Beyblade News

You spoke and we listened! Over the past several years, the WBO community has come to value new formats and play styles. Many of you have hosted unranked 3on3 and P3C1 formats and it’s thanks to your hard work that we can make the following announcement:

Beginning January 1st 2022, Pick 3 Choose 1 and 3-on-3 will officially become ranked formats. This means that approval for ranked tournaments in these formats will no longer need to be granted on a case-by-case basis. This is the first time that the WBO has ever offered multiple match formats and we’re excited for what this HUGE change means for our communities around the world. We look forward to hearing your feedback as we roll this update out in the new year. More information about these formats can be found below or in the Organizer's Guide.

Read The Organizer's Guide

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Pick 3 Choose 1 Ruleset
Pick 3 Choose 1 Community Discussion Thread

Tournament History:
9/8/2019, MD: Qc'er Than Lightning (Host: Yami)
10/12/2019, NY: Easy Pickings (Host: LazerBeamz)
10/19/2019, CA: Van Nuys Beyclash (Host: Shindog)
11/3/2019, ON: yenesis (Host: Kei)
7/4/2021, ON: HIGH PARK THROWDOWN - Burst Limited (Host: Kei)
10/31/2021, ON: LET IT RIPTIDE (Host: Kei)

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3-on-3 Ruleset



Tournament History:
10/13/2019, ON: NO SLEEP TILL BEYBLADE (Host: Kei)
12/13/2020, FL: The Fire Festival (5G) (Host: FireKingArd)
7/4/2021, ON: HIGH PARK THROWDOWN 12 - BURST (Host: Kei)
8/8/2021, FL: 5G Farewell Bellafrogs :) (Host: Cscramon)
8/14/2021, MD: Overly Complicated Rules (Host: DeceasedCrab)
9/12/21, CA: Shin LA Burst Standard (Host: Shindog)
10/2/2021, ON: SOME BEYS ARE FAST, SOME BEYS ARE SLOW (Host: Kei)
10/17/2021, CA: It is all about "WBBA" (5G) (Host: Virtuous Circle)

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Feedback?
If you have any feedback on these particular changes, or any questions or suggestions for further adjustments or additions, please post your thoughts below or in the WBO Organized Play Rules thread.

Hey World Bladers! Outlined below are several important new ruling additions, updates, and clarifications to our Organized Play rulebooks and Guides. We have also added two new WBO Staff members!

View all WBO Organized Play Rules & Resources here, and a summary of the changes below:

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Updates Overview

• IMPORTANT All Rulebooks: Battle Limit & Consecutive Draws (First Stage)
  
• Burst Classic: Most Hasbro Turbo Exclusives & Xt+ Now Legal
  
• Burst Limited: Turbo Achilles A4 & Kerbeus K4 Now Legal
  
• Organizer’s Guide: Tournament Types – 3on3 Type for Unranked Added
  
• Organizer's Guide: Posting Multiple Events Simultaneously Policy
  
• Organizer's Guide: Organizers Participating as Players Policy Clarification
  
• Judge's Guide: Judges Participating as Players Policy Clarification
  
• Staff Additions: henwooja1 & froztz Have Joined WBO Staff
  

10.29.21 Update:

• Driver variants with the same name are now considered the same part in deck format (ie only one may be used per deck)
  
• Almight Now Banned in Classic
  

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All Rulebooks Updates
IMPORTANT Battle Limit & Consecutive Draws (First Stage)
We know how frustrating it can be when battles are drawn out to 30 minutes (or longer) because of consecutive draws. That is why effective immediately, we will be implementing a limit of 10 battles per match along with guidelines for consecutive draws on all first stage matches in order to ensure the timely completion of all first stage matches.

Click below to read the guidelines in the Burst Format rulebook. These guidelines have also been added into the Gameplay Appendix of each rulebook.

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Burst Classic Format Updates
Most Hasbro Turbo Exclusives & Xt+ Now Legal
Ever since Burst Classic was announced, we’ve seen tremendous support for the introduction of Hasbro Turbo exclusives to the format. As single and dual layer releases have become increasingly difficult (and expensive!) to obtain, we have made the decision to allow ALL Hasbro turbo exclusives in Burst Classic with the exception of Morrigna and Typhon. We hope this move will open the door for greater accessibility and encourage further testing in Burst Classic format.

But there’s more! We are also excited to share that we will be unbanning Xt+. While we do not believe that Xt+ poses a threat to Classic format, we plan to closely evaluate this move over the coming months to ensure that it does not negatively impact part diversity.

To clarify, the following parts will be legal, effective immediately:

Newly Unbanned Parts for Burst Classic Format Wrote:Legal
✔ Ogre
✔ Rudr
✔ Sphinx
✔ Balar
✔ Cyclops
✔ Dullahan
✔ Gargoyle
✔ Kraken
✔ Xtend+

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Burst Limited Format Updates
Turbo Achilles A4 & Kerbeus K4 Now Legal
You asked and we listened! Based on user testing, we have decided to allow Turbo Achilles A4 and Kerbeus K4 to be used in Burst Limited format going forward. To view our complete list of what is and is not considered legal in Burst Limited, please view the Burst Limited rulebook.

Newly Unbanned Parts for Burst Limited Format Wrote:Legal
✔ Turbo Achilles A4
✔ Kerbeus K4

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Organizer’s Guide Updates

Posting Multiple Events Simultaneously Policy
Under the "Planning Your Tournament" section of the Organizer's Guide we have added in a "Posting Multiple Events Simultaneously" section in order to permit Organizers who have a proven track record of successful completion of post-tournament responsibilities over their past three events the option to post up to two events simultaneously on the website.

We understand that some Organizers like to host multiple events on one day or want greater flexibility in planning multiple upcoming events in their community. The aim of this update is to formalize the ability for Organizers to do this if they can demonstrate that they are trustworthy and that we will not have to worry about their past events creating any blocks in our event processing queue due to their failure to complete their post-tournament responsibilities.

Any Organizer who wants to post more than two events simultaneously (ex. For a multi-event series or at a multi-day convention) will still require special approval. We are considering the implementation of a formalized process for this as well, but it is not ready at this time.

Read the full policy here.

Tournament Types – 3on3 Type for Unranked Added
Over the past several months we’ve seen an upswing in demand for our WBBA-inspired 3on3 battle format. We’re thrilled to announce that starting today, 3on3 is an official unranked WBO Tournament Type that will no longer require unique approval.

Read 3on3 Type rules here.

Organizers Participating as Players Policy Clarification
In the "Running Your Tournament" section of the Organizer's Guide we have added in a new policy clarification regarding any Organizers who choose to play in their own tournaments. The purpose of the addition is to clarify that Organizers are indeed permitted to participate and that while they are playing in their own matches, they are to be treated solely as players for anything directly related to their match; they are not responsible for enforcing rulings in these specific scenarios, judges are.

Read the full policy here.

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Judge's Guide Updates

Judges Participating as Players Policy Clarification
Under "Judging Guidelines" in the Judge's Guide we've added a "Playing in a Tournament You Are Judging" section worded similarly to the above policy clarification for Organizers playing in their own tournaments.

Read the full policy here.

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Staff Additions
henwooja1 & froztz Have Joined WBO Staff
We are thrilled to announce that henwooja1 and froztz will be joining our WBO Staff team. They have demonstrated immense knowledge of the Beyblade metagame, commitment to the community, and will be focusing their efforts as WBO Staff members on issues related to Organized Play.

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Feedback?
If you have any feedback on these particular changes, or any questions or suggestions for further adjustments or additions, please post your thoughts below or in the WBO Organized Play Rules thread.

Thank you to everyone for your continued support of WBO Organized Play! We appreciate any and all feedback and are always looking to improve and clarify things where possible.

The Organized Play team is currently working hard and promoting unranked test events in search of solution(s) for the excessively long and consecutive draws laden matches. We have internally set a deadline to have solution(s) online by Nov 30, 2021.  A multitude of options are being discussed and explored.  We are also closely following the related discussions in the forums and on Discord.  We want to get this right and we appreciate your patience.

We're starting off September by bringing back Bit Contests, we will now be hosting several design and photography themed Bit Contests each year!

For this contest we invite you to design a Dynamite Battle evolution of any Burst Beyblade that only had a single release. Here are some examples: Fang Fenrir, Quad Quetzalcoatl, Twin Nemesis, Alter Chronos, Dead Hades, Archer Hercules, Judgment Joker, Bushin Ashura, and many more. Only designs based on Beyblades with a single official evolution will be accepted.

Prize

1st place will earn this prize!

Bit Boosters

The top 3 winners will receive their choice of the following huge list of Bit Boosters:

• Bit Booster RED
  
• Bit Booster BLUE
  
• Bit Booster GREEN
  
• Bit Booster ORANGE
  
• Bit Booster YELLOW
  
• Bit Booster PURPLE
  
• Bit Booster CRIMSON
  
• Bit Booster AZURE
  
• Bit Booster AMBER
  
• Bit Booster VIOLET
  
• Bit Booster JADE
  
• Bit Booster JET
  
• Bit Booster VIVID
  
• Bit Booster AMETHYST
  
• Bit Booster SAPPHIRE
  
• Bit Booster EMERALD
  
• Bit Booster RUBY
  
• Bit Booster ONYX
  
• Bit Booster DRIVER
  
• Bit Booster GARNET
  
• Bit Booster AZURITE
  

Contest Rules

• Limit one entry per person! Your first entry will be the only one that's considered and you cannot edit your post, so work hard on it!
  
• Design must be based on an existing Beyblade Burst top that has only a single evolution, something like Evil-eye for example has two evolutions and would not qualify, also must not have a Hasbro evolution, such as Inferno Salamander.
  
• WBO Staff are not eligible.
  
• You have until 11:59:59 PM EST Friday, October 15th, 2021 to submit your design. Any entries after that will be disqualified!
  
• Post your entries in this thread! (You can also talk about the contest, ideas, or whatever in this thread as well!) However, you cannot post drafts of your entry and ask for feedback!
  

Here are some of the criteria your entry will be graded on:

• Artistry: Obviously, someone who hand draws their Beyblade for several hours is going to be taken more seriously than someone who quickly puts something together in MS Paint. That being said, we understand that not everyone has the same artistic ability. Effort is what's important!
  
• Originality: Try to think outside of the box and use ideas that haven't been used in Beyblade yet!
  
• Balance: Remember guys: there's no best Beyblade! If you make a Beyblade that's so broken it would theoretically ruin the metagame and be banned even by TAKARA-TOMY, try to think of something else! Don't draw a Beyblade that's only junk, but try to balance everything with good and bad traits!
  

Good luck everyone!

Thank you to MallOfToys.com!

Huge thank you to MallOfToys.com for sponsoring this giveaway. Everyone, if you're looking for the latest Takara-Tomy Beyblades at the lowest prices, be sure to check out their website.


Heads up: If you buy something through MallOfToys, you won’t pay any extra, but worldbeyblade.org will get a small commission. As a registered not-for-profit organization, all funds are poured back into the community to help pay for our hosting expenses, develop new features, offer giveaways, and more. We appreciate the support!

Hey World Bladers!

Outlined below are several important new ruling additions, updates, and clarifications to some WBO Organized Play rulebooks and the Organizers' Guide. View all WBO Organized Play Rules & Resources here, and a summary of the changes below:

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Updates Overview

• IMPORTANT: Burst Limited: Ranked starting August 2nd, 2021
  
• Burst Limited: Knockouts in Deck Format Finals now 2 points
  
• Burst Classic: Ban List Update - Shot Driver
  
• Burst Classic: Rulebook Clarification on Disk Legality
  
• All Burst Formats: Clarification on "Gear" Attachments
  
• All Burst Formats: Clarification on "Limit Break" Disk Usage
  
• IMPORTANT: Event Proposals: Date Conflict Adjustment
  

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Burst Limited Updates


IMPORTANT: Burst Limited goes Ranked starting August 2nd, 2021!

