Dual Layer Tournament
On 24/25 Nov, Singapore’s TT distributors held a dual-layer only tournament. There were 5 sessions per day, each allowing up to 32 players. Most, if not all of them were filled.. some even going up to 48 players (was a mistake to do so - this caused a significant delay as playoffs took longer). Each player could only join up to 3 sessions per day.
This tournament was held by the official TT distributors in Singapore, Sheng Tai Toys, under the WBBA banner.
(These sessions were held for players to gain league points, where the top 16 players at the end of the league played off in a God layer deck tournament.)
For the purposes of this write-up, all parts mentioned are TT only. I'm using the Hasbro namings because they're easier to type and more recognizable (e.g D2 vs dD).
Rules
One interesting new rule to note was that ALL win conditions were worth 2 points, including spin and KO finishes.
All layers from the dual layer series could be used, sans the banned Dark Deathscyther(D2). All forge disks, frames, and drivers could be used as long as they were from God layer and below (i.e no ChoZ parts).
Metagame (Day 1)
Metagame (Day 2)
Combo Evaluations
![[Image: mMJhMeX783_oiAcwsZa61ytKREqkgLW3jNMZcGKg...hRfO9TFB0g]](https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/mMJhMeX783_oiAcwsZa61ytKREqkgLW3jNMZcGKgIlR_P78deJfybR4WsV08WwW_TIcN3D-cAfVxV2VAuSQXsSoHGEdZS5iCkfhtBqvIUilaCie7fclD_fjlHBvcpyhRfO9TFB0g)
K2.0B.At - this was the combo I used throughout, and was by far the most consistent. It could easily outspin most other combos, and had comparatively good burst resistance. One problem I had was launching too hard; the Atomic would go on overdrive and send the bey out of the stadium, resulting in a self KO and 2 points for the opponent.
K2.0B.O - a slight variant of the usual K2 combo that my friend played. It had bad LAD, and would flat out lose to L2s in stamina battles. However, it was a solid counter to the K2.At combo; it had just so much stamina and balance that it could easily outspin the sibling most of the time. However, this combo was not picked up by other players due to its glaring weakness to L2.
![[Image: tVzYKRMyNRx_kIht3YN2jk9mxHM_pUX497_1MeVX...9PINT9ID3S]](https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/tVzYKRMyNRx_kIht3YN2jk9mxHM_pUX497_1MeVXKZh1-Q9rQQdGx8qEXtr3aX9zA8D6g6P9FB9r5J4hZZ8TSTXw0wDMcmmf3JJFq0Q_Ndwb7QHSbzsJg0BaBUL3ml9PINT9ID3S)
L2.0B.Ds - good combination that could mostly outLAD other right spin combinations due to Destroy. Its hefty weight also gave it a good chance to KO opponents, which many players exploited and bagged 2 points for KO finishes. However, I felt that it had a really bad matchup against K2 which had slightly better LAD. I estimate L2 to win K2 by outLAD only 35% of the time.
L2.0B.Br - this combination had good potential to be any K2 combos due to the great LAD/precession of Br. However, the aggressive edges of L2, combined with Br’s weak springs, made this combo very prone to burst. There were some daring players who tried, but I think they burst out of the tournament.
![[Image: XZmPeHzPjRYkV2nLgO-D2L-LSTszlePPNphRlx2A...r0ysV95pPz]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/XZmPeHzPjRYkV2nLgO-D2L-LSTszlePPNphRlx2ASDVxBzWbm65aKJmUbmJ6-lpAP8in6TVwqcj66v67_GGNmFPusaSlcR9cwR4vRmUjfPo-VaH_cX4gNl6O8xUlKWr0ysV95pPz)
V2.3.X - fun attack combo that I wanted to go up against and see if I could survive the attack onslaughts. The player was able to burst/KO some K2s, but was eliminated out of the session before I could face him :/
![[Image: JAEy-sHbiRxxGsRHNtRFvr0kZAO85hqny89f5A_m...CgeoO6KNWH]](https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/JAEy-sHbiRxxGsRHNtRFvr0kZAO85hqny89f5A_mNL4t-xXUj0A6imyLSlX9nKDKnef9jcpR59K-vemM8oqcHW019LRpa_R_TeUTabNGBQcv4Q9ikiCVNCt7Kme7zcCgeoO6KNWH)
I2.0B.O/At - good attack potential with the aggressive edges, but falls short on stamina. Couldn’t reliably burst opponents like the B2 combo, but had higher potential to do so.
