2020 NXL season

The 2020 NXL season was the National Xball League's United States national tournament season. Disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic reduced the completed championship programme to the Las Vegas Open and World Cup. San Diego Dynasty finished first in the professional season standings, while the New Orleans Hurricanes won Semi-Pro.[1]

Calendar

Completed events

Event	Dates	Venue	Location
Las Vegas Open	5–8 March 2020	Craig Ranch Regional Park	North Las Vegas, Nevada
World Cup	12–15 November 2020	6000 West Osceola Parkway	Kissimmee, Florida

Sources: official event information.[2][3]

Cancelled events

The following announced national events were cancelled:[4]

Event	Announced dates	Status
Texas Open	30 April–3 May 2020	Cancelled
Mid-Atlantic Open	25–28 June 2020	Cancelled; planned for the Richmond, Virginia area
Chicago Open	10–13 September 2020	Cancelled

A contemporary report dated 11 May recorded the Texas cancellation announcement as having appeared on 18 March, and the Virginia event's cancellation as having been announced on 5 May.[4]

The league proposed three smaller regional events covering the West Coast, Texas and Mid-Atlantic regions. These were intended to replace part of the disrupted national programme.[4] The regional replacements were subsequently cancelled as well. A league statement reproduced on 18 July explained that the NXL would instead concentrate on World Cup and the separate October ICPL event.[5]

Formats

The completed national events offered Professional, Semi-Pro and Division 2–4 X-Ball, alongside separate five-player, ten-player, three-player, pump and Classic competitions.[2][3]

Both event listings specified the following X-Ball playing times and mercy-rule leads:[2][3]

Division	Playing time	Mercy-rule lead
Professional	15 minutes	Six points
Semi-Pro	15 minutes	Five points
Division 2	15 minutes	Five points
Division 3	12 minutes	Four points
Division 4	12 minutes	Four points

Both tournaments registered 20 professional teams. World Cup also offered Mounds five-player and ten-player competitions and Female Open three-player competition.[2][3]

Professional competition

Los Angeles Ironmen won Las Vegas ahead of Moscow Red Legion. San Diego Dynasty won World Cup ahead of San Antonio X-Factor.[6][7]

Event	Winner	Runner-up
Las Vegas Open	Los Angeles Ironmen	Moscow Red Legion
World Cup	San Diego Dynasty	San Antonio X-Factor

Sources: official event placings.[6][7]

Final professional standings

Position	Team	Season points
1	San Diego Dynasty	350
2	Edmonton Impact	346
3	Moscow Red Legion	326
4	Los Angeles Ironmen	321
5	San Antonio X-Factor	307

Source: final season standings.[1]

Divisional event winners

Team names below follow the individual event records.

Division	Las Vegas Open[6]	World Cup[7]
Semi-Pro X-Ball	Camp Factory	New Orleans Hurricanes
Division 2 X-Ball	Killers	OAKLAND GREY AREA
Division 3 X-Ball	HUNTERS	HUNTERS
Division 4 X-Ball	Riverside Quake	SUWT EMPIRE
Open ten-player	Washington Winstons	NRG Elite
Amateur ten-player	Wicked	Adrenaline-
Division 3 five-player	NorCal Disruption	OKC BREAKOUT
Division 4 five-player	The Gummy Bears	XPX Dynamic D5
Division 5 five-player	Ruthless Red	Shut Up They're Trying
Open pump five-player	All Stars	BTA Butchers
Classic five-player	DESTINY_PE	Destiny
Open three-player	RUSSIAN ROULETTE	CD3 BSB
Amateur three-player	Lost Dutchman	Dirty Daves Musket Posse
Novice/Division 5 three-player	Dark Soul	Cousins

The Las Vegas rankings labelled the entry-level three-player division Novice, while World Cup used Division 5.[6][7]

Additional World Cup results

Competition	Winner
Mounds Open ten-player	Extreme Rage
Mounds Open five-player	Extreme Rage
Female Open three-player	DESTINY PB

Source: World Cup final rankings.[7]

Season standings

The following teams finished first in the published aggregate standings for divisions represented at both completed national events.[1]

Division	First-placed team	Season points
Professional X-Ball	San Diego Dynasty	350
Semi-Pro X-Ball	New Orleans Hurricanes	173.75
Division 2 X-Ball	NRG Elite Alpha	170.62
Division 3 X-Ball	HUNTERS	200
Division 4 X-Ball	Shut up we're trying	173.44
Open ten-player	NRG Elite	155
Amateur ten-player	Hydra.Fit	150.55
Division 3 five-player	Veteran Militia	177.26
Division 4 five-player	The Gummy Bears	177.5
Division 5 five-player	Shut Up They're Trying	160.63
Open three-player	RUSSIAN ROULETTE	170
Amateur three-player	Dirty Daves Musket Posse	100
Division 5 three-player	Dark Soul	179.62

Lost Dutchman also scored 100 points in Amateur three-player; the published standings placed it second.[1]

Promotion and relegation

Professional relegation was temporarily frozen during the shortened 2020 season. The league subsequently confirmed that its normal relegation arrangements resumed in 2021.[8]

The New Orleans Hurricanes' 2020 Semi-Pro championship did not result in immediate professional promotion. The team continued in Semi-Pro during 2021 and earned its professional place after winning that season's championship.[9]

Pandemic impact

The cancellations left an eight-month interval between the two completed national events.[2][3]

The pandemic also affected World Cup industry participation. Planet Eclipse announced that its overseas staff would not attend because of COVID-19 and isolation requirements. It instead arranged on-site technical support and worked with United States dealers to represent its products.[10]

References