Thirteen months ago, we annnounced Burst Limited as a up-and-coming format for Burst, featuring a ruleset and banlist that focused on two main points: creating an environment for some older God and Cho-Z era parts to thrive, and one that would also be balanced well enough for Hasbro parts to also be competitively viable as well.

After thirteen months of events, testing and format updates, today, we are excited to announce that Burst Limited will become a fully-fledged ranked format starting Monday 2nd August!


Thank you everyone who has participated in unranked Burst Limited tournaments, those who have tested parts and combos in the format, and the overall enthusiasm the community has shown for Burst Limited. While various ongoings in the world have not made development of this format easy, we appreciate everyone's efforts to develop this format despite the circumstances.

But this isn't the end to development of this format either! As a limited format, we plan to routinely update this format to keep battles feeling new and fresh, while still keeping it the same format you've come to know and love. As such, we look forward to growing this format with you all as well with the many exciting battles to come.

Knockouts in Deck Format Finals now worth 2 points

As our first major change to Burst Limited, we've made the decision to increase the points a Knockout (KO) awards in Deck Format Finals to 2 points. The rulebook has been updated accordingly:

Burst Limited Format Rules - Deck Format Wrote:Scoring

• Matches are to 5 points.
  
• Out-spins: 1 point
  
• Burst and KO: 2 points.
  
• Non-contact knock-out or burst: 1 point
  • If a Beyblade exits the stadium or bursts without making contact with the opposing Beyblade they’ll receive 1 point.
    
• Frame, God Chip, or Driver Chip falling off: 1 point.
  

While this change may have come out of the blue for some, we have made this decision based on two main factors;

• The prevalence of Dash Drivers and Opposite Spin combinations.
  
• The level of skill required to score a knock-out, particularly with the current metagame in this format.
  

Please note that this only affects Deck Format Finals, and knockouts will continue to award 1 point in preliminary rounds.

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Burst Classic Updates


Ban List Update - Shot Driver is now Banned

In line with our existing ruling on Drivers with integrated Disks within this format, we have taken the decision to ban the Shot Driver from Burst Classic. The rulebook has been updated accordingly:

Burst Classic Format Rules - Banned Parts Wrote:Performance Tips/Drivers

• ...
  
• Metal Accel, Metal Fusion, Metal Defense
  
• Hybrid, Ignition’, Generate, Shot
  
• All HyperSphere Drivers
  

While we prefer not to restrict parts shortly after their release, given the nature of this Driver, we determined to be the best choice of action to not upset the metagame. However, as with all restrictions, we welcome the community to contribute to testing on this part within our Burst Classic Customizations subforum should anyone feel that this decision should be overturned.

Rulebook Clarification on Disk Legality

Traditionally, we have routinely updated the Burst Classic rulebook to immediately restrict Disks from new systems. However, this has become confusing and tedious for not only players, but for us as well.

Within Classic, we have been clear from the start that the original lineup of 25 Disks available during the Single and Dual Layer eras are intended to be the only usable Disks within the format, with newly released Drivers being the main variable to mix up the metagame.

As such, we have simplified the listing in our rulebook to specify the Disks that are permitted, rather than add clauses for those that aren't. Please see the rewritten ruling below:

Burst Classic Format Rules - Legal Parts Wrote:Forge Discs

• Aero, Armed, Boost, Bumper, Central, Down, Force, Gravity, Heavy, Infinity, Jerk, Knuckle, Limited, Magnum, Nine, Oval, Polish, Quarter, Ring, Spread, Triple, Upper, Vertical, Wing, and Yell.
  

We hope this change provides clarity within this area and reduces the number of assumptions or guesses that take place when we haven't updated our clauses on time.

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All Burst Format Updates

Rulebook clarification on "Gear" Attachments

Following some enquiries regarding the recent "Gear" attachments introduced during the Dynamite Battle System, we would like to clarify that these Gears may not be removed between battles in a match. Please see the clarified ruling below:

All Burst Format Rules - Beyblade/Part-Specific Rulings Wrote:Part Attachments (e.g. Xtend+ Chip, +X, +Z, DB Gears)

• Cannot be removed from a Beyblade for the duration of a match once it has been submitted to the judge for inspection.
  
• If an attachment comes off during battle, the opponent is awarded 1 point.
  

This rule is in-line with our previous rulings on Layer Attachments, Frames and Driver Chips. Our intention has always been that these attachments create a composition that cannot be changed between rounds, so if you choose to use compositions such as Dynamite+F, Nexus+S or Venture+V, you are doing so knowing that these attachments may not be removed.

Rulebook clarification on "Limit Break" Disk Usage

We have also received a number of enquiries regarding Limit Break System Rings and their compatibility with Drivers with integrated Disks, such as Shot. We would like to clarify that, while these may fit together in certain circumstances, these are not intended for use with these Rings, and we have updated our ruling on usable Limit Break System Disks to take this into account. Please see the updated ruling below:

All Burst Format Rules - Beyblade/Part-Specific Rulings Wrote:Limit Break Layers

• Limit Break System Rings (Burn, Volcano, and The End) may only be used with Limit Break System Disks (Cho, Ou, and Kou).
  
• Drivers with integrated Disks may not be used in combination with these Rings.
  

This rule is in-line with both our existing ruling covering Disk usage on these Rings, and the intended usage for these Rings based on Takara-Tomy and wbba guidelines.

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Organizer's Guide Updates

IMPORTANT: Distance Restrictions added for events with conflicting dates

With WBO Organized Play events throughout the world ramping up once again, we would like to take the opportunity to clarify what has been a somewhat ambiguous guideline from us at times: the distance restriction between two events.

This restriction was added several years ago as a way to enforce respect within communities, and not let two events from different hosts essentially sabotage each other by being too close. Our existing restriction did not place a specific distance on this, and was instead assessed on a case-by-case basis from us, and sometimes permitted with consent between the two Organizers in question.

Today, we are clarifying this restriction to state that events from different Organizers may not be within 50 miles/80 kilometres of each other if they are to take place on the same day. The clause that permits this to be overruled if both Organizers agree remains in place. Please see the updated ruling below:

Organizer\s Guide - Planning Your Tournament Wrote:Date Conflicts
Organizers may not host an event within the same week as another Organizer within a 50 mile/80 Kilometer radius that is already hosting an approved event without their written approval in the event proposal for their secondary event.

We hope this provides some clarity on how we assess the distance between events, and allows Organizers to better plan their events should they host on the same weekend.

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Feedback?

If you have any feedback on these particular changes, or any questions or suggestions for further adjustments or additions, please post your thoughts below or in the WBO Organized Play Rules thread.

Thank you to everyone for your continued support of WBO Organized Play! We appreciate any and all feedback and are always looking to improve and clarify things where possible.

If you try to take the WBO Organizer’s Quiz today, you might notice a few changes. We’re thrilled to announce that we have officially completed a long overdue overhaul of the Organizer’s Quiz. From now on, the quiz will be multiple choice and part of a two-step Organizer application process. This means that there will be less time-consuming back-and-forth on responses, and you will not be required to explain your answer.

This does not mean that the Organizer’s Quiz will be any less meaningful or easier to pass than it was before. Going forward, prospective Organizers will be required to score 100% on our 10-question quiz in order to move on to the second stage in our new two-step onboarding process. Similarly, in order to encourage applicants to take the quiz only when they're ready, quizzes may only be submitted once every 30 days, so be sure to read up on the Organizer’s Guide and other official WBO documentation before submitting your first quiz!

What is the second step in the new organizer onboarding process?

Over time, we’ve observed that our Organizer’s Quiz is great at assessing the technical knowledge of candidates, but not always the ability to think critically both under pressure and on-the-fly, which has become increasingly important over the years. We feel that being a WBO Organizer is a big responsibility and not something to be taken lightly. Our Organizers represent us around the globe, and should be prepared to not only be a role-model to prospective Bladers, but also be equipped to think quickly to address any complications that could arise at their events.

As such, in order to help us learn more about our candidates - their knowledge, personalities and ability to react to unconventional scenarios - we’ve now added an interview component to the Organizer’s Quiz process. This takes the form of a 10-15 minute interview, in which the Organized Play team will talk to you to both learn more about you, but also quiz you on some quick-fire scenarios to hear your approach to various issues that could arise at your events. WBO Organized Play staff will be notified when users pass the Organizer’s Quiz, and will reach out to applicants within 1 week of their quiz submission to schedule this brief interview over Discord. Discord is our primary mode of communication between Organizers and Staff, and we highly encourage all prospective Organizers to make an account, even if it’s for the temporary purpose of onboarding.

No Discord? No worries! We understand that there may be other factors preventing a hopeful organizer from creating an account, and are willing to make accommodations, such as conducting the interview on an alternative platform (Google Hangouts), if need be.

Finally, we want to take a moment to acknowledge the substantial changes to event organization and tournament rulings that have taken place in recent years. In light of these updates, Organizers who have not hosted a tournament in over two years will be required to reapply for Organizer status by taking the new Organizer’s Quiz. Previous Organizers will not be required to schedule an interview with WBO staff to retain their Organizer status, even if they haven’t hosted in over two years.

As part of our push to make tournament organization easier than ever before, we’ll  also be releasing in-depth video guides for our new organizers to aid in the process and help answer potential questions along the way. The first of these videos will be available soon on our YouTube channel, and we are excited to announce that three more will be posted later this month. We’re thrilled to share these updates with you, and we believe that they will make the organizer on-boarding process better for everyone. As always we look forward to hearing your thoughts and feedback as we transition to this new process.

Hello fellow Bladers!

Over the past few months, the Organized Play team has been in discussion around the state of our various formats. With the monthly release of new parts having the potential to shake up balanced formats like Burst Class and Burst Limited, we've decided to institute a Watchlist.

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Why Create a Watchlist?


Having a public Watchlist allows us (both Organized Play and WBO Community members) to more readily monitor our state of play in our various formats and ensure that our formats stay as balanced as possible. We aim to use tournament data and testing to inform what parts get added or removed from this Watchlist, or moved to our Ban List.

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Note on Newly Released Parts

For the month after a new Beyblade has been released, that Beyblade & its associated new parts will be added to the Watchlist across all applicable formats. Again, tournament data and testing will inform wether or not it will be removed from the Watchlist, or moved to our Ban List.

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Current Watchlist
You can find our current watchlist by clicking the button below.

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How you can help!

Tournament data and testing is a community effort. Your usage of these parts will help inform how the Organized Play Team updates our Watchlist. We look forward to working with you all in ensuring balanced formats for play!

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Feedback:

If you have any feedback on these particular changes, or any questions or suggestions for further adjustments or additions, please post your thoughts below or in the WBO Organized Play Rules thread.

Thanks for your continued support of WBO Organized Play! We always appreciate your feedback and are constantly looking to improve and clarify things where ever possible.

While most of our updates are around exciting changes or upcoming events, today's update is about a more serious topic: how we treat each other within our community, and how we respond to users that discriminate against others.

We recently issued a suspension to user marutti for a repeated history of posting derogatory messages targeted towards those living in Korea or of Korean descent.

Weighing the severity of these comments (which we won't repeat here), we've ultimately decided to suspend marutti from the World Beyblade Organization website and Discord server temporarily.

We typically don't comment on decisions like this publicly, but we see sharing this information as being in the best interests of the community because:

1. Several members have asked why marutti was suspended, and we want to provide a clear answer.
2. We want to remind the community of the WBO's guidelines around hate speech and discriminatory language.
3. We want to be transparent about what we've learned from this situation, and the changes we'll make based on it.

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Our community guidelines
We want to take this opportunity to reiterate the World Beyblade Organizations Community Rules, which exist to keep the Beyblade community a welcoming place for everyone.

