The Case For Banning F230 From Zero-G Tournament Play

Um, not to be doubtful/disrespectful or anything like that, but if you look at the list, Stars' first combos in both lists are Dragooon F230 customs. Sooooooo... I don't really get what you're saying.

TBH, because of Maryland bladers' tendency to leave winning combinations unposted (not to slam them or anything, of course; just a vital piece of the puzzle), we really don't have enough data to evaluate what they use from tournament results alone.

That said, a blader's opinion from that region is much more reliable than tiny bits and pieces, with no background information on what the combos beat and/or who they were used against (bladers with F230 will use other things against newbies and such, or other experienced bladers who do not own/will not use F230).

This is why winning combinations aren't really a good stance for an argument in this situation. There is so little data behind each combination listed, and everything is so circumstantial (especially where there is resentment towards the part or an unwillingness to use it), that the majority of information you derive from that is unreliable without insight from a player who witnessed the tournament in question.

I've heard plenty of things from MD players to suggest that F230 is abused heavily there (as has been proclaimed publicly several times, and now here by *Ginga*), and I highly doubt that what I'm hearing has been intentionally exaggerated, as plenty of them (actually including *Ginga* IIRC) are/were opposed to the ban at the time I spoke to them.

And yes, just to clarify, the reason we aren't holding Zero-G much in NC anymore is because F230 ruins it so badly. The format just isn't fun. That simple.
IIRC Flrodia doesn't actually have any meta to overrun, haha. XD

Anyway guys, some super important stuff to say here.

I've done more testing with cardboard.

Turns out, corrogated cardboard and single-layer cardboard work extremely differently. I actually get near identical results between plexiglass and single-layer cardboard, whereas corrogated cardboard hinders sway a lot (far too much to be good for the format, as it hardly helps with F230 at all and renders BWD itself useless anyway, as the Stamina vs. Stamina KOs it aims to avoid are virtually nonexistent).

That said, I assume, from the damage corrogated cardboard does to the rest of the format, we'd be using single-layer cardboard. That said, the difference between it, plastic tabletops, and plexigalss is almost unnoticeable, and random variables are more than likely to completely overshadow the differences completely considering the scale they're at.

So, essentially, without that really annoying foldy cardboard with two layers and wavy stuff in between, cardboard doesn't do much at all, and I'm still beating Dragooon BWD both by ZRG KO and OS with Dragooon F230GCF.

If we were to make cardboard mandatory, not only would it, again, hardly help at all (as stated in the following post I made earlier today):

(Apr. 02, 2014  12:30 PM)TheBlackDragon Wrote:
(Apr. 02, 2014  6:22 AM)RDF3 Wrote: (Wonder if TBD cares about F230 anymore)

Yes. I still hate it with every fiber of my being.

And, just for the record, even if the cardboard surfaces do help to the point where BWD cannot be ZRG KOed (which still remains to be seen), that's only really opening up one viable option for a counter, and even then honestly Dragooon is so far behind Duo in terms of precession as a Chrome Wheel, and SA165BWD is so unreliable in general for me, I would consider it probably one of the least useable competitive Zero-G customs out there.

I again point out the sharp difference between "broken" and "unbeatable."

That said, just one, generally unreliable counter isn't nearly enough IMO. It's literally just one combination (that actually has the potential to lose to a good F230 by OS, given the F230 user is playing Genbull Dragooon), that I haven't even considered using since last Spring (for good reason).

Plus, the point still remains that, without F230, I think we can all agree that the format would be a whole lot better off. It would also be a serious pain to have to play every match on cardboard, with little to no actual benefit, when you consider how ridiculously broken Dragooon F230 is anyway.

But we would also need to specify certain types of cardboard as lega/illegal, inspect cardboard to make sure it's in good condition/level/an appropriate type of cardboard for tournament play/testing, and arguably regulate the surface on which the cardboard was used, as surface area will become extremely important in this scenario (most likely wouldn't come into play often, but on heavy carpet things can get weird).

Again, with very, very little benefit at all to the game itself anyway, as whether or not Dragooon BWD can win is pretty much irrelevant anyway as I think we'll all agree that it isn't enough to drop the idea of a ban (well, almost all of us).