![[Image: M-OkbOWDdnQhjSr901wqPWI6Ft_HOW6wC7HI4K0C...fqUtMfH637]](https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/M-OkbOWDdnQhjSr901wqPWI6Ft_HOW6wC7HI4K0CiRaTjdOnX259Y4FYyfL2zfsYMj5wb6suoAMZC0TZMqXz_VdcnJdvjfAl7FY3etayfsvpcMIG-auuFEVbtC9mA-fqUtMfH637)
B2.0B.O/At - even though B2’s shape is relatively round, it couldn’t compete with K2 in terms of stamina. However, it made up in terms of burst potential - it had some aggressive edges that could burst K2s occasionally. However, that didn’t happen often enough to warrant it playable in the meta, especially with L2’s potential to outLAD it and not burst due to opposite spin. If playing for burst potential, the I2 combo below would be a better choice imo.
![[Image: 4mVo7RAL06NKkJCh244TJGABb3GoD2RXjPsB3X0x...S4mqvvgQ1b]](https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/4mVo7RAL06NKkJCh244TJGABb3GoD2RXjPsB3X0xhBsLHjXrzYxj9-O0Ug_VV0K3Ghgx0N_uU-MtMvFI3eQ7lYWTYfLCsa5tcBz7O12Lz6w84y6_W5PfB_nsVY9nvbS4mqvvgQ1b)
S2.?.O - the top ranked player of the league was using this combo, and saw some success with it. With planned launches, the player was able to secure a number of KO snipes. Failing that, this combo could somehow burst other combos despite its weak teeth. However, I find the gameplay with this combo too unpredictable and skill-reliant that I do not recommend it.
![[Image: qqNYepLuw3KaFh0vZMPI5kLbbgA8h4783rjuFaOe...sufb_aduep]](https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/qqNYepLuw3KaFh0vZMPI5kLbbgA8h4783rjuFaOeW-eYojsp_f2RdI9Eumf7tBYs70rJD4XTr8ArALyFrHAlvh4EngQ6f-SP6htrZSHx5oN92KZr4IKVe4yV0wY-kdsufb_aduep)
H2.0B.At - nobody used this combo, but I found that it was really strong. It could reliably outspin K2 combos, and performed almost exactly like K2. However, a caveat is that H2’s teeth is slightly weaker than K2’s. In matchups where launch strength was key to outspinning the opponent, the high torque from both beys would make H2 very prone to burst. I would have liked to use this combo and taken the risk if I wasn’t trying to climb the rankings.
![[Image: J9k6Np4VTN8WAu38g60wkPx_Zg7PFNfmZZEYAyme...UqjLgNDrBm]](https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/J9k6Np4VTN8WAu38g60wkPx_Zg7PFNfmZZEYAymeYxyHPzsi3nmz9AgsRyiJAs-U6LkiW3U2_fr1jTbiZepyQcIIz2EPWX3h3y8fHLs-qutbeisk4eab0_eXcHZ2boUqjLgNDrBm)
J2.0B.O/At - similar to K2, it won by great stamina. However, it is outclassed by K2 as the K2 combo had slightly better stamina, rendering this combo pointless to play.
![[Image: dQKPn7kfjlcvSIt27pq0e5NSXiHVmnaCrfUNY56o...ev9Qqyljw6]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/dQKPn7kfjlcvSIt27pq0e5NSXiHVmnaCrfUNY56ogTz8OyDk-brs3aSFbPjUKsrhZhEF7TeAMp75tz7gBYtNVA3W5VMN1QiZSP74squ4_YmdN_7NgVXvbnMPNQc99Zev9Qqyljw6)
A2.0B.O/At - not sure about whether it can be K2 in stamina, but I suspect they are on equal footing. However, its weak teeth makes it very prone to bursting, so K2 might still be a better choice for stamina combinations.