Listed within is a specific rule around discriminatory and abusive language:

Quote:8. Hate speech and group slurs - Discrimination, abuse, threats or prejudice against a particular group, for example based on race, gender, religion or sexual orientation, in a way that a reasonable person would find offensive.

We want to make it clear: there is no place in the World Beyblade Organization for racism or discriminatory behavior of any kind.

If you see content like this anywhere within the World Beyblade Organization -- in a post on worldbeyblade.org, from another member in a private message, or in our Discord server -- please report it immediately.

We've updated our Community Rules with clear instructions on how to report any issues, which you can read below. (A slightly different version specific to Discord can be found in the #rules channel there.)

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About our response

The pattern of discriminatory comments from marutti was brought to our attention on May 17, 2021, although the comments themselves happened at various points in the past. While we'd previously noticed some of marutti's comments and asked him to stop, the scale of the issue wasn't totally clear until it was highlighted to us by a member of the community.

We also often rely on auto-moderation tools to highlight offensive language, but because marutti's posts didn't necessarily include slurs or other obviously derogatory comments, they were never picked up by our flagging tools.

Finally, we realized there is some ambiguity in our moderation guidelines around how suspensions and bans are applied across the worldbeyblade.org platform and our Discord server. Longtime members might know that the Discord server is still a very new thing for us, and we're definitely still learning as we go. We'll be updating our internal moderation guidelines to ensure our moderators feel confident and empowered to take action in the moment.

We've taken some time to make a statement about this, and we apologize for any confusion that it may have caused. The truth is we wanted to ensure that we took the time to respond appropriately and take steps to ensure similar situations aren't repeated in the future.

Going forward, we will be implementing extra measures to ensure that any questionable content such as this is addressed and resolved by the team sooner rather than later and in a way that not only we're satisfied with, but the community as a whole can be satisfied with as well.

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Thanks everyone for your understanding in this matter. If anyone has any questions, comments or concerns regarding this matter, please contact a member of the Staff team for further support.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about the Community Rules or how they are enforced in general, please feel free to post in the Discuss worldbeyblade.org forum.

Hello World Bladers!

A quick announcement for you today: we have now introduced a brand new forum called “Beyblade Products”!


What is this forum for?
As the name suggests, this forum will exclusively contain threads related to specific Beyblade products. In this forum, you can discuss all past, current, and upcoming official Beyblade releases.

New threads in this forum must be approved by our moderation team. Before you attempt to post a thread, be sure read the forum rules.

Why did we create this forum?
Previously, Beyblade product threads existed in the Beyblade General forum with “Product” prefix.

This prefix helped to make the threads stand out and also enabled users to filter the forum by them specifically.

However, the filtering functionality was a bit obscure and it's unlikely that many of you used it. We also believe that the discussion surrounding products is important enough to warrant an easier method of browsing, which is why we decided to create the Beyblade Products forum.

We also have plans to improve the visibility and standardization of product threads in the future, and this is the first step towards creating a structure that will allow us to do that.

Hello everyone! Recently, the Organized Play division of the WBO Staff met to review some proposed updates to the rules of several formats.

Again, while there are some larger-scale adjustments in the works for competitive play that have yet to have some of their finer details ironed out, we'll keep you updated on those when they're ready, so keep an eye out!

For now, here are all of the changes that we agreed on during the meeting, which can be enacted immediately.

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Updates Overview

• All Formats: Mode Changes Ruling Update
  
• All Formats: Physical Launch Position Ruling Update
  
• Burst Format: Driver Chip (Xt+, Xc'+X, Zn'+Z) Ruling Update
  
• Burst Format: Dual spin parts rule clarification
  

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All Formats: Mode Changes Ruling Update
We have added a new addition (seen below in green) to the "Parts with multiple modes" rules. This addition will apply to parts like Cho-Z Valkyrie, Tempest Ring, Hyperion Burn and Buster Xcalius, for example.

Quote:Parts with multiple modes
Unless specified otherwise under Beyblade/Part-Specific Rulings above, the following applies for all parts with multiple modes:

• Modes may be changed at any point during the match before it begins or between rounds.
  
• If the part with a mode change requires disassembly, the initial mode must be selected during the Beyblade Selection phase before presenting your Beyblade to the judge for inspection. After the first round, it may only be changed once for the entire match.
  
• If two players wish to change modes at the same time, they must turn around and do so in secret before continuing the match.
  
• Parts with gimmicks/mode changes that may activate or change–whether intentionally or not–post-launch must be reset after each round. These are not considered mode changes and do not count towards the single mode change per battle limit for parts with mode changes that require disassembly.
  

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All Formats: Physical Launch Position Ruling Update

We have amended our rules of what constitutes a legal launch position slightly for all tournament formats.

The updated ruling is below in green.

Old WBO Rulebook (All Formats) Wrote:Launching

A round begins with the call of “3–2–1 Go Shoot!”

Both bladers must simultaneously launch their Beyblades as the word “shoot” is called.

• Keep your Launcher held within your half of the BeyStadium. Never attempt to obstruct your opponent’s launch.
  
• Launch your Beyblade from just above the opening in the BeyStadium’s barrier (30cm maximum from the stadium floor).
  
• Do not touch the BeyStadium at any time. If you think the BeyStadium should be adjusted, ask a judge.
  
• If a winder-based launcher is being used, a legal launch consists of the winder being pulled out of the launcher, rather than pushed in.
  

New WBO Rulebook (All Formats) Wrote:Launching

A round begins with the call of “3–2–1 Go Shoot!”

Both bladers must simultaneously launch their Beyblades as the word “shoot” is called.

• Keep your Launcher held within your half of the BeyStadium. Never attempt to obstruct your opponent’s launch.
  
• Bladers must keep their Beyblade within a 30cm/1ft radius from the centerpoint of the BeyStadium floor for the duration of their launch.
  
• Do not touch the BeyStadium at any time. If you think the BeyStadium should be adjusted, ask a judge.
  
• If a winder-based launcher is being used, a legal launch consists of the winder being pulled out of the launcher, rather than pushed in.
  

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Burst Format: Driver Chips

Driver Chips (e.g. Xtend+ Chip, +X, +Z) cannot be removed from a Beyblade for the duration of a match once it has been submitted to the judge for inspection. 

If a Driver Chip comes off during battle, the opponent is awarded 1 point.

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Burst Format: Removing Dual Spin Layer Examples in the Burst Rulebook

The examples of dual spin parts given in the Burst Format Rulebook has been removed to reduce confusion regarding dual spin parts.  Spin direction cannot be changed after the selection phase for any dual spin part. 

[font="Titillium Web", sans-serif]All Dual Spin Parts[/font]

• [font="Source Sans Pro", sans-serif][font="Source Sans Pro", sans-serif]The mode of any dual-spin Layer or Layer Base [/font][font="Source Sans Pro", sans-serif]must be [/font][font="Source Sans Pro", sans-serif]selected during the Beyblade Selection phase before submitting it to the judge for inspection.[/font][/font]
  
• [font="Source Sans Pro", sans-serif][font="Source Sans Pro", sans-serif]After a combination has been submitted for inspection, the mode of a dual-spin part [/font][font="Source Sans Pro", sans-serif]cannot[/font][font="Source Sans Pro", sans-serif] be changed for the duration of the match.[/font][/font]
  
• [font="Source Sans Pro", sans-serif][font="Source Sans Pro", sans-serif]This applies to:[/font][/font]
  • [font="Source Sans Pro", sans-serif][font="Source Sans Pro", sans-serif]Legend Spriggan/Legend Spryzen S3[/font][/font]
    
  • [font="Source Sans Pro", sans-serif][font="Source Sans Pro", sans-serif]Spriggan Requiem/Spryzen Requiem S3[/font][/font]
    
  • [font="Source Sans Pro", sans-serif][font="Source Sans Pro", sans-serif]Cho-Z Spriggan/Turbo Spryzen S4[/font][/font]
    
  • [font="Source Sans Pro", sans-serif][font="Source Sans Pro", sans-serif]Lord Layer Base[/font][/font]
    
  • [font="Source Sans Pro", sans-serif]Master Layer Base[/font]
    

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Feedback?
If you have any feedback on these particular changes, or any questions or suggestions for further adjustments or additions, please post your thoughts below or in the WBO Organized Play Rules thread.

Thank you to everyone for your continued support of WBO Organized Play! We appreciate any and all feedback and are always looking to improve and clarify things where possible.

Hey World Bladers!

We previously touched upon our plans to update our Community Rules to properly clarify our stance on leaks and piracy both on our platform and at our events. Today, we're pleased to announce that the finalised rules for this have now been added to our Community Rules.

In addition, we have also clarified our stance on different methods of profiting from WBO Organized Play events in an update to our Terms of Service and Organizer's Guide.

Please note that these rule changes are effective immediately. We ask that everyone familiarises themselves with these new rules as soon as possible.

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Community Rules Update

Posting paid and/or unreleased content

As of today, our Community Rules now include the following clause:

NEW

WBO Community Rules – Things Not to Do Wrote:Posting paid and/or unreleased content - Posting of any images, videos, article transcriptions, or links showing or giving access to paid or officially unreleased copyrighted material is prohibited. Verbal discussion about such material is OK. Staff reserve the right to remove any such material and warnings may be issued to anyone sharing these on the Platform.

This rule includes, but is not limited to: the posting of pages from CoroCoro magazine and posting links to anime fansubs.

This rule does not include posting photos or videos of official Beyblade products.

Our Beyblade Anime & Manga subforum has also been updated with the following forum-specific rules:

NEW

Beyblade Anime & Manga – Forum Rules Wrote:

• Leaks & Piracy - Please be aware of the restrictions noted in our Community Rules under "Posting paid and/or unreleased content". Posts containing links to pirated or unofficial versions of Beyblade media will be subject to removal with a formal warning. Always support the official release where possible.
  
• No "Link Begging" - Repeatedly asking/begging for links to access Beyblade anime or manga via illegitimate means is prohibited and is subject to formal warning.
  

But why?

We appreciate that these may not be popular changes, but we expect all members to diligently follow these rules. This has been essential for us to impose in order to keep Fighting Spirits Inc. (and in turn, the World Beyblade Organization) legally in the clear when it comes to copyright law.

Japan's anti-online piracy law was updated at the beginning of October and, while it doesn't apply to international websites in it's current state, we feel that it is both the safest and best option to support this in it's current state anyway. The fact of the matter is that many of the sites used to share Beyblade episodes or chapters with each other in the past have indeed been unofficial and breaches of piracy, so we would like to show solidarity in this respect by outright banning these.

The bottom line: wherever and whenever possible, you should always support the official releases, whether it's for Beyblade or any other fandom.

Fansubbing groups that have shared their works via our platform, such as Hoshi-no-Yume's work with the Burst anime, have been informed of these changes already. While you will no longer see links to download their episode files, their translated scripts are still permitted onsite and we welcome these to be shared with the community.

Reporting Leaks/Piracy

If you see any posts breaking these rules, please use the Report function and select the new "Contains Leaks/Piracy" option to report it directly to us. We advise against handling the situation yourself and encourage everyone to get our Moderation team involved instead.

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Terms of Service/Organizer's Guide/Event Page Template Updates

Terms of Service – Event Profiting Policy
We have made updates to our Terms of Service, Organizer's Guide, and event page template in order to clarify our stance on the various ways in which people may attempt to (intentionally or not) profit from or conduct unapproved contests, raffles, gambling, or betting at WBO Organized Play events.


UPDATED

Terms of Service – Communities, Events & Organizers Wrote:

• By accessing our Platform, you agree not to hold Fighting Spirits Inc. responsible or liable for anything that happens in connection with third-party transactions, services, contests, raffles, interactions with members, or anything in connection with offline in-person gatherings advertised or discussed on the Platform.
  