EDIT: Ah! Where did those two posts in between mine go?

Mod plz merg. Confused
It is really not that complex. The context is that people complain about seeing a lot of F230 combinations and it being dominant and/or overpowered, yet :


(Nov. 29, 2013  12:25 AM)Stars Wrote: No one posted Maryland winning combination for the past 2 months?

My winning combination in October: [Zero-G, came first]
Saramanda Dragoon F230GCF
Saramanda Dragoon BGrin
Phantom Bull E230(Upper) TV

November: [Zero-G, came second]
Gargoyle Dragoon F230GCF
Saramanda Dragoon BGrin (luckily I won against sway)
Wyvang Dragoon SA165MB (F230GCF/CF counter. MB was worn)
Phantom Bull E230TB (strangely beaten a Dragoon SA165BSF)

(Jan. 19, 2014  10:18 PM)BillyBlast Wrote: 1st Place Happy Gnu Year (Zero-G)

BillyBlast (Myself)

MSF Gryph Dragooon SA165RDF (Defense Mode)
MSF Begirados Begirados W145CF (Decided Mirror Match for a fun final with time)

Used But Lost: MF-M Duo Bull W145BWD

Wanted to use but was too scared to and had fun in free play killing E230s : MF Meteo L-Drago BD145RDF

Don't remember much of the other players combos. I know a lot of Dragooon BGrins though and F230CFs

(Jan. 19, 2014  11:19 PM)Time Wrote: 2nd place in happy gnu year
I refused to use anything on the top tier list today, so here we go with the logic behind each
Msf begiradoas begiradoas th190 rsf (destabilizer/smash attack)
Phantom Sagittario II w145 CS (no real description, just awesome)
Balro dragooon b:d (used to win three times)
Duo cancer sa165 ewd (used against Aru and somehow beat left spin f230)

The only times I lost were against star's left spin f230 using gravity f230, against billy when he aggroed launched dragooon rdf against dragooon bd and in mine and billys mirror match to decide first and second using msf begiradoas begiradoas w145 cf (mine tht had a smiley face drawn on the msf lost)


Yes, there are too many holes for my liking as a rule-enforcer, but the latest Zero-G tournament in Maryland seems to have done well with no F230 in the top two ... There are also some descriptions for that event, and none about Stars' uses of F230 : perhaps he defeated many 'beginner' Bladers and therefore counts it as the customization he used the most.



I am still not declaring whether F230 should or should not be banned, but using that as a reason to leave Beyblade as a whole when there are varieties we can observe : I think it was exaggerated.
There's a video on the bey channel from one of our tournaments and almost the whole video is just f230. But that's only 1. Most of our recent zero g tournamets have been large and it's only been the core 8 playing so I know stars and everyone else me included did not beat beginners with f230
There's a very distinct possibility that F230 simply was not used in order to hold a tournament that actually amounted to something, which many players have attempted (hence the title of the last tournament in VA).

Coming from someone who's seen it spammed between several competitive players, I'm actually quite confident that it was not exaggerated in the least. It's legitimately game-ruining, in the deepest sense of the word.

Think Basalt, but combined into one fixed custom, that shreds the entire meta, to the point where the only practical option against it without employing the piece itself is a sub-par spin stealer on a sway-hindering play surface, that very likely won't work anyway.

Maybe I'm just crazy about this because it effected me so directly, it TBH those directly effected are probably the ones with the clearest view on the issue (don't mean that to sound arrogant/discredit anybody's opinion, but eyewitnesses do usually know what's up a bit better in general; again, not to say I know better than anyone else about this whole issue or anything of that sort, but I do have a reason for trying so hard to get this thing banned).

That said, I haven't exaggerated anything (at least not intentionally). I would literally cry tears of joy if Dragooon F230CF/GCF customs were banned (I know that sounds ridiculous, but it's true).
I think that if BOTH bladers agree to be able use the f230 spin track, let it be so. However, if they do not agree, they will not be allowed (Period, end of discussion). I think this would be fair to both bladers because if they both want to they can, but if they dont, they dont have to be forced into it.

