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+---- Thread: The Circuit: Dark Continent 2022 Tournament Report (/Thread-The-Circuit-Dark-Continent-2022-Tournament-Report)
The Circuit: Dark Continent 2022 Tournament Report - StayCool - Jul. 26, 2022
This may be a bit lengthy š
First off I would like to thank everyone that came out. You all truly made this a special event for me and the community overall. Thank you so much!!!
Special shout out to the judges who definitely helped things run smoothly; CrisisCrusher07, froztz, geetster99, robert_loller, LJ-Blader, arka.paul, BeyBladeBlast11, Cscramon!!! I really needed you guys help and you came through in a big way. Thank you Crisis for pretty much co-hosting with me, it meant a lot and froztz with being my go to rules expert, it helped tremendously! Shoutout to my great friend Mekyal for Cosplaying as The Front Man to hand out gift codes and friend Morgan for showing up for support.
Ok, now onto the event. For me everything started about a week ago haha, I haven't been sleeping well due to underlying anxiety of hoping things ran smoothly for this event. It was my first major event and I didn't want to disappoint anyone. I was allowed to leave work early Thursday evening, went home and got things organized to head to Raleigh on Friday. I ended up leaving my town a bit later than expected but still arrived in Raleigh at a decent time. A lot of competitors had already arrived as well and were checking out the Raleigh scene. Raleigh is my hometown by the way.
I will fast forward to Saturday, the day of the event. I woke up around 5am Saturday morning. I had the room at the convention center scheduled from 7am to 11pm. I was only about 20 min away from the convention center but like I said, the anxiety kept me from sleeping to well haha. So I got up and ready and headed to the center. I arrived around 6:30am. The doors were locked and security wouldn't let me in until 7. However, he told me I could call the event manager to see if I could get in a little earlier. I did and the doors were opened for me around 6:45am. I brought all the set up equipment in and it took about 20 min or so. It was hot or more so muggy and humid so I was sweating quite a bit from the back and forth trips to the car. It was all good though because once I was done I was able to cool off inside. I was setting up and around 8:30/45 Crisis hit me up and said he and the MD crew were outsideĀ (Geetster, sniper, kirito, Allen and Bobby were as Bobby is with the MD crew but we claim him in Carolina š). I told him to get there at 10 lol but he showed up early to help out. The security guard who patrols the building was no where to be found so I was timid to let them in and the security acts weird but I let them in after about 20min or so because I did need some help and the guard was MIA. My family also arrived around the same time and I let them in as well.
The doors were scheduled to open to participants at 10 and by the time I let my family and the guys in it was around 9 or so. We finished setting up inside around 9:30 or so and then we saw LJ-Blader and his family walking up to the room door. I greeted them but was also thinking "how did y'all get in" lol. It just so happened that the doors weren't locked. I let them sit in the lobby while we continued to finish tidying up inside. Ā The security guard ended up coming back and kinda had a vibe of "who the heck let all these people in" haha, I fessed up and let him know he left a door unlocked as well. It was the handicap door that was opened and he understood. Overall he was cool with everything.Ā Around 9:50 Crisis, Bobby and Geetster posted up outside the room door ready to on-site register everyone that came in. A few minutes after 10 the main doors were open to let participants and guest into the lobby. Crisis, Bobby and Geetster did a legit job with registration. They even set up challonge and everything. That was sweet!!! and a big load off my shoulders. I had time to greet and thank everyone that came instead of being a mindless zombie of "hey what's your WBO name...thanks...bye...next in line please". I was actually able to speak with the participants that came in a greet them how I'd like.Ā
Now there were not as many people who came as I thought but we still had a great turnout. We had 56 participants total with friends and family with them all. We did have a few people show up late but there is nothing I can do once we start Swiss format, as far as letting them join.Ā My family showed up also, my mom, aunt, cousin and mother in law. That put a smile on my face with the support they showed. Of course my wife and kids were there and they definitely help me stay sane. My wife is my rock and support so having her with me is always a plus.Ā