NEW

Terms of Service – Communities, Events & Organizers Wrote:

• Advertising the sale of any product or service as well as posting about any contest, raffle, gambling, or betting on any WBO Beyblade Tournament event page is prohibited for all users unless explicitly approved beforehand by Fighting Spirits Inc.
  
• Selling any product or service or conducting a contest, raffle, gambling, or betting within the venue of a WBO Beyblade Tournament is prohibited unless explicitly approved beforehand by the operator of the venue and Fighting Spirits Inc.
  

Organizer's Guide – Event Profiting Policy

NEW

Organizer\s Guide – Tournament Management Wrote:Contests, Raffles, and Selling During Your Events
All members are subject to our Terms of Service, including our policy on contests, raffles, gambling, and betting and selling at events.

If you notice someone advertising or posting about these things on your event page, report it to a WBO Staff Member.

If you notice someone conducting these activities within your event venue, you may ask them to stop. However, if you do not feel comfortable or safe doing so, refrain from interacting with them and report it to a WBO Staff Member afterwards.

Event Page Template – Event Profiting Policy & ToS Agreement
In addition to point number eight below, we've also added in number nine to re-confirm each attendees acceptance of our Terms of Service.

NEW

Event Page Template Wrote:Need-to-Know Information

...

8. Contests, Raffles, Gambling, Betting, and Selling Are Prohibited
Advertising the sale of any product or service, as well as posting about any contest, raffle, gambling, or betting on this event page and conducting them at the event without approval by Fighting Spirits Inc. staff is prohibited. Please contact the Organized Play team if you require approval.

9. Terms of Service
All event attendees and users of this website are subject to our Terms of Service.

Again, why?

While we don't like imposing these restrictions any more than you guys do, these are essential to keep Fighting Spirits Inc. (and in turn, the World Beyblade Organization) legally in the clear. Many venues, such as public parks, do require the individual seller or the organization to carry a license in order to do a trade, so this is a change to not only protect the organization as a whole, but also yourselves from any potential trouble.

We are careful to note that permission can be requested from the Organized Play team if you feel that selling is fine at your venue, or if you do indeed carry a trading license for that venue. We aren't trying to completely stop the selling of product, but rather moderate it to protect all parties involved.

Where possible, we do recommend performing any transactions away from the event venue, preferably before arriving at the event. The Bey Marketplace subforum does also exist to support online buying, selling and trading, so we also encourage all users to consider using that too.

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Questions, Concerns, or Comments?
If you have any questions, concerns, or comments about the updates posted here, please feel free to reach out to a WBO Staff member privately or post in the Discuss worldbeyblade.org forum if it is an issue which warrants public discussion.

Hey World Bladers!

As we mentioned in our recent Community Rules update, the time has come to expand our Moderation team once more. With the WBO Platform having expanded to include an official Discord server this year, we've felt the need for our 3-person team to be expanded further to ensure we can keep up with the increased activity that multiple platforms brings.

So, who are the lucky few?
Over the past few weeks, we've contacted a number of individuals who we feel would be ideal for a moderation role based on the quality of their posting, their availability in relation to our weakest periods of moderation, and their willingness and cooperation to not only work alongside us, but alongside the community as a whole to ensure the WBO remains the best place to discuss Beyblade.

Without further ado, we're pleased to welcome to the following members to the Moderation team:

• ThaKingTai
  
• CitrusNinja3
  
• SupaDav03
  

These three join Jinbee, Mage and TrainiacJ to form a 6-person Moderation team. We hope that everyone will warmly welcome them to the team!

But what about me?
The Staff team are always looking for members to join the team and help support our weakest areas, so don't panic if we didn't contact you this time around! We do carefully consider all of our members when we're looking to expand the team, and our shortlists for specific roles are often very extensive - as was certainly the case this time!

When considering who to add to the team, we look at everyone as a whole, rather than those who have contacted us asking to join. If you're seriously looking to join us, keep up your best community work either online via our forum or Discord, or in person at WBO Competitive Play events and we'll be sure to notice you and be in touch when a suitable position comes up!

Remember - the staff team are just Bladers like you, but with a little extra power to both maintain peace and push the WBO onwards to greater heights. None of the team are above the rules and ever will be!

Upcoming Leaks/Rumors Clause
As mentioned in the Questions about the WBO thread a few weeks ago, we will be updating our Community Rules to include a clause regarding illegitimately obtained leaks and rumours. While the Moderation team are working on the specific wording of this clause at the moment, we're conscious that another wave of CoroCoro leaks are likely on the horizon, and we'd like to provide a brief overview of what we expect when dealing with leaks and rumours before this happens:

• Sharing content from leaked publications or announcements prior to their intended release date will no longer be permitted anywhere on our platform.
  • This includes the sharing of any media content, even if it is hosted on a non-WBO maintained service, such as Imgur. 
    
• Discussion of leaked materials will still be permitted in a text-only format, and we strongly discourage users from sharing any media-based materials with others.
  

While we appreciate this decision will come with some resistance and disapproval, we ask all members to remember that we have a responsibility to protect and develop both the WBO and Fighting Spirits Inc, and this is an essential move to keep us abiding by copyright laws and avoid any potential legal action. We hope to have a definitive version of this clause added to our Community Rules by the end of this coming week.

Thanks all!

Hi everyone! Recently, the Organized Play division of the WBO Staff met to review some proposed updates to the rules of several formats, as well as get a pulse check on our guidelines for hosting tournaments during the era of COVID-19.

While there are some larger-scale adjustments in the works for competitive play that have yet to have some of their finer details ironed out, we'll keep you updated on those when they're ready, so keep an eye out!

For now, here are all of the changes that we agreed on during the meeting, which can be enacted immediately.

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Updates Overview

• Organizer's Guide: COVID-19 Requirements for Tournaments
  
• All Rulebooks: Update to Deck Format Launcher Restrictions
  
• Burst Limited Format: Ban List Updates
  
• Plastics Format: Ban List Updates
  

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COVID-19 Requirements for Tournaments

In addition to the following the WBO COVID requirements while attending a tournament, organizers must now announce the local COVID requirements for their state or region at the venue, at the start of the event. This can most easily be done when announcing the rules at the beginning of a tournament.

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Update to Deck Format Launcher Restrictions

Effective September 28 2020, the WBO will be loosening restrictions regarding using different Launcher setups during Deck Format. Players may now include up to three Launchers in their Deck, one per combo. Additionally, the restriction for re-configuring Launcher setups during a match has been removed.

Launchers can still be repeated. For example, you can use the Long Beylauncher LR with a Grip as your sole Launcher in a dual-spin, three-combo Deck. However, now you may also include the left and right Sparking Launchers for your other two combos, and exchange the grip between the Launchers as you use them.

Old WBO _____ Format Rules: Deck Format Wrote:Deck Building

1. Choose 3 Beyblades: Build up to 3 Beyblades with no repeating parts that will make up your deck for the match.
   
2. Choose Launcher(s): Choose one launcher for each spin direction for the match.
   
3. Declare you are "set" to the judge.
   
4. Judge Inspects Deck: The judge will inspect your deck and launcher(s).
   
5. Players Inspect Opponent's Deck: Before the match begins, both Bladers will inspect each other’s decks.
   
6. Beyblade Selection: Both players then select their first Beyblade in secret.
   

New WBO _____ Format Rules: Deck Format Wrote:Deck Building

1. Choose 3 Beyblades: Build up to 3 Beyblades with no repeating parts that will make up your deck for the match.
   
2. Choose Launcher(s): Choose up to three launchers (one launcher per combo) for the match.
   
3. Declare you are "set" to the judge.
   
4. Judge Inspects Deck: The judge will inspect your deck and launcher(s).
   
5. Players Inspect Opponent's Deck: Before the match begins, both Bladers will inspect each other’s decks.
   
6. Beyblade Selection: Both players then select their first Beyblade in secret.
   

Old WBO _____ Format Rules: Gameplay Appendix - Deck Format Advanced Rulings Wrote:

• Launchers & Accessories:
  • Launchers and accessories must be chosen during the deck building phase.
    
  • Accessories attached to each launcher may not be removed or reconfigured once the match has begun.
    

New WBO _____ Format Rules: Gameplay Appendix - Deck Format Advanced Rulings Wrote:

• Launchers & Accessories:
  • Launchers and accessories must be chosen during the deck building phase.
    
  • Accessories attached to each launcher may not be removed or reconfigured once the match has begun.
    

These rules were changed due to some issues where certain Layers were incompatible with certain Launchers and were unlaunchable as a result, and in the interest of making Deck Format more accessible to players that use more complex Launcher setups.

Ultimately, addressing these issues was ruled to be more important to the game than the strategic depth offered by keeping the restrictions in place.

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Burst Limited Banlist Update: GT Layer Bases + GEN Unbanned

About a month ago, LazerBeamz posted a proposal to unban some of the weaker GT Layer Bases, as well as all Gatinko Chips except Diabolos, and the GEN Layer Weight.

The four Layer Bases included in the original proposal were Ace, Slash, Venom, and Erase, but as other members such as Shindog, myself, and AirKingNeo contributed testing for these parts, it was revealed that those four Layer Bases, as well as Union (Speed Mode), Grand, and by extension Rock were not powerful enough to upset the balance of the Limited meta as it currently appears to be.

Though it may seem a bit controversial to throw the latter three into the mix, keep in mind that Burst Limited is still in an experimental stage, so if there's any right time to experiment with these new parts, it would be now.


Side Note: Burst Limited & Burst Classic Watchlists
Several members of the OP Team began using the term "Watchlist" to classify questionably overpowered or overcentralizing parts that had the potential to be banned, pending tournament results, so we thought it would be good to compile and publicize these Watchlists so everyone can get a good idea of what all parts are under scrutiny.

Burst Classic

• Wave: Wave initially showed top level performance as a same spin Stamina Driver while also having enough Life After Death on its own to counter Dragoon, but later testing suggests that its same spin performance is not as good in a lighter format without Wheel.
  
• Charge': It can Tornado Stall, but doesn't seem to be very good at it. However, its weight and strong spring mean that it is difficult to score 2 points against, which could pose an issue in Deck Format.
  
• Universe: Universe can achieve similar results to the banned Atomic, but it must be launched hard in order to do so, and can self KO as a result. Tournament results pending on whether this is enough of a drawback to moderate its use.
  
• Trans': Trans' is popular on the Winning Combos list, and can also be used to Tornado Stall. However, its shape makes it an ineffective Staller compared to α' or Z', and the level of knowledge and technique required to bring out its best performance seems to keep it balanced.
  
• Zeta': May provide some combos with an unhealthy combination of Stamina and Burst Resistance, but has yet to do so since its introduction over a year ago.
  

The first three new Drivers from Sparking were our main topic of discussion here, though Trans' and Zeta' have had enough concerns raised about them that their spots here are justified.

Burst Limited

• Shining αmaterios
  
• Shadow αmaterios
  
• Hercules H4
  

Shining αmaterios, Shadow αmaterios, and Hercules H4 are all on the Watchlist for the same reason - while testing has shown that they may indeed be too powerful, we ultimately decided to leave them unbanned for now.

These Layers don't have any notable tournament feats as of yet: out of the three, only Shadow αmaterios appears in the Winning Combos thus far, and only once. Attendees of BSL tournaments that have owned these parts have opted not to use them in favor of other Layers.

As previously mentioned, the format is still in an experimental stage, so we just need more data on these before we can draw a real conclusion.

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Plastics Format Update: Dragon Breaker + Screw Zeus Unbanned

Old WBO Plastic Format Rulebook Wrote:Screw Zeus (Zeus)

• The combination of Screw Zeus with Attack Rings that visibly do not fit, cause the parts to bend from their original shape, or do not sit level with each other is forbidden. One example of this is Dragon Breaker.
  
