First and foremost, big thanks to WBO’s SpiderHazuki for securing this venue for us.  MacLeod Ale Brewing is the nicest place I have been able to host a beyblade tournament. Awesome facility, delicious hand made pizzas, darts, peanuts, and obviously great drinks.  The kids even got free ice cream!  Best of all, the parents seemed to have really enjoyed themselves too (the parents definitely want to come back here)!


The most unique aspect of this tournament is that we experimented with the “P3C1” first stage format.  This was proposed by WBO’s Wombat as an alternate format for the first stage in WBO tournaments.  Here is a summary of how it works:

“P3C1” format as described by Wombat:

1. When a match between 2 players is announced, each player assembles 3 combos.
   
   
2. After both players have their combos ready, they turn around and present their combos to their opponent.  At this point beyblade spin directions can no longer be changed.
   
   
3. Each player is given 30 seconds to identify the combos presented, and then makes the final selection of which Beyblade they will use from the 3 combos they presented to their opponent.
   
   
4. The match then continues as a normal, first to 3 point match would.
   

For this tournament I decided for the participants to assemble up to 3 beyblades WITHOUT repeating parts.  I believe in prior tournaments that ran this experimental format repeating parts were allowed. The reason for my decision on this is as follows:

1. Time.  
The reason why deck format can’t be played for entire WBO tournaments is primarily time.  I feel that allowing repeating parts may add confusion during the beyblade selection process.  

2. Training for Deck Format.
Not allowing repeating parts mimic WBO deck format more so than allowing repeating parts in my opinion.  It will on occasion force a player to make some sacrifices with their beyblade combos. It is great practice for WBO deck building.  And WBO deck format is just the best way to Beyblade. 

Allowing repeating parts does playing the “P3C1” format more accessible and shouldn’t be overlooked.  

Personally, I think the “P3C1” format is fantastic.  I took a poll from the 28 players and everyone who replied so far prefers this over the single bey 1st stage format. It is important to note that we had a good mix of experienced players and new players.  The response is extremely positive from both groups.  The most common reason given for their positive feedback is:

1. Feels, looks, and is more strategic 
2. Less scouting 


I strongly encourage other organizers to try the P3C1 for first stage.  I will post 2 links to unedited videos of two matches with P3C1. The time needed to run P3C1 really isn’t much longer than our current system.  We were able to complete a 28 player 5 round Swiss tournament in less than 3 hours.  I sincerely hope the P3C1 can be approved as a WBO tournament format that can be for any event.  In my opinion, once you go P3C1 you can’t go back. 

P3C1 matches

https://youtu.be/hutKm0NVezg

https://youtu.be/z8MWmDQ9H2Y

P.S.
This tournament was ruled by Judgement, primarily on Rubber Flat of some sort.  Lord.Sting.Br was very popular as well.

Glad to hear this went well!

I would tend to agree that not allowing repeating parts does make more sense as it is consistent with WBO Deck Format. This acts as a nice entry point for that.

Did you run into any issues with people who only had one or two Beyblades?

I do worry about how this would scale for larger events, but it's something we will have to think about a bit more as we discuss the potential for implementing this format. Maybe the case is that events over a certain threshold wouldn't be allowed to use P3C1 and that for events under that threshold, P3C1 is mandatory.

But even that I am hesitant to do because despite how good it seems strategically, it does add another barrier to entry or layer of complexity if made mandatory. Not saying we definitely shouldn't do it because of that, but just that we should be cognizant of it and consider the ramifications.

If we were to implement it (in whatever fashion), I would think it would also make sense to officially decrease the Beyblade Selection time to compensate for the time needed to inspect combos. Even though you have to select three Beyblades, you only get to use one of them, so I don't think it needs as much time as we offer for Beyblade Selection in the regular format. There's less pressure on picking one Beyblade, so it should be easier to pick three that cover enough ground as solid singular options.

I'm curious to hear more feedback from people who played in the event or other Organizers. I'll probably try it out soon in Toronto.

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Did you run into any issues with people who only had one or two Beyblades?

Of all the matches I personally judged or watched only 1 player had this issue.  He did have 3 beyblades to start but one of his combos was a illegal mix of Hasbro and TT parts.  Once we informed him of this he reorganized his parts and essentially played with 2 combos.  I am not aware of any other player having less than 3 beyeblades for the P3C1.

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I do worry about how this would scale for larger events, but it's something we will have to think about a bit more as we discuss the potential for implementing this format. Maybe the case is that events over a certain threshold wouldn't be allowed to use P3C1 and that for events under that threshold, P3C1 is mandatory.

As much as I would like P3C1 to be mandatory for everything under the sun I don’t think that is the best thing for the WBO.  Personally, I feel like P3C1 would be better if it was optional.  

For example, an organizer trying to build/revive a community may be better served by having the option to make the tournament as accessible as possible.  As that community grows, it may become better suited for P3C1 to be implemented.  The organizer(s) of a region would be in the best position to decide what is best for the game in their area.

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If we were to implement it (in whatever fashion), I would think it would also make sense to officially decrease the Beyblade Selection time to compensate for the time needed to inspect combos. Even though you have to select three Beyblades, you only get to use one of them, so I don't think it needs as much time as we offer for Beyblade Selection in the regular format. There's less pressure on picking one Beyblade, so it should be easier to pick three that cover enough ground as solid singular options.

I agree. What I observed was that every player, seasoned or not, came to the stadiums with beyblades chosen and ready to go.  

Most experienced players will then take some time to study their opponent’s beyblades.  But the decision of what to play is generally made at this time as well.

As much as I would like P3C1 to be mandatory for everything under the sun I don’t think that is the best thing for the WBO.  Personally, I feel like P3C1 would be better if it was optional.  

For example, an organizer trying to build/revive a community may be better served by having the option to make the tournament as accessible as possible.  As that community grows, it may become better suited for P3C1 to be implemented.  The organizer(s) of a region would be in the best position to decide what is best for the game in their area.

Right, and I would tend to agree with this. But to play devil's advocate: the only caveat is the rankings. Right now everything is consistent across each ranked event. Allowing for P3C1 to be an option for the first stage means we're introducing another variable that will change the competition. You could argue that one style is easier to succeed in than the other, thereby making any events using the 'harder' format deserving of being worth more in some fashion, which would be a complicated problem to solve.

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As much as I would like P3C1 to be mandatory for everything under the sun I don’t think that is the best thing for the WBO.  Personally, I feel like P3C1 would be better if it was optional.  

For example, an organizer trying to build/revive a community may be better served by having the option to make the tournament as accessible as possible.  As that community grows, it may become better suited for P3C1 to be implemented.  The organizer(s) of a region would be in the best position to decide what is best for the game in their area.

Right, and I would tend to agree with this. But to play devil's advocate: the only caveat is the rankings. Right now everything is consistent across each ranked event. Allowing for P3C1 to be an option for the first stage means we're introducing another variable that will change the competition. You could argue that one style is easier to succeed in than the other, thereby making any events using the 'harder' format deserving of being worth more in some fashion, which would be a complicated problem to solve.

Good point, and I did not really consider this...?

Good point, and I did not really consider this...?

Yeah, so it seems like something we will probably implement for unranked officially relatively soon, but adding it to ranked in some fashion might take longer and be something we look at as part of our longer term plans for evaluating how the rankings can or should work.

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Good point, and I did not really consider this...?

Yeah, so it seems like something we will probably implement for unranked officially relatively soon, but adding it to ranked in some fashion might take longer and be something we look at as part of our longer term plans for evaluating how the rankings can or should work.

rip I really liked not having to blindly choose beyblades and hoping for the best that my opponent doesn't have a counter