Sorry for making it kinda confusing.
(Apr. 03, 2014  3:42 AM)TheBlackDragon Wrote: There's a very distinct possibility that F230 simply was not used in order to hold a tournament that actually amounted to something, which many players have attempted (hence the title of the last tournament in VA).

Not according to BillyBlast's post.
This is why reporting winning combos is mandatory and important and a good idea for your meta in the long run. Don't want to labour the point but I too would want a better picture of what is going on (and obviously, I do not think one format not being good is a reason to leave beyblade - if that's happening, people need to be talking to hosts and to the wider community of both their areas and the rest of the WBO about what's going on - not that this hasn't been done to an extent, but generally if something is hurting your enjoyment, the answer is to do something about it, and that something doesn't have to depend on the committee banning the part, simply having less tournaments in a particular format would be good.

Personally, I would suggest we consider actually formally allowing tournament-specific bans ("special bans", perhaps?) on certain parts that are generally agreed to be particularly dominant if not quite to the point where we would ban it in standard (perhaps to the point where we would want to ban it very quickly in limited given tournament data - so basically where Scythe is sitting at now I guess (though I haven't heard back from you guys on whether last weekend was sufficient evidence), maybe a little more?) - which very few seem to feel F230 (or at least Dragoon F230CF/GCF) would not fit. Perhaps we limit it to only every second tournament in that format or whatever, and obviously it would be on a case-by-case basis based on who benefits/suffers from the additional condition, but there are plenty of similar examples in other sports where this sort of thing can be done. In addition, it would also allow us to see how any potential bans work out. Obviously we'd have to be careful that said tournament are reasonable if we are putting them in the beypoints system, but with F230 seeing as it was one of the last parts in Zero-G we're basically assured of that.
Now obviously this is a fairly large thing to propose and would require some discussion, and to anyone reading this and hoping it'll happen I would not get your hopes up - there's no precedent for this and it clashes somewhat with the WBO's general approach to official metagames, but I feel that if we're losing members as dedicated as Time was (I mean he stayed despite being the object of my ire when I was having a particularly rough time with my depression which is pretty impressive) then we should probably look at doing something to help fix that (it sounds like in Time's case there were other factors at play too, but yeah).

Even if we can't agree on whether F230 needs a ban outright, I think we should do something to help communities it seems to be causing some problem for (which would be checked as part of the process anyway - confirmed attendees would have to agree to it in large majority etc (I'm assuming those who are anti-ban on a part will be reasonable based on a limitation of how often a special ban can be invoked for a format, i.e. if it was 50/50 they still have the other half of the tournaments - if anyone who has been against the ban wants to speak up about whether that's a realistic expectation or not if this doesn't get shot down instantly that'd be good.))

The current "you can ask but not demand" measure just doesn't work in highly competitive areas or any area with even one highly competitive player (even one or two players who are pro ban still use things in cases like that as a general policy, and if any of them want to comment on my suggestion/their thoughts with regards to it that would be good too) though honestly I would think (and this could be 100% wrong) a situation like that is more likely to cause variation in the norm for beypoints than actually allowing a special ban.

The same measure could have helped us see what Basalt and/or BD145 were doing back in the day which might have helped us actually take action against them (and a basalt free tournament, even with hell, would probably have made it apparent that 230 was not much of a problem by itself once we'd shifted back up to mid height for attack customs, as IIRC that was something which caused some distraction in the discussions (though this is going a long, long way back so that could be incorrect, but I remember a general feeling that 230 was a problem from some people, at the least that was something mentioned early in discussions that eventually lead to Limited, though there we had things in the 85mm between 145 and 230 as well so that helped)).