froztz got there around 10:20 or so and I mention this specifically because I definitely needed this guy to be there. I know the rules well and so didĀ allĀ of the judges we have but froztz has become one of my closest friends in the community and he is a part of staff, literally the guy that writes in the rulebook now haha so we needed him for any questions or concerns that may come up. The thing with big tournaments and especially ones that integrate different regions is that sometimes people interpret rules differently. NC may see a rule differently than MD does and even more different than FL or anywhere else. We needed to get a definitive answer for any disputes amongst us. This is something that needed to be done before the tournament started. I made my announcements and then let froztz overview the rules for the event. Once he was finished, BOOM, questions arose. We tackled it quickly though and got everyone on the same page. The judges and participants. Mainly the judges had to be in sync. We couldn't have one judge doing anything different than the others. For organized play and complete fairness we all had to be in agreementĀ which we were.Ā
I posted that the tournament would start promptly at 11 but we actually started closer to 1140 or so. This wasn't on any fault, I planned to start the actual tournament around 12. I just wanted everyone to be there in time for the announcements and rules and not start too late. We had a lot of high names from the WBO and beyblade community show up. Zankye came from Canada which was sweet! Mike Nightwing came and interviewed participants and took some epic photo's, T&J Make Em' Burst came and won the whole thing š. Big BeyTuber's there was sweet. The skilled TSO and Sniper came out.Ā We had the Indiana squad show up, FL came also and showed love with their top ranked blader Cscramon and Beyblade Premier owner Conce7. Conce didn't play but his son did and his son did very very well. We had players from GA, NJ, SC and VA come. I apologize if I missed any other state. I appreciate you all for coming out šš¾.Ā
With that being said I have to say that I think the tournament ran smooth and the competition was fun but ultimately the my fondest memory or experience of this event was seeing the community come together. So many regions in once place almost brought me to tears. Players were cool and everyone getting along, having fun in our shared interest of beyblade. Initially I wasn't going to have a free play area, so players wouldn't get too caught up over there and slow down the progression of the tournament by having me call there names several times. I did implement free play thought because at the last minute I thought things might get stale if players weren't allowed a area to just chill. Now a few players did get lost in the free play area but honestly it was all good. People had fun over there. I am not entirely sure but I think a lot of new friendships were made over there. I saw some classic, MFB and HMS going on over there. That was something that this tournament wasn't structured on but it was still in the Bey world interest and that was one more thing to bring the community together so I am very grateful for it.
Now onto the event itself. We had 6 Swiss rounds with 56 participants. It was a mystery on who would make top 8, there were a ton of great bladers there. We had 8 judges and 4 stadiums. Judges paired up with 2 to each stadium, able to give one another breaks between matches and/or rounds. I was head judge. We only had one issue when it came to judging that actually wasn't an issue at all. I'll just leave that at that and not focus on the negative š.Ā
Within the tournament it was fairly meta but with a big change...XIPHOID!!! Xiphoid helped make things balanced! That blade packs a PUNCH! There were burst on burst on burst! Definitely correct me if I am wrong but the impact I saw Xiphoid have in this tournament was equivalent to what Judgement was doing in GT, "that thing smacks" as Geetster99 would say. There were some amazing burst to say the least and that helped a lot to keep things exciting. We still had some stamina battles but I'm thankful to the 2 tie rule because that kept things moving along.Ā
We had a lot of young bladers and bladers without super high BR but they are still legit. Godly Requiem is from Singapore and played in WBBA with a lot of wins under his belt. He played legit. Breaker Bahamut ran a triple Xtreme 3v3 deck and did quite well with it. There were so many others that did an amazing job. I'll say this, this tournament was everything and more of what I hoped it would be. A lot of skilled bladers came out, some high ranked and some not but everyone brought something to the table. I ended up going 3-3 by the time everything was said and done. All the matches was were fun and even though I was a bit bummed that I didn't make finals I was also relieved because finals is even more stress haha. I did get to play Crisis for the first time in a WBO event and he won 3-2. It was a great and fun match.
For finals top 8 we didn't have any ties surprisingly. There were tons of 4-2 records but good ole' bushultz sorted that out. I was happy because those tie breaker rounds can sometime be a battle unto themself. The top 8 were, Cscramon, Geetster99, Mjthebest, JCMakeEmBurst, Questhebeast, BeyCaddie, JayAshindra and Kirito1696. Now, there is a bit to mention regarding finals or more so the individual players.