![[Image: NlAQsrNwRA1kAhnvGaOfd5GD-SSRPqCVZ4r1aqlj...IQSWXP_pfv]](https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/NlAQsrNwRA1kAhnvGaOfd5GD-SSRPqCVZ4r1aqlj-Cmu10b_HX5xfZJyFEuKxZTdt9MT9UDu4-L5SaeA3xYHd7dxFG03cYDx2qZ6MAmP_pbpQkdZB6tqcWSf10TDJ9IQSWXP_pfv)
R2.0B.O/At - tries to do what K2 does and outspin opponents, but it has worse stamina than K2, and even weaker teeth. Would not recommend, but is a decent pick if K2 is not an option.
What I Used
I used K2.0B.At on both days. This combo was very reliable and consistent, and only had one bad matchup (K2.0B.O). Fortunately, not many people were using that, and the ones who did mostly got eliminated by L2s before they got to me.
With this combo, I managed to get two Golds on the first day, and another two Golds plus one Silver on the second. These great placings allowed me to jump from not being in the top 16 of the league to the second placing in just one weekend.
Overall Thoughts
This format introduced some diversity with the banning of D2. However, this led to K2 and L2 dominating the meta. K2 had impeccable stamina and decent burst resistance, while L2 had great LAD potential with Ds driver. It took some time for the meta to stabilise and converge into these two combos, but it was more fun while there will still great diversity.
Potential Format Improvements
The format was just littered with Atomic and Orbits. Most matches came down to stamina(if same spin) or LAD(if opposite spin). It would be more fun if attack types were rewarded more or stood a better chance.
I think banning L2 would make the format more accessible to attack combinations. With L2, all right-spin attack combos fall flat on their faces as they cannot burst L2 (due to opposite spin), nor KO it (due to its heft).
Awarding burst finishes with 3 points (thus instantly ending the game) would also entice attack types even more.
Conclusion
It was a fun format and a good twist from the usual tournament format.
It forced players to experiment with new combos at the start, and challenge assumptions about parts that were "meta". I hope more events like this are held. By limiting part choices, it promotes players to explore new combos. Like art, adding constraints would boost creativity.
On 24/25 Nov, Singapore’s TT distributors held a dual-layer only tournament. There were 5 sessions per day, each allowing up to 32 players. Most, if not all of them were filled.. some even going up to 48 players (was a mistake to do so - this caused a significant delay as playoffs took longer). Each player could only join up to 3 sessions per day.
This tournament was held by the official TT distributors in Singapore, Sheng Tai Toys, under the WBBA banner.
(These sessions were held for players to gain league points, where the top 16 players at the end of the league played off in a God layer deck tournament.)
For the purposes of this write-up, all parts mentioned are TT only. I'm using the Hasbro namings because they're easier to type and more recognizable (e.g D2 vs dD).
Rules
One interesting new rule to note was that ALL win conditions were worth 2 points, including spin and KO finishes.
All layers from the dual layer series could be used, sans the banned Dark Deathscyther(D2). All forge disks, frames, and drivers could be used as long as they were from God layer and below (i.e no ChoZ parts).
Metagame (Day 1)
- At the start, there was not really meta. There were lots of different combos; Victory Valkyrie, Kaiser Kerbeus, Lost Longinus, Storm Spriggan were the more common ones.
- Most people were using the 0 core disk. Majority of people used Bump, while a few used Cross or Glaive.
- Despite the variation in layers, drivers were mostly Atomic. Some people used Orbit, and there were a few Holds on L2s.
- As the day progressed, more people started switching to the prominent combos - K2.0B.At, or L2.0B.Ds. I left after my three sessions, but I heard that the metagame was mostly the L2 combos toward the end.
Metagame (Day 2)
- At the first session, the metagame temporarily regained its diversity. One promising layer was J2, which had the potential for high stamina.
- As the day progressed, people started noticing my success with the K2 combo and tended towards it. L2 was still a popular choice.
- Beast Behemoth also seemed to be gaining in popularity due to its decent stamina and burst potential.
- I estimate the meta breakdown to be K2(50%), L2(40%), Others(10%)
- Distribution of forge disks, frames and drivers remain the same as day 1.
- Like day 1, I left early after my three sessions to go back and nap. Not sure how the meta progressed towards the end, but I suspect it tended more towards K2 dominance.
Combo Evaluations
K2.0B.At - this was the combo I used throughout, and was by far the most consistent. It could easily outspin most other combos, and had comparatively good burst resistance. One problem I had was launching too hard; the Atomic would go on overdrive and send the bey out of the stadium, resulting in a self KO and 2 points for the opponent.