I know there is a strong disapproval towards the concept of individual banlists for each metagame or giving areas a crutch if they simply aren't using the right things, and I am completely in agreement with the former and at least to the word of the latter if not the spirit in which it is generally used.
Yes, this is a step in that direction - but this is not a black and white matter - we can go part way without going all in. This would be something that has limitations - it would only be for every second tournament in a format in a region, or whatever % is deemed acceptable (and I would absolutely not agree on 100% being acceptable myself), and it is subject to the various measures I explained - a strong agreement from the attendees in the community and it would only be for parts or even just specific combinations of parts that are generally agreed to be particularly dominant but are nonetheless legal - of which there have been very few. It means a little more work for the committee in approving a tournament, but probably not too much if the list of acceptable candidates for special ban is kept very strict - it would likely just apply to F230 in Zero-G, nothing in Standard, perhaps, assuming Scythe and Omega go in the pre-AN update, Libra could still sit there in Limited (it would have to be significantly stronger than I expect - perhaps Mold 2 getting use and being a little better than Mold 3 offensively despite not having the main contact points that make Mold 3 work well) without being bannable (which I definitely think should be avoided at nearly all costs), and even then it would only be eligible once we were sure it was not just hype.
HMS has too small an assortment of parts to really ban any and to do anything you'd have a massive impact on it so there's likely nothing there, and Plastics, well that one combo I pm'd Kei about a while back is strong enough to deserve it but it doesn't have enough testing to be eligible and neither of those two formats see enough use for it to really be suitable there anyway.
So, it is a small crutch for some areas but I think definitely small enough as to not be an issue.


(Apr. 03, 2014  3:07 AM)Kai-V Wrote: [...]perhaps he defeated many 'beginner' Bladers and therefore counts it as the customization he used the most.[...]
I know it is not what you meant by this, but seeing as it's a topic related to stuff I've mentioned quite a bit in the past: ability to handle tourney fodder (non-competitive customs that fill up most tournaments) is one of the largest parts of a combination's ability to dominate overall and absolutely integral to significant success in terms of tournament usage.
Heck that's like the only thing 10bBistool does (one of a couple of reasons it's not on the competitive combos list albeit only by the smallest of margins) and look at the fanclub that thing has - okay, that doesn't conflict with what you said, but given the target F230 combinations also have proven ability against a wide range of top-tier customizations that would be something of relevance to the discussion - basically in showing that it is very much a practical, spammable custom.
Wow, TBD is really burning to get rid of F230, no? If so,that's why he counters every argument against banning it, regardless of who wrote that argument (Heck, he counters the arguments of Kai-V and Kei).

Contary to what he said, it's nothing compared to Libra or Basalt was (They affected the metas globally, whereas not every meta gets affected by F230 (Uwik said awhile it was niche, while it's not 100% true, we use it mainly to counter spin steal, as it gets wrecked by anything else.)

Honestly I don't feel it's as crazy broken as it is made out to be, but to be fair, a ban on Dragoon F230 (G)CF is what we could give at best to him and his meta.
You might think that now, but go to a tournament, play against it, and then come back. You'd see just how "niche" it really is...
I said it's not completely true lol.
I'm talking about the all F230 customs that go right, not Dragooon F230(G)CF anyway.

Was your meta wrecked by F230 too?
Actually, the areas where Zero-G has been played frequently since F230 became a thing (MD, VA, NC and CT), so far have all been hit pretty hard (yes, I know CT has only seen two tournaments with it, but it's won both of them, so...).

If none of you guys actually remember, Dragooon F230 won Beyblade Revolution. The problem may not be too intense in certain places, but that's most likely due to availability problems, resentment towards the part, or improper use of the part, since we've seen the thing burn metagames to the ground in areas where those three factors are absent.

Actually, those are 3 really great points now that I think about it. Resentment, availability, and improper use are the 3 reasons we really can't conclude anything reliable based on tournament results here. We need the input from players who witnessed it.

Speaking of which, I really need to hear from the Maryland bladers about what happened during that tournament, as it's very much out of the ordinary for them. Usually the only thing I hear from them is how bad the F230 problem is in their region , as has been demonstrated at this point by Time's abandonment of the game and *Ginga*'s experience (as well as some very interesting conversations with Geetster in person).

If there are any MD bladers reading this, could you guys reply and explain the situation with this particular tournament? It seems pretty exceptional compared to events in the past (unless we're missing a vital piece of the puzzle, which I suspect we are).


(Apr. 03, 2014  11:26 AM)RDF3 Wrote: Wow, TBD is really burning to get rid of F230, no? If so,that's why he counters every argument against banning it, regardless of who wrote that argument (Heck, he counters the arguments of Kai-V and Kei).