Cscramon is legit! He's a young teen and the top ranked blader in FL. Geetster99 is a goat in the game in my eyes and who I learn from regarding attack. JCMakeEmBurst is newer to the competitive scene but studies the game religiously. Questhebeast has a unique attack beyblade style and dedicated focus in the game, he is also the dad of Mjthebest. Mjthebest is probably 7 years old, idk for sure but I have mentioned this in another tournament report, Mj and his dad are LEGIT in attack/rubber flat launchers but we will get into that a bit later. BeyCaddie had a stellar performance and went 6-0 in the first stage, he put in work (edit: Questhebeast went 6-0 my apologies. BeyCaddie did do great though going 5-1)! JayAshindra is young also possibly 8-10 range, my bad if I guessed super wrong but he put in work also and can hang with the big dogs. Kirito1696 is part of the MD crew and has crazy attack skills also. All in all these top 8 were great to skill with the diverse skill and what they could bring to the table. I had no clue who was gonna win it all.
The top 8 ran fairly smooth, we had JC vs Cscramon, geetster99 vs Mj, Questhebest vs JayAshindra and BeyCaddie vs Kirito. Now I did not view all of the battles but I got a peak at them. I hopped on IG live for the finals so I walked back and forth between the stadiums. The closest match I saw was Questhebeast vs JayAshindra with 4 to 4. Ques inched out an opposite spin stamina battle. He was using his Dynamite combo and it was a very very close call. Now I have to mention that I did spend some time watching Geetster99 vs Mj and whenĀ I left the score was 3-2 in Geetster's favor I think. I mentioning that for a reason š.
Skipping to finals top 4, IĀ went back to my laptop. For top 4 I wanted to run 1 stadium and do all matches there. The finals are critical and a very entertaining show. I wanted all eyes to be there for the final matches. Now this may sound bad and I apologize Mj but when I looked and realized he beat Geetster I was a bit surprised but after watching his top 4 match young Mj shut me up real quick! Kirito and JC also advanced to the finals top 4. The first match we did was Mj vs Kirito. Now like I mentioned I did not see Mj's full battle against Geetster but man I wish I saw it because this kid is GOOD! Kirito got the first point against MJ. He was using a stamina combo but I can't remember which one but Mj was using Guilty on Xtreme'. After that first point Kirito got, things got really interesting. This young man known as Mjthebest was perfectly launching his guilty combo and getting KO after KO on Kirito. To the point where the score was 4-1. However, Kirito switched things up from his stamina combos and pulled out Xiphoid on Xtreme'. Kirito said "not today" and brought the score back 4-4. (I could be a little fuzzy on the score and details but I do know Kirito came back). For the final battle Mj switched to his Dynamite combo and Kirito stuck with Xiphoid. Xiphoid ended up KO'ing itself and Mj won the match. This match was intense and there was a lot of emotions on highs and lows. Now, I know a lot of the bladers at this event personally and Kirito is definitely one of them. This is some added info but Kirito was playing at Dark Continent for his dad's memory who recently passed away. Kirito was unsure if he was going to make the event but he came anyway to play in honor of his dad and bring home the win. He was really bummed that heĀ lost but his group of friends (the MD crew) definitely had his back. Dark Continent was not a easy tournament at all, I mean the top ranked bladers on the east coast...actually the top ranked bladers in the WBO excluding Canada were at this event (edit: Canada was there, shout out to Zankye š). Kirito ended up placing 4th and excuse my language but that was one "heck" of a great job! His crew and myself reminded him of that. He played exceptionally well and beat out some greats and much love to you bro I know your dad is proud!