K2.0B.O - a slight variant of the usual K2 combo that my friend played. It had bad LAD, and would flat out lose to L2s in stamina battles. However, it was a solid counter to the K2.At combo; it had just so much stamina and balance that it could easily outspin the sibling most of the time. However, this combo was not picked up by other players due to its glaring weakness to L2.
L2.0B.Ds - good combination that could mostly outLAD other right spin combinations due to Destroy. Its hefty weight also gave it a good chance to KO opponents, which many players exploited and bagged 2 points for KO finishes. However, I felt that it had a really bad matchup against K2 which had slightly better LAD. I estimate L2 to win K2 by outLAD only 35% of the time.
L2.0B.Br - this combination had good potential to be any K2 combos due to the great LAD/precession of Br. However, the aggressive edges of L2, combined with Br’s weak springs, made this combo very prone to burst. There were some daring players who tried, but I think they burst out of the tournament.
V2.3.X - fun attack combo that I wanted to go up against and see if I could survive the attack onslaughts. The player was able to burst/KO some K2s, but was eliminated out of the session before I could face him :/
I2.0B.O/At - good attack potential with the aggressive edges, but falls short on stamina. Couldn’t reliably burst opponents like the B2 combo, but had higher potential to do so.
B2.0B.O/At - even though B2’s shape is relatively round, it couldn’t compete with K2 in terms of stamina. However, it made up in terms of burst potential - it had some aggressive edges that could burst K2s occasionally. However, that didn’t happen often enough to warrant it playable in the meta, especially with L2’s potential to outLAD it and not burst due to opposite spin. If playing for burst potential, the I2 combo below would be a better choice imo.
S2.?.O - the top ranked player of the league was using this combo, and saw some success with it. With planned launches, the player was able to secure a number of KO snipes. Failing that, this combo could somehow burst other combos despite its weak teeth. However, I find the gameplay with this combo too unpredictable and skill-reliant that I do not recommend it.
H2.0B.At - nobody used this combo, but I found that it was really strong. It could reliably outspin K2 combos, and performed almost exactly like K2. However, a caveat is that H2’s teeth is slightly weaker than K2’s. In matchups where launch strength was key to outspinning the opponent, the high torque from both beys would make H2 very prone to burst. I would have liked to use this combo and taken the risk if I wasn’t trying to climb the rankings.
J2.0B.O/At - similar to K2, it won by great stamina. However, it is outclassed by K2 as the K2 combo had slightly better stamina, rendering this combo pointless to play.
A2.0B.O/At - not sure about whether it can be K2 in stamina, but I suspect they are on equal footing. However, its weak teeth makes it very prone to bursting, so K2 might still be a better choice for stamina combinations.
R2.0B.O/At - tries to do what K2 does and outspin opponents, but it has worse stamina than K2, and even weaker teeth. Would not recommend, but is a decent pick if K2 is not an option.
What I Used
I used K2.0B.At on both days. This combo was very reliable and consistent, and only had one bad matchup (K2.0B.O). Fortunately, not many people were using that, and the ones who did mostly got eliminated by L2s before they got to me.
With this combo, I managed to get two Golds on the first day, and another two Golds plus one Silver on the second. These great placings allowed me to jump from not being in the top 16 of the league to the second placing in just one weekend.
Overall Thoughts
This format introduced some diversity with the banning of D2. However, this led to K2 and L2 dominating the meta. K2 had impeccable stamina and decent burst resistance, while L2 had great LAD potential with Ds driver. It took some time for the meta to stabilise and converge into these two combos, but it was more fun while there will still great diversity.
Potential Format Improvements
The format was just littered with Atomic and Orbits. Most matches came down to stamina(if same spin) or LAD(if opposite spin). It would be more fun if attack types were rewarded more or stood a better chance.
I think banning L2 would make the format more accessible to attack combinations. With L2, all right-spin attack combos fall flat on their faces as they cannot burst L2 (due to opposite spin), nor KO it (due to its heft).
Awarding burst finishes with 3 points (thus instantly ending the game) would also entice attack types even more.
Conclusion
It was a fun format and a good twist from the usual tournament format.
It forced players to experiment with new combos at the start, and challenge assumptions about parts that were "meta". I hope more events like this are held. By limiting part choices, it promotes players to explore new combos. Like art, adding constraints would boost creativity.