I don't think they mind (It's not like they're never to be argued with (obviously not disrespectfully, which I may have done on one or two occasions in the past, but not in this thread I don't think)). If nobody ever argued with the committee, they'd be totally clueless as to the opinion of the userbase, which would make their jobs pretty hard, haha.

Oh, BTW, if you guys in TO want a demo of how this thing is played down here, I can call up Dark, Geetster and Stars and they could SPAM it for you during the ZRG event at AN this year (not trying to be snappy - it would literally be a really great way to see MD, NC and TO merge in terms of playing a ZRG tourney with F230 in it, although the goal was to eliminate it before then).

It would be better to have it gone by then IMO, but if you want to witness it firsthand before making a decision, there's your chance (although F230 being spammed in that event is probably inevitable anyway if it isn't illegal at that point TBH).

As for th!nk's idea... it's definitely better than nothing, but I'd want to push for an outright ban first and see if we can't get that.

Honestly, the fact that we're now in "Basalt territory" as far as trying to formulate circumstantial, compromised ban systems goes shows that this is a very similar situation, and it's generally agreed upon that Basalt should have been banned back when it was dominating. I honestly see little to no difference between what I've read concerning the Basalt debate and this issue, except that F230 might be slightly more versatile against everything, seeing as it's compressed into one combination.

The situation with Basalt was that the meta, as Ingulit stated before, was "Basalt and things that beat Basalt." From what I've seen, F230-plagued metas go far above and beyond that definition. I really don't see any of the logic behind keeping it legal at this point.


I think, as TheSupremeOne suggested, a popular vote between selected members (members who own it and have either tested with it/played against it and are knowledgeable enough to make a competent decision on the matter) would be the simplest solution to this problem.
(Apr. 03, 2014  3:58 PM)TheBlackDragon Wrote: Speaking of which, I really need to hear from the Maryland bladers about what happened during that tournament, as it's very much out of the ordinary for them. Usually the only thing I hear from them is how bad the F230 problem is in their region , as has been demonstrated at this point by Time's abandonment of the game and *Ginga*'s experience (as well as some very interesting conversations with Geetster in person).

No credibility anymore, both from what I already pointed out and from this :
http://worldbeyblade.org/Thread-Going-Aw...pid1204890
It was April 2nd in more than half of the world when he posted his initial message, so it is a rather bad April Fools' ...
And not a good way to go about it either - if you want it banned but are pushing for a final decision right now then you really are not acting in favour of what you feel is best for the game, given the generally unfavourable response to a ban from most committee members so far and the lack of anything likely to change their reasons since.

Anyway, what sort of cardboard does Toronto have their stadiums on, assuming they do? (I forget if that was confirmed.) Corrugated or single-sheet?
I would not say we are unfavourable to a ban, but you could consider us a bunch of big Devil's advocates.
I am very glad that Time isn't leaving. Actually super excited!

However, as he clearly stated, his reason for leaving was to reignite the discussion on F230's ban. Regardless of the abnormal information we have on the previously mentioned tournament, he obviously has trouble with it and wants it banned, so making the point that MD doesn't have trouble with it based on that is now invalid as well.

(Apr. 03, 2014  5:03 PM)Kai-V Wrote: I would not say we are unfavourable to a ban, but you could consider us a bunch of big Devil's advocates.

That's actually extremely encouraging, haha.
(Apr. 03, 2014  5:03 PM)Kai-V Wrote: I would not say we are unfavourable to a ban, but you could consider us a bunch of big Devil's advocates.

Of course - if you were significantly against banning it I imagine it would have been announced by now, but the posts weren't the only part of why I think it would be a bad idea to demand you made a decision immediately, but they seemed closest to the discussion.

TheBlackDragon: Have you guys done tournaments in Zero G on cardboard in NC yet, and if so how did they go? This is what was being waited upon, at least as far as I know (or at least as far as I am concerned for making up my own mind) - that is where the spark for reignition of discussion should lie.
As I stated previously, the first testing I did on cardboard was done on soft, corrogated cardboard, which is literally the equivalent of playing on soft carpet (and therefore obviously not an option for mandatory play surface). Single layer cardboard is no different from plexiglass or plastic tabletops (which we play on at GT).