• The combination of Screw Zeus on SG Free Wing Base with Weight Disks that visibly do not fit and cause the parts to bend from their original shape or do not sit level with each other is forbidden.
  

New WBO Plastic Format Rulebook Wrote:Screw Zeus (Zeus)

• The combination of Screw Zeus with Attack Rings that visibly do not fit, cause the parts to bend from their original shape, or do not sit level with each other is forbidden. One example of this is Twin Horn G.
  
• The combination of Screw Zeus on SG Free Wing Base with Weight Disks that visibly do not fit and cause the parts to bend from their original shape or do not sit level with each other is forbidden.
  

Last, but not least, we also decided to overturn a ruling made over three years ago regarding a particular Plastics combo using the Dragon Breaker Main AR with the Screw Zeus Sub-AR that was said to be incompatible for some players.

Upon further examination and reconsideration of this combo, we have re-evaluated our stance on this issue and decided that it falls within acceptable limits of what constitutes a legal AR setup. While highly competitive, the AR setup in question is not overpowered, and does not cause damage to itself or opponents during battle, so there is little reason for it to remain banned.

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Feedback?
If you have any feedback on these particular changes, or any questions or suggestions for further adjustments or additions, please post your thoughts below or in the WBO Organized Play Rules thread.

Thank you to everyone for your continued support of WBO Organized Play! We appreciate any and all feedback and are always looking to improve and clarify things where possible.

Hello everyone! We have a few quick updates for you today on some rules and moderation related topics:

WBO Community Rules Update
We have revised the WBO Community Rules. All users are required to abide by these rules.

What we have done in this update is offer more specific detail on the sorts of things which are:

• Instantly Bannable Offences
  
• Things Not To Do
  
• Minor Problems
  

These things directly govern how WBO Staff apply (or don't apply) warnings and bans.

We have also outlined more specifically what the goal of our moderation team is and what responsibilities users bear when it comes to observing problems in the community.

Please take some time to review them.



Terms of Service Update
We have also updated our Terms of Service to mention that abiding by the Community Rules is required by all members who participate in the community on site and on related external platforms that we manage.

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Moderation Team Changes
First, as some of you may have noticed, DeceasedCrab is no longer a WBO Staff member. He decided to step down of his own accord earlier this week, a decision which we have respected. We expect the community to respect it as well. He was a valued member of the team and we are sorry to see him go, but we wish him nothing but the best! We look forward to seeing him at future events.

There will be no further comment on this from WBO Staff and discussion on worldbeyblade.org, the WBO Discord, any other WBO run platform, or harassing DeceasedCrab about it will not be tolerated. Thank you for your understanding!

Moderation Team Expansion
Next, we wanted to announce that we are planning to soon expand our moderation team. This was already in discussion before the above occurred, but with that having happened, it has placed a greater urgency on the expansion.

With the activity on the forums and WBO Discord combined, it's become clear to us over the past few months that we need more help on this front.

We have several candidates in mind and will soon be reaching out to them. We will post a further update once any new Staff members have been added!

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Questions, Concerns, or Comments?
If you have any questions, concerns, or comments about the updates posted here, please feel free to reach out to a WBO Staff member privately or post in the Discuss worldbeyblade.org forum if it is an issue which warrants public discussion.

Hello everyone! We're happy to announce that we have recently implemented a range of new features for WBO Organizers in event pages. They have been implemented in an effort to:

• Grant greater flexibility in the management of participant lists/event sizes
  
• Make it easier to seed participants
  
• Improve visual design in a few areas
  

Check them out below and let us know what you think!

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Updated Participant Display on Event Pages
The listing of participants beside the Join Tournament button has now been updated to feature a maximum of one row of avatar thumbnails. This helps to make the event page cleaner to look at.

Previously, when you had dozens or even hundreds of participants registered it started to become a bit of an eyesore to have them all showing!

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Updated Participant Pop Up Window Design
To go along with the limitation on the participant avatar thumbnails shown by default, we have made an update to the design of the participant pop up window that makes it easier to browse all participants in an event.

Participants are now listed with their avatar and username in a list format. This replaces the previous grid of avatars which made it especially hard to decipher between users that have the default WBO avatar.

The total count of participants has been added to the pop up window now as well beside the "GOING" text.

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Manually Add & Remove Players
Within the participant pop up window, Organizers now have the ability to manually add and remove players.

Organizers should only use these functions when there is a legitimate reason for doing so.

When should players be added manually?
For instance, adding players manually will be useful for ticketed events (such as conventions) where only those who have a ticket may join and would like to manually construct an accurate list of participants.

When should players be removed manually?
Removing players would be permissible when:

• Someone that has joined your event has demonstrated that they will not or cannot comply with some additional event specific requirement(s) required by the WBO or requested by the Organizer.
  
• Someone that has joined your event is clearly from somewhere very far away and hasn't indicated that they will be traveling to play in your event.
  

Any abuse of this system can be monitored by the Staff team as logs are kept of every addition/removal.







How to Manually Add Players
From the "Invite" tab, simply type the usernames of the players you wish to add and click "Add Players".

Added players will receive a PM notifying them that they have been added.




How to Manually Remove Players
On the "Going" tab, hover over a player and click the X that appears along the right hand side to remove them.

Removed players will receive a PM notifying them that they have been removed.

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Global Invite (Event Notifications)
Ever wondered why you never received any notifications despite setting up your location and notification preferences in your profile? Well, it's because the functionality was never finished … until now!

Organizers can now send 1 "Global Invite" per event which will notify all nearby players who meet the criteria to be invited based on the location settings set in their profile. Players will receive invites as PMs and also an email if they have PM email notifications enabled.

Note that invites will be sent out in batches, so if there are hundreds or thousands of applicable users it will take a few hours for all of the invites to be sent.

This is a great way to announce events to a targeted and relevant audience and boost your attendance numbers.

If you haven't already and are interested in receiving notifications for tournaments near you, set up your location in your profile now!

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PM Notification When a User Joins Your Event
Organizers, you will now receive a PM notification whenever a user joins your event.

This will make it easier to keep tabs on who has joined your events at any point in time and understand when they have joined.

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Disable User Registration
From the "Schedule a Tournament" form, we have added the option to disable user registration entirely for events, effectively making them invite-only.

This option works in tandem with the above functionality regarding the manual addition and removal of players to grant Organizers much greater control over their participant lists.



All WBO events generally must be open to the public, except in circumstances, such as at a ticketed event (ex. a convention), where it may make sense to allow the Organizer to manually construct their participant list based on those who they can confirm have actually bought tickets.

Usage of this feature for WBO events will be granted on a case-by-case basis.

This feature was also implemented partially out of consideration for our intention to eventually allow non-WBO events (whether that be official WBBA events or events hosted by other groups) to be posted on worldbeyblade.org in some yet to be determined capacity. People running these types of events may want them to be invite-only. We will comment more on this in the future when we have a finalized plan in place.



User Registration Info Field
Below this option you'll also see the "User Registration Info" field. This field is to be used to describe how you can register if the event has disabled user registration (ex. You must buy a ticket from ... and then contact the host")

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Participants Now Sorted by Rank
Organizers, do you hate seeding players manually? So do we.

Thankfully, the participant list on event pages is now automatically sorted by rank from highest to lowest to new players without a rank!



Player List Button
You can see the sorted participants in the participant pop up window, but there's an even faster way to copy this information for your Challonge bracket.

The "Player List" button visible for Organizers under "Contact Host" exports an unstyled list of your events participants sorted by rank. Quickly copy this to speed up the process of building your Challonge brackets!

This update not only brings higher ranked players to the top of the list which might attract more people to your event, but it makes it way easier to seed your event.

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Join Tournament Button Confirmation Message
We understand that some people unfortunately do not take the "Join Tournament" button seriously and click it having no intention of attending.

While this sort of behaviour will be difficult to fully eradicate, we have now added in a statement below the button encouraging users to think twice before clicking it:

"Only join if you're sure you can attend."

We hope that this small change in addition to Organizers being able to manually control their participant lists will make it easier to ensure they are accurate.

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Participant Capping
This feature has technically been available for a while now, but on the back-end had not been fully and properly integrated. It now is complete and we've solved some lingering bugs with the original implementation, such as users inability to unjoin an event that had reached its cap.

As has been the case thus far, participant caps will be approved on a case-by-case basis for WBO events.

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Organizers, we want to hear from you!
Many more changes are on the horizon as part of Project AIDA that we will detail when they are ready, but we would love to hear feedback from you guys as well.

Is there anything you wish was possible on event pages that would make your experience as an Organizer better?

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Hey World Bladers!

We've been reasonably quiet regarding some of our recent developments in this area but, after extensive discussion between the Organized Play team, we're finally ready to share our plan for the long-awaited Burst Limited format!

As you may have guessed, Burst Limited serves as a middle ground between the modern Standard format and our old-school Classic format, with the goal of evolving into a ranked format over time. Burst Limited is balanced around the 2017/18 God Layer System era of Beyblade, featuring a number of balanced inclusions & removals from that period, and permitting newer Hasbro Layers that tend to be lumped into this performance class by popular community opinion.

In order to provide development feedback to help perfect the ruleset, this format is now available for all Organizers to host unranked experimental events.

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CONTEXT

For our Burst Limited format, we've been very careful to balance simplicity and accessibility. Do we dive deep into Cho-Z and GT? Do we make the format God-only? The popular consensus - and the one that we hinted at - was that we would aim for a format balanced around the God Layer System with some exceptions, and that's exactly what we've chosen to do here. Except, perhaps not for the reasons you'd expect.

While we did experiment with a few different balancing points, we ultimately settled on an adjusted God Layer System for a few reasons:

1. The weight class of God Layers is on par with all modern Hasbro releases, thus making many of these products extremely viable and accessible in Limited format.
   
2. Settling for systems later than this would rule out far more parts than it makes available, as seen in Burst Classic (though we all love the format!).
   
3. Setting aside certain problematic releases, the God Layer System is regarded by many as one of the most balanced, diverse and progressive eras of Beyblade Burst.
   

With this in mind, we've been able to open up the playing field by incorporating newer releases into Burst Limited. Like Classic, newly-released drivers are usable and should allow for the continued evolution of the format. And that's not all; we hope that the addition of mainline Hasbro releases will allow this format to be more accessible and inclusive than any before.

Plus, while we aren't aiming for a format balanced around Takara-Tomy's Cho-Z line, we've managed to include a few specific releases like Z Achilles and Shadow Amaterios which, after some testing, we believe will contribute to the balance of Burst Limited and offer more options for older collectors.

Like any experimental format, Burst Limited won't be perfect out the gate, and we're seeking your input to help finalize our banlist. We're looking for testing on parts we've included, parts we've potentially missed, and even parts that have just been released. Between our new Burst Limited Customizations sub-forum and this thread, we welcome all input on our exciting new format!

So what are you waiting for? Come help us develop the best ruleset we can for Burst Limited!

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RULE OVERVIEW

Rules

• During the preliminary stage:
  • BF: 1pt | KO: 1pt | OS: 1pt
    
• During Deck Format Finals:
  • BF: 2pt | KO: 1pt | OS: 1pt
    
  • One Metal God Chip or Level Chip per deck.
    

• Maximum Garuda must be used with its stock God Chip or a Metal God Chip.
  

Layer Bans

• Spriggan/Spryzen Requiem
  
• Garuda G3
  
• Balkesh B3
  
• Kerbeus K4
  
• Turbo Achilles A4
  
• Turbo Spryzen S4
  
• Lightning L-Drago
  
• Storm Pegasis
  
• Burn Phoenix
  
• All Cho-Z Layer System Layers, except:
  • Bloody Longinus
    
  • Buster Xcalibur
    
  • Geist Fafnir
    
  • Hazard Kerbeus
    
  • Shining/Shadow Amaterios
    
  • Z Achilles
    
  • Left/Right Artemis/Apollos/Aeclipse
    

• All Takara Tomy GaTinko & Sparking Layer System Layers, except:
  • Ace
    
  • Rock
    
  • Grand
    
  • Slash
    
  • Venom
    
  • Erase
    
  • Union (Speed Mode Only)
    
  • All Gatinko Chips except Diabolos are allowed, and Gen layer weight must be used.
    