With the second semi-finals match we had JC vs Ques (Mj's dad). This match was LEGIT as well. I do not remember the score but I do know that they went back and forth and utilizing their switching opportunities perfectly in my opinion. Deck format is the most strategical format to me for several reasons. It is always nice to see players utilize it well, which they did. Honestly I don't think I saw a single switch or stay mistake within all of finals. Everyone was on point! The entirety of both bladers deck was used, guilty, vanish and dynamite. This one was a nail biter and I apologize that I can not recall a play by play with this one. I honestly can't recall a play by play on any matches after Kirito vs Mj,Ā I know I paid attention but my brain may be fried at this point. You can check out the top 4 battles on our IG and I plan to post it to our YouTube soon as well. JC ended up winning. Kirito vs Ques was the third place match and Ques won that one. The finals match was JC vs Mj and JC took the win overall.Ā
Much love and congrats to you JC I know you put plenty of lab time in with this Bey life. He drove down straight from work and took home the gold. You're an amazing blader bro šÆĀ
It was a fun event and as mentioned before the beauty of this event to me was more than the competition, it was seeing the various individual communities come together, make new friends have laughs and smile doing some we all love, BEYBLADE!!! Keep blading hard everyone and I am looking forward to seeing how things turn our next year š.
Photos of the event, thank you Mike Nightwing
Also major shoutout to BeysAndBricks, ThePortal0, BeybladePremiere, Mall of Beys and Ever-Wish for providing prize support for this event and Michael Nightwing's Blader's Kingdom. There was a lot of love shown and we provided the prizes via raffle and top players in BK. Take care everyone!
Oh one last thing, I keep editing and adding to this post. Another great take away was that the first place Blader was in his 40ās and the 2ndĀ place Blader was under the age of 10. With 56 competitors of various ages and backgroundsĀ Ā itĀ shows that everyone can love this game and do well. Fun and community has noĀ limitations. Get out there, kick start your community and help us all to grow š
RE: The Circuit: Dark Continent 2022 Tournament Report - CrisisCrusher07 - Jul. 26, 2022
Great report! Dark Continent was a very successful event and I canāt wait for next years!
RE: The Circuit: Dark Continent 2022 Tournament Report - Questhebeast - Jul. 26, 2022
Awesome report and eventā¦Mjthebest is only 6 šš.
RE: The Circuit: Dark Continent 2022 Tournament Report - UnseenBurst - Jul. 26, 2022
(Jul. 26, 2022 10:12 PM)Questhebeast Wrote: Awesome report and eventā¦Mjthebest is only 6 šš.
Age doesn't really mean anything for WBO Tournaments. There is kinda this stereotype that just because someone is Younger they don't really know what they're doing or can't make Good Combos when this is actually not true at all. Age can't affect Beyblade in any way. Anyways, just because somebody's Younger doesn't make them unable to win a Tournament. Age doesn't mean anything for Beyblade Tournaments.
RE: The Circuit: Dark Continent 2022 Tournament Report - originalzankye - Jul. 26, 2022
Great report! You did a wonderful job with the event and very happy and excited to see how the tournaments will be like for the future!
RE: The Circuit: Dark Continent 2022 Tournament Report - StayCool - Jul. 26, 2022
(Jul. 26, 2022 10:12 PM)Questhebeast Wrote: Awesome report and eventā¦Mjthebest is only 6 šš.
Solid thank you brother! Youāre raising a pro for sure!!!
(Jul. 26, 2022 10:22 PM)originalzankye Wrote: Great report! You did a wonderful job with the event and very happy and excited to see how the tournaments will be like for the future!
Thank you so much šš¾. It was great meeting you and your dad. It was fun to battle you as well, youāve got a real solid attitude and always smiling. Keep enjoying this Bey life š
RE: The Circuit: Dark Continent 2022 Tournament Report - Questhebeast - Jul. 27, 2022
(Jul. 26, 2022 10:22 PM)UnseenBurst Wrote:(Jul. 26, 2022 10:12 PM)Questhebeast Wrote: Awesome report and eventā¦Mjthebest is only 6 šš.
Age doesn't really mean anything for WBO Tournaments. There is kinda this stereotype that just because someone is Younger they don't really know what they're doing or can't make Good Combos when this is actually not true at all. Age can't affect Beyblade in any way. Anyways, just because somebody's Younger doesn't make them unable to win a Tournament. Age doesn't mean anything for Beyblade Tournaments.
I completely agree, I was just mentioning that as a proud father bcuz MJthebest is my son šš.