Regardless, as I stated before, the help it would give the format would be so minute and negligible that hindering the entire sway function for every other custom in the game is a horribly unprofitable trade (especially as it literally only opens up one custom as a possible counter, which I can still OS consistently regardless of the play surface).

After doing a bunch of testing, I'm fully convinced the cardboard surface thing is a lost cause, and certainly not worth holding a Zero-G tournament with F230 in it just to experiment (as, again, it's proven completely ineffective for me).

Cardboard = fail

EDIT: Oh yah, and they don't use cardboard in TO IIRC. They use wood.
(Apr. 03, 2014  5:40 PM)TheBlackDragon Wrote: As I stated previously, the first testing I did on cardboard was done on soft, corrogated cardboard, which is literally the equivalent of playing on soft carpet (and therefore obviously not an option for mandatory play surface). Single layer cardboard is no different from plexiglass or plastic tabletops (which we play on at GT).

Regardless, as I stated before, the help it would give the format would be so minute and negligible that hindering the entire sway function for every other custom in the game is a horribly unprofitable trade (especially as it literally only opens up one custom as a possible counter, which I can still OS consistently regardless of the play surface).

After doing a bunch of testing, I'm fully convinced the cardboard surface thing is a lost cause, and certainly not worth holding a Zero-G tournament with F230 in it just to experiment (as, again, it's proven completely ineffective for me).

Cardboard = fail

EDIT: Oh yah, and they don't use cardboard in TO IIRC. They use wood.
It isn't a lost cause because cardboard is already recommended in the Rule Books anyway, and I feel we need
to keep that in mind, regardless of whether we like it or not. It said cardboard with No irregularities on the surface should be used on every play surface (except on laminated wood floors).

Well maybe you can beat all of the counters with F230, but regardless some of us can still put up a fight against it. Really wish Takara released a spin-equalizing bottom that does not suffer balance issues, doesn't falter against opposite spin, and cannot be sway-KO'ed. I believe BGrin was one of the bottoms with those characteristics, but after seeing TBD test it I'll doubt it's capabilities until I own a second Dragooon.

just my 2 cents
(Apr. 05, 2014  5:42 PM)RDF3 Wrote: Really wish Takara released a spin-equalizing bottom that does not suffer balance issues, doesn't falter against opposite spin, and cannot be sway-KO'ed. I believe BGrin was one of the bottoms with those characteristics, but after seeing TBD test it I'll doubt it's capabilities until I own a second Dragooon.
Wh.. Why would you want something like that???? If F230 is this much of an issue, how do you think something like that would go down.


And no F230 is basically superior to B: D in most manners, slightly worse against same spin due to height and lack of suitable tips based on that but they spin pretty much as freely as each other.


Anyway even if a few of you can handle it in your areas, I'm still concerned by the amount of damage it's doing to some major areas, hence my proposal on the previous page, which I still think is the most reasonable solution proposed so far for all involved parties.
Most of the combos follow bahamoute dragooon f230 CF, right? If so, i figure that there is 2 ways to beat it. One, you counter before it can sway you out. The other (much harder from what i've seen) is to find a way not to be affected by the swaying, or use a spin track (like rw145) to stop yourself from getting a stadium out. I'm still working of course, but i thought i would let you know that i am working on it. If we can find a way to beat this, we may not have to ban it. That's my logic anyway.

Just thought you might want to know. If i find a solution, i'll let you know.
No, the main combo that is the problem is Genbull Dragooon F230 (Orange TT ) CF/GCF. Bahamooote isn't nearly as good, and the mold of F230 Matters.
Does the f230 spin track have more stamina than bearing drive? I ask because i have been testing with b : d and i don't know if that is a mistake or if that is an ok subsitute.
Their used for different things, but B : D will have better stamina then F230GCF (if the person uses it with a sway launch right) in solo launches.
(Apr. 11, 2014  8:22 PM)DRAGON KING Wrote: Their used for different things, but B : D will have better stamina then F230GCF (if the person uses it with a sway launch right) in solo launches.
Okay. Than i might be much closer to a solution then i thought (I might even get a solution that isn't sychrome). Thanks.