Disk Bans

• All Disks released as part of the Takara Tomy GaTinko & Sparking Layer System.
  
• All Hasbro Pro Series System Disks, unless the Takara Tomy counterpart is allowed.
  

Driver Bans

• Bearing (Hasbro only)
  
• Hybrid
  
• Ignition'
  
• Xtend+
  
• All Hypersphere Drivers
  

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FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS

While the following parts are currently permitted, we're keeping a close eye on these as we fear they may become problematic:

• Archer Hercules H4
  
• Atomic-S
  
• Generate
  
• Shining/Shadow Amaterios
  

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CHANGE LOG

• June 28, 2020 - Initial Revision.
  
• August 10, 2020 - Ds' removed from ban list. Updates made to "Future Considerations."
  
• April 5, 2021 - List updated to reflect unbanning of specific GT layers and banning of all Hasbro Pro Series System disks.
  

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EVENT ARCHIVE

• July 11, 2020 - ChoZ Bladers Choose Limited [Maryland, U.S.]
  
• August 1, 2020 - Limited Time Offer [Pennsylvania, U.S.]
  
• September 13, 2020 - Justin Thunder Cloud's Skateboarding Adventure [Toronto, C.A.]
  
• April 17, 2021 - Saturdays Are for the Beys [Maryland, U.S.]
  
• May 30, 2021 - LA Burst Limited #1 [California, U.S.]
  
• June 20, 2021 - KICKing Things Back Into Gear! [Texas, U.S.]
  
• July 4, 2021 - HIGH PARK THROWDOWN 12 (Burst Limited) [Toronto, C.A.]
  

We are happy to announce the beginning of an exciting new initiative which is set to dramatically change many aspects of the World Beyblade Organization: Project AIDA.

This announcement outlines what led to the creation of the project, what its goals are, the problems it aims to solve, as well as the changes and challenges associated with it.

In the spirit of transparency, we are posting this publicly as we feel that it will be beneficial for there to be a better understanding of what our goals for the community moving forward will be.

We also encourage any reactions or feedback you may have!

Project Announcement Overview

• What challenges led to the creation of Project AIDA?
  
• What is Project AIDA?
  
• How will Project AIDA work?
  
• Changes & Challenges Ahead
  

As part of Project AIDA, we're excited to share few initial updates with you as well! Please click below to read the individual announcements:

Initial Updates Overview

• Introducing, the official WBO Discord Server!
  
• Beginning of Staff Restructure
  
• Updated Registration Agreement/Terms of Service & Organizer Agreement
  
• Not-For-Profit Organization Registration
  

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“What challenges led to the creation of Project AIDA?”

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Before we can define what Project AIDA is, we have to define how it came into being and what problems it aims to solve:

The Beyblade community, the internet, the world, the staff, and the WBO itself with regards to the scope and scale of its membership and activities has changed a lot since the WBO was created in 2008.

More specifically, some of the key changes and challenges which have slowly developed are:

Complex Systems, Guidelines & Initiatives
Very little about the WBO and it’s various systems, guidelines, and initiatives has been set up to be scalable with a small team of unpaid volunteers.

Yet, we’ve added on many layers of complexity and responsibility not only for Organizers but also for staff along the way.

What may have been more manageable with 1,000 members in 2009 isn’t quite as manageable with over 100,000 in 2019.

It is loud and clear to us after reading recent feedback from around the community that something needs to change on this front.

Increasing Event Sizes & Responsibility
The experience of record-breaking events like Beytuber Brawl,  BEYBLADE SHOGATSU 2019 alongside planning for WBO X Championship over the past couple years has helped to more clearly teach us what our limits are and where we need to improve as an organization which promotes Beyblade tournaments.

We’re no longer worried about getting enough people for our events, but about having too many. This prompted worries about the increasing level of responsibility and liability that such events bring. The implementation of new new guidelines and functionality followed, but this is still an ongoing concern.

While we will continue to pursue opportunities for larger events when possible, our experience planning for WBO X Championship has ironically contributed to renewing our commitment to promoting the growth of local Beyblade communities moving forward.

This is where we think we can have the most impact as a volunteer-based organization.

A Note About WBO X Championship

More Competition for Attention
We’ve lost ground within the Beyblade community over the years as:

• the purveyor of things like breaking Beyblade news
  
• the primary venue for discussion about Beyblade online
  

New avenues for both of these things have opened up since 2008, and the overall size and activity of the the Beyblade community online has increased immensely since the WBO was launched. As a volunteer-based organization, it has been challenging to keep up as the community has grown, as we have all grown-up, and the staff has changed.

However, what does remain is our expertise in organized play, which is unmatched.

It has become clear that there is still more we can, should, and want to be doing for the Beyblade community.

This has forced us to deeply rethink: “Who are we? What do we want to be? How do we want to do it?”

It is introspective questions like these that led us towards the conception of Project AIDA.

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“What is Project AIDA?”

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Project AIDA is a new long-term initiative of the World Beyblade Organization that will drive all of our decisions moving forward as we aim to solve the biggest challenges we face and make the WBO a stronger, better community for all Beyblade fans.

The Goals of Project AIDA

• Make the WBO platform more flexible, powerful, and easier to use.
  
• Make the WBO community more welcoming and valuable to all Beyblade fans.
  
• Make it easier to build and maintain a local community.
  
• Improve process and simplify requirements for posting events.
  
• Simplify staff structure and empower staff members.
  

Why the name “Project AIDA”?
The name of Project AIDA was inspired by the Japanese name of an episode in Beyblade G-Revolution. “Ai da…” is the name of the episode. It  translates to “It’s love …”.

Kai exclaims “This is my love!” just before defeating Brooklyn.

This name and the context with which it was stated perfectly encapsulates why we are undertaking this project and why we are all here in the first place.

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“How will Project AIDA work?”

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Project AIDA Planning Method
To help define and break down more precisely how we want to organize this project, its ideas, and tasks, we have developed a plan that is divided into four key areas. The first being broad and directional, and the last being specific and actionable:

• 1. Vision
  
• 2. Strategies
  
• 3. Themes
  
• 4. Tactics
  

You can read more details about numbers one through three below. Some details about our “Tactics” will be referenced below, but more precise details about them will be announced as they come closer to completion.

The Project AIDA Vision
This new vision statement developed for this project defines what the goal of the WBO now is at the highest level:




It sounds simple because it is.

What do we want to help people do? We want them to play Beyblade with other people. Everything we do from this point forward will be guided primarily by this vision.

Project AIDA will make use of two key strategies in order to realize the vision.

Within the strategies listed below, there is a handful of “themes” which help to define more clearly the major goals within each strategy.

Strategy: More Events For All-Ages, All Formats, All Around the World
In order for people to “Play Beyblade, Together” there needs to be events to attend. And there needs to be a lot of them for all ages, in all formats, everywhere. More than we have now.

The key themes of this strategy include:

• Theme: Simplify Guidelines & Requirements for WBO Events
  
• Theme: Be More Inclusive and Flexible
  
• Theme: Foster Deeper Discussion & Connection Among Members
  
• Theme: Be a Blader
  

Strategy: A More Focused, Robust, Open Platform Dedicated to Promoting Communities & Events
The platform our efforts to encourage people to “Play Beyblade, Together” exists on needs to become more focused, open, robust, and easier to use in order to build value for all Beyblade fans regardless of their location or preferences.

The key themes of this strategy include:

• Theme: Improved and More Flexible Events Section
  
• Theme: Revamped Communities Functionality
  
• Theme: Offer More Valuable Rankings & Statistics
  
• Theme: Simplify Organizer’s Resources
  
• Theme: Revamped Homepage
  
• Theme: Make the Platform Smarter with Integrations & Automation
  

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Changes & Challenges Ahead

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The core vision of Project AIDA–“Play Beyblade, Together”–is far-reaching and has the potential to touch almost every aspect of everything that we do on the WBO.

In fact, even before this announcement some of the thinking behind it has found its way into the updates we've made. One of the most recent examples being the recent legalization of all Hasbro and TAKARA-TOMY stadiums for unranked WBO tournaments.

We will continue to make more straightforward positive changes like this when possible, but there will be some serious changes and challenges ahead. Some which may take a long period of time to unfold completely. Especially those related to rebuilding or building new functionality for the site which may stretch the limits of what MyBB–the software worldbeyblade.org is built on–is capable of.

But to achieve the project’s goals, we want to try and take on a more iterative approach than we have in the past. Rather than “big bang” style updates, we will aim to push smaller components of this project forward as our priority dictates and then ensure that there is a process in place to iterate and refine faster than we have in the past.

In thinking about how to make this happen, we realized that perhaps our affection for tradition over the years has been both a blessing and a curse.

While yearly traditions such as BeyDays, Beyblade Remembrance, and the WBO Anniversary have been important yearly milestones for us … they also take immense amounts of time to manage and prepare. There has been benefits to doing these events, but we would like to instead take the time that would have gone into these and put it towards achieving the goals we’ve stated above before returning to them.

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Project AIDA Initial Updates

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Introducing, the official WBO Discord Server!
To help foster deeper discussion and connection among members, we are excited to announce the launch of the official WBO Discord server!

Our server has been tailor-made exclusively for WBO members. It features channels to discuss anything and everything Beyblade, keep up with the latest Beyblade news, WBO news, and upcoming tournaments around the world. We hope to see you there!



Beginning of Staff Restructure
We have begun the process of restructuring our staff group in order to enable a feeling of greater agency among individual staff members and create greater organizational clarity and accountability both internally and externally for all of you reading this.

"Committee", "Contributor", and "Moderators" are no more; only "Staff".



While the next two updates do not directly fall under the two Project AIDA strategies, what they do is clarify the WBO’s role and responsibility in the community, what we are reasonably capable of, and what you are responsible for as a member.

Both are key to enabling us to properly pursue the above strategies and ultimately come closer to achieving our vision of encouraging as many people as possible to “Play Beyblade, Together”.

Updated Registration Agreement/Terms of Service & Organizer Agreement
We have recently made an update to the Terms of Service for worldbeyblade.org.

The key goals of these updated Terms of Service are to make them both more comprehensive while also being easier to understand.



Not-For-Profit Organization Registration
We are happy to announce that we are now officially registered as a Not-For-Profit Organization in Canada under the name “Fighting Spirits Inc.” (inspired by a Bakuten Shoot Beyblade OST track title ;)).

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What’s Next?

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In terms of the most immediate next steps within our project plan, we are focusing on continuing to think through and execute tactics related to the following broader themes:

• Staff Restructure
  
• Make the Platform Smarter with Integrations & Automation
  
• Simplify Organizer’s Resources
  
• Simplify Guidelines & Requirements for WBO Events
  
• Communities Section
  

When we have more specific results or changes to report, we will post updates here in the News forum.

Finally, we’d like to thank all worldbeyblade.org members for your continued support and feedback (both the positive and negative!).

We’ve envisioned a future for the Beyblade community that will enable us to connect with each other and enjoy the game even more than before and hope that you’ll come along with us for the ride.

Hey World Bladers!

Following on from our Project AIDA announcements today, we're happy to announce that an official Discord server has gone live to support your worldbeyblade.org experience!

You can join the server using the instructions below!

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How to Join the WBO Discord

1. Create a WBO and Discord Accounts
In order to access WBO Discord both a worldbeyblade.org account and a Discord account are required.

Create them first if you haven't already.

2. Account Linking & Joining the Server
Joining the WBO Discord requires you to link your WBO account with your Discord account.

