his cZA.0G.At combo.


B3 also saw a fair amount of use on Hasbro Bearing and even Ratchet, but those who relied on B3 were unable to make it to the top 4 of the Winners’s or Losers’s Bracket.


Wizard Fafnir also made an appearance, but lost in same spin matchups to Burst Finishes.


As I have already mentioned above, the group stage saw players with a varying range of tournament experience make it to Finals. 4 of the top 8 had little to no tournament experience prior to Empire City Strikes Back. This was really exciting for me as an organizer because it created an interesting set-up for the finals and really felt like everyone had a fair shot at making it to finals.

Final Stage:

Spoiler (Click to View)

With the Group Stage out of the way, the Final Stage was really shaping up to be very interesting. NewRocChampion1 went up against NatedogPhilly, where, again, NewRocChampion was able to secure victory using his czA.0G.At. Both of Nate’s hS.10G.At, and pP.Outer.Xt+ combos proved ineffective against NewRoc’s aggressive launches.


NewRoc was subsequently defeated by CitrusNinja3’s left spin czS.St.Br. NewRock changed up his czA combo to czA.7G.At and was forced to launch B3.0B.Br when his czA combo could not secure points. Ultimately, B3.0B.Br lost to Citrus’s czS.St.Br, being the only beyblade he launched for that match.


Ardmore secured a victory against @[megaheroj7]. In this match Ardmored launched hS.10P.At, pP.Outer.Xt+, and SrS3.00E.Br while megaheroj7 used czA.0D.X’, czS.00C.G, and zA.P.At. With megaheroj7’s deck containing some outclassed parts, Ardmore’s deck was the more optimized for victory in this matchup.


@[supremeboss57], another newcomer to the tournament scene, won against fireblaze0730. Supreme used ChoS.13F.Xt+, and pP.7G.At while fireblaze used gf.0V.Ab and AD.St.Ds to no avail.


Supreme then went on to face Citrus. Seeing his success with his czS.St.Br, Citrus only used that beyblade to beat Supreme’s pP.7G.At and czS.13F.Xt+.


@[Jonniesonic] won against @[Aoi_burst]. Jonnie only launched his czA.00C.Xt+ against Aoi’s pP.0.Xt+ and SrS3.5P.Br to secure the win.


With the above matches out of the way we had our 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Place matches set.


1st Place Match: Ardmore Bladers vs. CitrusNinja3
Winner: Ardmore Bladers


Ardmore was able to win this match by only launching his hS.10P.At combo. Citrus began by launching czA.00P.Ds. Unfortunately, Ardmore's hS KO'd Citrus's czA immediately in round one. Citrus then switched to czS.St.Br. and KOed Ardmore's hS. Ardmore outspun in a Citrus's czS twice. Then, Citrus KOed Ardmore making the match 4-4. In the last battle, Ardmore's hS KO'd Citrus's czS for the 6-4 win, placing Ardmore in 1st and Citrus in 2nd.


3rd Place Match: supremeboss57 vs. Jonniesonic
Winner: supremeboss57


Supreme won this match using pP.7G.At and czS13F.Xt+. Jonniesonic’s dP.0.Dm and czA.00C.Xt+ combos were not enough for to combat Supreme’s parts, especially without having a viable left spin combo to use, leaving Supreme with the win and coming in 3rd.

Winning Combos:

Spoiler (Click to View)

1st - @[Ardmore Bladers]

Hell Salamander 10Proof Atomic (Deck Format Only)
Perfect Phoenix Outer Xtend+ (Deck Format Only)
Spryzen Requiem 00 Expand Bearing (Deck Format Only)
Perfect Phoenix 00 Cross Xtend+ (Group Stage Only)


2nd - @[CitrusNinja3]

Cho Z Achilles 00 Proof Destroy
Cho Z Spriggan Sting Bearing (Deck Format Only)
Cho Z Spriggan 0Bump Bearing (Group Stage Only)


3rd - @[supremeboss57]

Perfect Phoenix 7 Glaive Atomic 
Cho Z Spriggan 13 Flow Xtend+ (Deck Format Only)

Final Thoughts:


All in all, this tournament was a joy to host. While I did not do as well as I had hoped to do, I finally was able to experience what it would be like to run a tournament. Without the support from members of the WBO and the bladers that were able to make it out, I don’t think “Empire City Strikes Back” would have been as successful as it turned out to be. I’m excited to keep growing this community in NYC and hope you all can swing by at one point or another.


Thanks!

Awesome Tournament Report. Can't Wait To Go To The Next Since I Couldn't Make

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Looking for PHW Virgo & Girago :)
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Just going to correct a couple of things that you may have forgotten or not seen: NewRocChampion1's First Stage combo was czA.0G.At and Deck Format variation was with 7. (I see you remembered later on in the report) I used czS.0B.Br and czA.00P.Ds about equally in the First Stage. During the match against Ardmore, I believe that his hS KOd my czA immediately in round one, which is why I switched to czS. We kept exchanging Outspins until the score was 4-3 in my favor, but I think he got a KO to secure the victory.

Just going to correct a couple of things that you may have forgotten or not seen: NewRocChampion1's First Stage combo was czA.0G.At and Deck Format variation was with 7. (I see you remembered later on in the report) I used czS.0B.Br and czA.00P.Ds about equally in the First Stage.  During the match against Ardmore, I believe that his hS KOd my czA immediately in round one, which is why I switched to czS. We kept exchanging Outspins until the score was 4-3 in my favor, but I think he got a KO to secure the victory.

Thanks for the clarification Citrus. I made the edits above. Much appreciated!

whens the next tourment

Sorry for the late post, I just want to clear up a few things about the final match. To my knowledge the battle went like this: my hS KOed CitrusNinja’s CZA 00P Ds instantly, he switched to CZS 0B Br and KOed my hS. I outspin him twice in a row, than he KOed me making the match 4-4. In the last battle I KOed him for the 6-4 win.

I'm glad to hear this went so well! Preparation definitely pays off, and it makes me happy to read how useful you found the Organizer's Guide. Good luck with your next event!

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Sorry for the late post, I just want to clear up a few things about the final match. To my knowledge the battle went like this: my hS KOed CitrusNinja’s CZA 00P Ds instantly, he switched to CZS 0B Br and KOed my hS. I outspin him twice in a row, than he KOed me making the match 4-4. In the last battle I KOed him for the 6-4 win.

Thanks Ardmore! I made edits to reflect your account of the match. Thanks for the help!