We've enlisted our Blader DJ to help with this. Account linking brings over your username and any roles (Member, Organizer, etc) you have assigned on worldbeyblade.org to provide you full access to the server.

To link your accounts, first click the button below to join the server.

Upon joining the server, head over to the #account-linking channel and follow the included instructions to get linked!

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Why Discord? It's a complement to the forums and fosters further discussion.

While we've traditionally avoided chatrooms and features that risk splitting the community, we appreciate that direct messaging has become standard in the present day and that certain discussions are quicker and easier via these platforms.

We believe that launching this now will complement the announcements we're making both today and over the coming months, and will allow for better communication between Bladers everywhere.

We'd like to emphasise that this platform is not intended to replace communication via the forums, but rather complement it instead. We will continue pushing worldbeyblade.org as the place to be for Beyblade events, discussions and more, but we'll also be engaging with the community via this platform as well.

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Feedback?
Opening this Discord is new territory for us, so we'll ask that you please bear with us as we work out the best way to manage it, fix any bugs, and so forth!

But if you have any comments, questions, or suggestions about the WBO Discord please feel free to post them here or in the Discuss worldbeyblade.org forum.

New Team Members
Alongside the initial updates associated with Project AIDA, today we’re delighted to announce a restructure of our staff and the promotion of five new members to our team:

• joyos
  
• Shindog
  
• LazerBeamz
  
• Alta
  
• TrainiacJ
  

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New Staff Structure: All Staff Are Now Simply ... "Staff"
"Committee", "Contributor", and "Moderators" are no more.

Each of them and all other existing staff join a new consolidated group titled simply "Staff".

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Why the change? Greater agency, clarity, and accountability.
We have done this in order to:

1. Enable a feeling of greater agency among individual staff members
2. Create greater organizational clarity and accountability both internally and externally.

We recognized that over the past decade, the "Committee" position began to carry a bit more weight in the community than we felt it was meant to. "Contributors" were later introduced to relieve some pressure from Committee members and create a role with a much more focused set of responsibilities.

This had two effects. One internal, and one external:

Internally, it ultimately lowered the ability for staff to feel as if they had the power to do things very far outside of that narrow set of responsibilities.

Teamwork and communication will always be necessary, but at the same time, it is especially important for us as a volunteer-based organization to empower and more explicitly express our trust in staff to make reasonable independent decisions when necessary and appropriate. Doing so will help us to simultaneously adapt quicker and increase the ability for staff to feel like they are making a difference.

Externally, it added another level of confusion for the community as to who they could turn to and who was in charge. By flattening our team structure to simply "Staff" we wanted to create greater clarity for all members.

All staff can help you.

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Individual Areas of Focus
Each Staff member will have areas of focus behind-the-scenes. For instance, some will focus on Organized Play. Some on moderation. Some on platform or community development. And so on.

But they also have a strong base of knowledge about Beyblade and the community which will allow them to assist members in need and contribute in other areas outside of their focus when necessary.

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Why them?
Each staff member–both the new additions we've announced today and existing members–have earned their position because of their valuable skills, insight, experience, dedication, and impact both on the website and offline in their local communities.

And as such, each of them believe in Fighting Spirits Inc.'s  vision and are expected to help further it however and whenever they can.

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Say hello to the new staff team
The new additions to our staff team represent the beginning of a larger restructuring of our team, as we move towards the future outlined in our new vision statement for Project AIDA.

We hope you’ll join us in welcoming joyos, Shindog, Alta, TrainiacJ, and LazerBeamz to the staff team. We can’t wait to see what they’ll accomplish and how they'll help Fighting Spirits Inc. flourish.

You can view the full staff team here:

Alongside the initial updates associated with Project AIDA, we are happy to announce that we are now registered as a Not-For-Profit Organization in Canada. We have always operated as one, but this has made it official!

We are registered and on an official basis operate under the name “Fighting Spirits Inc.” (inspired by a Bakuten Shoot Beyblade OST track title ).

However, we plan to continue using “World Beyblade Organization” as well. We are in the process of researching and registering this as a trade name if possible.

Why we registered and what it means
Last year we announced all activities regarding entry fees, prize reimbursement, Blader Passports, and our shop were temporarily suspended due to new requirements imposed by our payment processing system PayPal. This is what pushed us down the long path towards registering.

For the time being this will continue, but the good news is that registering as an NFP has helped us to finally meet PayPal’s requirements. We are able to begin collecting and sending funds again and will do so once we have ensured that it is being done properly and efficiently.

We would also like to be clear that there is no change at this time in terms of the status of all staff as unpaid volunteers. When we begin collecting entry fees or open our shop again, all funds will go directly to funding the WBO itself (hosting, platform development, organizer prizes/equipment support, online contests, and so forth) as they always have.

While there are now new legal requirements for us to fulfill behind the scenes every year as per Canadian law, there will also be no major change to how members interact with the WBO as a result of this registration. That being said, as we have announced, some updates have been made to our Terms of Service. We encourage everyone to read it.

The process to become registered has been a long and arduous one and we are still learning. Although it has created a new set of responsibilities for us, it also has created the opportunity for us to do so much more moving forward without fear of restrictions like we faced with PayPal last year.

We hope you all will look forward to the future of the WBO from here!

Hello World Bladers,

In the spirit of full transparency, we wanted to announce that we have recently made an update to the Terms of Service for worldbeyblade.org by Fighting Spirits Inc. alongside the initial updates associated with Project AIDA.


Acceptance Required to Continue Using worldbeyblade.org

• New Users: All new users are required to accept the Terms of Service upon their initial sign up.
  
• Existing Users: All existing users are considered to have accepted the updated Terms of Service by continuing to use worldbeyblade.org as of the posting of this announcement.
  

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Why update the Terms of Service?
The key goals of these updated Terms of Service are to make them both more comprehensive while also being easier to understand.

Our previous terms of service had not been updated since our inception over a decade ago and were in fact simply the default terms of the software we use (MyBB) to run the forum. They were also a long block of text that was difficult to read.

In the time since we became worldbeyblade.org and Fighting Spirits Inc., things have changed substantially.

With regards to the service we offer through our platform (www.worldbeyblade.org), it has slowly become clearer that we need to make our level of responsibility and liability as a volunteer-based not-for-profit organization more explicit. It should be in line with who we actually are and what we are reasonably capable of under these constraints.

We encourage all users to thoroughly read the Terms of Service in order to make an informed decision as to whether to accept them or not.

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Additional Related Updates

Organizer's Guide: All Participants Must Have worldbeyblade.org Accounts Before Event Begins
We have removed the section from the Organizer's Guide which permitted Organizers to create accounts for participants after the conclusion of an event with their e-mails.

Any person wishing to participate in an offical event must have a worldbeyblade.org account prior to being formally registered for an event. This ensures that they have physically agreed to our Terms of Service themselves and helps to protect both yourself and all parties involved with running the event.

If your event participants do not all have worldbeyblade.org accounts prior to the conclusion of registration for your event, you will be assessed a warning or lose your Organizer status in accordance with the "Organizer Violations" section of our updated Community Rules.

You can find further instructions about how to help people create worldbeyblade.org accounts in the Organizer's Guide under Tournament Management -> Registration.

Event Creation Page: New Organizer Agreement Checkbox Implemented
Additionally, we have also added in a new checkbox to the event creation page for all Organizers. Organizers are required to check it when creating any event to confirm their continued agreement with our Terms of Service and the included Organizer Agreement.

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June 30th, 2020 Update

For safety and legal reasons, the following items have been added to the Registration Agreement, Terms of Service, and Event Pages:

• All players in events posted on the Platform must meet the age restrictions on Beyblade products in their region. TAKARA-TOMY recommends Beyblade for ages 6+. Hasbro recommends Beyblade for ages 8+. Players under these ages may only participate with the permission of their parent/guardian.
  
• If you are under 18 years old, a parent/guardian must accompany you and be present for the duration of the event.
  

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Feedback?
If you have any questions, please feel free to post here or e-mail us at [email protected].

Outlined below are several important new ruling additions, updates, and clarifications to some WBO Organized Play rulebooks and the Organizers' Guide. View all WBO Organized Play Rules & Resources here, and a summary of the changes below:

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Updates Overview

• All Rulebooks: Unranked Events – All Official TT/Hasbro Stadiums Permitted
  
• All Rulebooks: Relaunching – Minor Update
  
• IMPORTANT Burst Classic Format: Ban List Updates
  
• Burst Format: Deck Format – 1 Metal Chip Core Permitted Per Deck
  
• IMPORTANT Organizer’s Requirements: Under 18? Parent/Guardian Must Co-Host With You
  
• Organizer’s Guide: Planning Your Tournament – Confirmed Interest Requirement Removed
  
• Organizer’s Guide: Club Format Updates
  

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All Rulebooks Updates
Unranked Events – All Official TT/Hasbro Stadiums Permitted
All official TAKARA-TOMY/Hasbro (and Sonokong) stadiums are now permitted for unranked events. Ranked events must continue to use the list of stadiums outlined in the "Legal Equipment" section of each rulebook.

When proposing an unranked event, Organizers are now required to specify what stadium(s) will be used if they are not using the traditionally permitted stadiums for ranked events. The designated stadium type may not be changed after the event proposal has been approved.

We hope that with restrictions lifted on stadiums for unranked events, existing Organizers will take the opportunity once events are permitted again to experiment more.

And perhaps more importantly, we hope that those thinking about becoming an Organizer will face less barriers when getting started by not needing to have access to a specific stadium from Japan.

We believe that people should be able to play Beybade the way they want to in unranked environments. The strict consistency in terms of the stadiums used required for ranked events is not needed, so just have fun!

Relaunching – Minor Update
We have updated one small section of the definition for "Relaunching". Previously, the rule stated:

Relaunching - Old Definition Excerpt Wrote:Bladers must request a relaunch immediately after the Beyblade leaves the launcher.

This has now been updated to:

Relaunching - New Definition Excerpt Wrote:Bladers must request a relaunch during the countdown or immediately afterwards.

This was done in order to exclude the possibility that a relaunch could be argued to not be valid if the Beyblade does not fall off the launcher. A launcher can malfunction in a way that is out of a player's control that causes the Beyblade to not leave the launcher, so a relaunch request should be legal.

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Burst Classic Format Updates


IMPORTANT Burst Classic Format: Ban List Updates
The following updates have been made to the Burst Classic Format ban list:

Illegal
✘ Beyblade Burst Sparking – All Layers & Disks
✘ Fusion'
✘ Dragoon V
✘ Draciel V
✘ Driger V
✘ Dranzer V
✘ Gaia Dragoon V

Legal
✔ Jormuntor J2
✔ Dark Deathscyther

The ban of the Bakuten Shoot Beyblade "V" remakes and the Sparking Layer System has been implemented in order to maintain balance in metagame and the spirit of the format. All of these parts are either too heavy, powerful, or both to fit in with Burst Classic.

We have also changed the wording in the rulebook to specify exactly which remake Layers are legal. You can consider all remakes released in the future to be banned by default unless we announce otherwise.

Fusion’ has been banned due to its ability to perform very similarly to the currently banned Accel’ when the point of its tip is worn down. Recent tournament performance has also proven this.

Recent testing of Jormuntor J2 and Dark Deathscyther along with testing from last year of Jormuntor J2 has proven that both Layers deserve a chance to exist within Burst Classic Format. While both Layers do have respectable amounts of stamina and defense, testing suggests that they can be beat by other pure stamina and attack types effectively.

These bans will continue to be monitored over time and may be re-banned if they are proven to be too powerful in a tournament setting.

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Burst Format Updates


Burst Format: Deck Format – 1 Metal Chip Core Permitted Per Deck
Similar to our ruling for Metal God Chips, only one Metal Chip Core may be used in a deck during a Deck Format match.

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Organizer’s Guide/Requirements Updates


IMPORTANT Under 18? Parent/Guardian Must Co-Host With You
If you are an Organizer under 18 years old, you must now be accompanied by a parent/guardian who is 18 or older during the event.

The full name and e-mail of the parent/guardian that will accompany you must be listed when submitting an Event Proposal. We will e-mail to confirm and require a response from them.

We have also updated the rules of the Schedule an Event forum to more clearly describe what is required in Event Proposals.

Planning Your Tournament – Confirmed Interest Requirement Removed
The requirement for confirmed interest of at least four people for whenever you submit an Organizer’s Quiz application or Event Proposal has now been lifted.

However, when posting an Event Proposal you must show that you have confirmed interest already secured or present a plan to promote your event to attract participants (eg. posting on social media, chat groups, event platforms, posting ads, etc).

Please note that this change only applies to event proposals, and it is still a requirement to have at least four participants on the day of the event.

Club Format Updates
The following updates have been made to Club Format:

• The number of Club Format events permitted per region each month has been reduced to 1 from 2.
  
• The requirement to include a mandatory group photo along with your results spreadsheet has been lifted.
  
• The "Club Ace" and "Club Master" Bits have been removed. The “Club Champion” Bit remains using the design of the “Club Master” Bit and will be awarded to Club Format event winners, similar to the Gold Bit for regular events.
  

Club Format was designed as a free-to-play option which could act both as an easy entry point for communities new to official WBO tournaments and as a last resort for events where less than eight participants show up (the minimum for ranked events).

However, we’ve decided to reduce the number of Club Format events permitted per region per month in preparation for future changes that will make it even easier to host tournaments of all kinds.

The mandatory group photo requirement was removed because with Blader Rewards/Credits no longer existing, there’s not really an incentive to try and game the system and pretend you’re hosting small events. So, we didn’t think the extra layer of verification was needed anymore.

In regards to Club Format Bits: while we still like the idea of the original system, looking at it now, it seems inefficient because we do not currently have a system in place to track total numbers of Club Format Wins among players. It would have to be done manually, which is very time consuming. At least with things like the Emerald Bit we can easily look at their profile and see they have 15 victories, for example.

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Feedback?
If you have any feedback on these particular changes, or any questions or suggestions for further adjustments or additions, please post your thoughts below or in the WBO Organized Play Rules thread.

Thank you to everyone for your continued support of WBO Organized Play! We appreciate any and all feedback and are always looking to improve and clarify things where possible.

Due ongoing developments surrounding the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and in an abundance of caution, we've decided:

Event Proposal Conditions Starting July 1st, 2020
Barring any catastrophic changes to the worldwide situation surrounding the virus, event proposals made by Organizers for events occurring on July 1st, 2020 or later will be required to:

• Official Government Documentation: Cite official government documentation which permits events/gatherings of their proposed size to occur in their local area. This must again be verified one week before the event.
  
• Local Regulations: Demonstrate their intention and plans for compliance with all local regulations for permitted gatherings (eg. wearing masks, physical distancing, etc).
  
• WBO Recommendations: If applicable, demonstrate their intention and plans for compliance with any of the WBO's safety recommendations for attending events during the pandemic.
  
• Hiding Event Page When Participant Cap is Reached: We recognize that given the strict requirements on gathering sizes in many areas around the world, it may not be in the best interests of event Organizers and players for an event to continue being posted publicly once the participant cap has been reached. As such, Organizers may request for their event page to be hidden once the participant cap for it has been met. Please indicate your request for this when making your event proposal.
  
  If your cap is reached we will remove your event from public visibility until after the event date has passed. We encourage Organizers to note this will be done in their event description and to PM all participants before it is removed to confirm the event will still be happening.
  

However, we will be continuing to monitor the situation and will provide an update if this changes.

The World Beyblade Organization by Fighting Spirits Inc. is dedicated to bringing Beyblade fans together–so this is a decision that was not made lightly–but above and beyond even that is our commitment to doing what we can to put the health and safety of players first.

We hope that with this break in events we'll all be able to spend more time improving other aspects of the community, our relationships online, and preparing for future events! We can surely turn this into something positive so that we're even stronger when this has passed.

The goal of the World Beyblade Organization by Fighting Spirits Inc. is to put the health and safety of players first at all times. As such, in light of the developing situation regarding the coronavirus (COVID-19) around the world, we are introducing the following recommendations for anyone attending Beyblade tournaments organized through our platform.

Additionally, any applicable guidelines implemented by the local government of the region a tournament is being hosted in must be followed, and while attendees should make every effort to follow them to create a safe environment for all, the responsibility for their enforcement lies solely with the Organizer of the tournament.

Please also see our Terms of Service for more details about the responsibilities of anyone attending or hosting an event posted on our platform.

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1. Feeling unwell? Stay at home.
We urge any player who might be feeling under the weather to stay home.

We have your best interests at heart and while everyone is welcome to attend WBO Organized Play tournaments, we urge you to consider your personal health before deciding to attend an event.

The Organizer running the tournament reserves the right to turn away any attendee with visible flu symptoms, including a fever, cough or difficulty breathing.

2. Wear a Mask or Face Covering
All people and tournament participants within the tournament area are recommended to wear a mask or face covering at all times.

If you need to remove the mask briefly to eat or drink something, we recommend maintaining at least 2 meters/6 feet of distance between you and others. We strongly recommend briefly leaving the tournament area entirely if possible in this case, however.

Learn how to properly wear a mask here.

The only exceptions to this recommendation are as follows:

• Children under two years of age.
  
• Persons with an underlying condition recognized by their country or local government which inhibits the ability to wear a mask or face covering. You must notify the Organizer at least one week in advance so that proper accommodations can be made in this case based on local regulations and recommendations. If you do not and attend the event anyways, you may be asked to leave the tournament area.
  

3. Thumbs Up Instead of Handshakes
Contrary to traditional best practices, players are recommended to refrain from any physical contact with their opponent, including shaking hands after a match. We recommend a thumbs-up, nod or positive verbal exchange instead.

4. Do Not Lend or Play with Others Equipment
We recommend that the lending of parts, launchers, or other equipment and playing with another person's tops during or prior to the tournament be prohibited.

The Organizer running the tournament reserves the right to disqualify any players who do this and ask them to leave the area.

5. During Beyblade Inspection, Disassemble Beyblades for Judges
During the Beyblade Selection phase which takes place before every match, we recommend that players disassemble their selected Beyblade(s) for judges to do a visual inspection before the match begins.

We recommend that it be prohibited for judges to physically touch any Beyblades during inspection.

6. Do Not Bring More Than 1 Person With You
All participants are recommended to not bring more than one person (parent, guardian, sibling, friend, etc) with them that isn't registered for the tournament.

Organizers may ask surplus people and or the participants who brought too many people with them to leave the area or tournament if they discover this rule has been broken.

7. Maintain Physical Distancing (2 meters/6 feet apart)
Except during the countdown prior to the beginning of a tournament match, all players are recommended to maintain physical distancing from each other (at least 2 meters/6 feet apart).

During a match, after the Beyblades have been launched, players are recommended to take a step backwards from the stadium to meet the minimum physical distancing requirements outlined above.

After a match/round, players may approach the stadium one at a time under the direction of the judge to pick up their Beyblade.

8. After each Match Judges Should Disinfect Stadium
After the conclusion of each match, judges are recommended to disinfect all stadium surfaces using an appropriate disinfectant product (ex. Lysol wipes).

9. Only Bladers Registered Before the Tournament Day may Participate
If you are not registered on the event page, Organizers may deem you unable to participate and may turn you away at the venue.

This is to control the number of people present at the event and ensure that local gathering size regulations are followed. Waitlists are not recommended for WBO tournaments at this time, so ensure you register ahead of time if you wish to participate.

10. Eliminated from the tournament? You must leave the tournament area.
If you have been eliminated from the tournament after the conclusion of the First Stage or have lost a match during the finals, you are recommended leave the tournament area as defined by the Organizer.

Only players actively remaining in the tournament as well as the Organizer and the minimum judges required to complete the tournament are recommended to stay within the tournament area.

This will help to ensure smaller and smaller crowds as the tournament progresses, reducing the risk of transmission of the virus even further.

Organizers, if players who have been eliminated would like to watch the finals we encourage you or a judge to record a video of the matches and upload them online later for viewing.

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Parents and Guardians! We need your help.
If you are a parent or guardian bringing a child to a tournament and are interested in helping out, contact the Organizer of the tournament to find out how you can help.

All of our tournaments are run by volunteers who may also be players. As a result, it can be challenging at times to ensure these restrictions are enforced at times, so any additional help on this front is appreciated.

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These recommendations will remain in effect until further notice.

We encourage all WBO members to follow and stay up to date on the latest developments and recommendations from their national and local public health authorities as well as from the World Health Organization. You can find general recommendations from the WHO here.

We thank everyone in advance for doing their best to take proper precautions to ensure that the environment at any tournament is as safe as it can be!

Outlined below are several important new ruling additions, updates, and clarifications to some WBO Organized Play rulebooks and the Organizers' Guide. View all WBO Organized Play Rules & Resources here, and a summary of the changes below:

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Updates Overview

• All Rulebooks: Formatting & Language Updates
  
• IMPORTANT Burst Classic Format: αssault' Driver Banned
  
• IMPORTANT Burst Format: Master Mode Change Restriction
  
• IMPORTANT Organizer’s Guide: Tied Records – Procedure Updates
  

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All Rulebooks Updates

Formatting & Language Updates
Throughout the rulebooks for all formats we have made some updates to the formatting and language used throughout several sections in each rulebook in an effort to reduce their length where possible and to make them easier to understand and scan as a reader.

In particular, the following sections had the most notable edits:

• Deck Format
  
• Round Results
  
• Parts with Multiple Modes
  
• Beyblade/Part-Specific Rulings (Burst Format)
  
• Hasbro Only Format (Burst Format)
  
• Document outlines re-worked for easier skipping between sections
  

The actual content of the rules did not change, but we hope the new formatting and language used will make it a bit easier for new players to understand and for existing players to reference.

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Burst Classic Format Updates


IMPORTANT Burst Classic Format: αssault' Driver Banned
The following update has been made to the Burst Classic Format ban list:

Illegal
✘ αssault'

Recent events have proven αssault' to perform similarly to the banned Accel' and Zephyr' Drivers.

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Burst Format Updates


IMPORTANT Burst Format: Master Mode Change Restriction
We have clarified that mode changing the Master Layer Base during a match is illegal in a new section titled "All Dual Spin Parts" under "Beyblade/Part-Specific Rulings".

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Organizer’s Guide Updates


IMPORTANT Tied Records – Procedure Updates
Under "Ending the First Stage & Determining Finalists – Tied Records" in the Organizer's Guide we have updated the rules and sequence for the tiebreak factors listed when trying to determine who should advanced to the finals of a tournament (and in what position) for both Round Robin/Block Round Robin and Swiss Formats.

All Organizers should review this update in detail within the guide, but the basic structure is now as follows for Swiss:

1. Overall Score/win record
2. Bucholz
3. Existing Match History (2 or 3 Tied Players with Match History/Equal Bucholz Only)
4. Seeding (Confirmed Finalists Only)
5. Tiebreak Matches

And for Round Robin/Block Round Robin, the only change that was made was correcting an error for the second tiebreak factor (Challonge TB Column) which listed "Bucholz" even though it didn't exist in those formats. It now simply states to use that factor "Only if the players in question have match history.".

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Feedback?
If you have any feedback on these particular changes, or any questions or suggestions for further adjustments or additions, please post your thoughts below or in the WBO Organized Play Rules thread.

Thank you to everyone for your continued support of WBO Organized Play! We appreciate any and all feedback and are always looking to improve and clarify things where possible.