2023 NXL World Cup
The 2023 NXL World Cup was a paintball tournament held from 8 to 12 November 2023 in Kissimmee, Florida, United States. It concluded the National Xball League (NXL) United States season. San Diego Dynasty won its fourth consecutive professional World Cup and the professional season championship. Dallas Vibe won the Women's National Xball League (WNXL) tournament, while Cheetahs secured the WNXL season title.[1][2][3][4]
Dates and venue
[edit]The official event dates were 8–12 November 2023. The venue was listed as NXL World Cup, 6000 West Osceola Parkway, Kissimmee, Florida.[1]
The professional programme opened with a 7/3 exhibition on Wednesday, 8 November. Champions Cup competition began on Thursday.[2]
Champions Cup format
[edit]The professional Champions Cup featured 24 teams. San Diego Dynasty, Tampa Bay Damage and Houston Heat received preliminary-round byes as the leading United States teams, joined by European champions Toulouse TonTons.[2]
The other 20 teams contested the opening stage for places in the knockout rounds. The four teams with byes entered the championship knockout competition at the quarter-finals.[2]
Professional matches used 15-minute games with a six-point mercy rule.[1]
Other competition formats
[edit]The programme included WNXL, semi-professional, Division 2–5 and Masters X-Ball; divisional, youth and WNXL amateur five-player competitions; Classic Mounds formats; amateur 10-player competition; and three-player categories.[1]
WNXL, semi-professional and Division 2 X-Ball used 15-minute matches with a five-point mercy rule. Divisions 3 and 4 used 12-minute matches with a four-point mercy rule. Division 5 and Masters used 10-minute matches with a three-point mercy rule.[1]
The programme also included the Commander Cup and a separate 7/3 exhibition.[1][3]
Professional competition
[edit]San Diego Dynasty defeated Edmonton Impact 3–2 in the professional final. Marcello Margott won a late one-against-three situation to secure Dynasty's fourth consecutive World Cup victory.[2][5]
Dynasty also finished first in the professional season standings with 1,146 points.[4]
WNXL competition
[edit]Dallas Vibe defeated Cheetahs 4–2 in the WNXL final.[5]
Cheetahs nevertheless won the season championship, finishing runner-up at all three WNXL events and accumulating 384 ranking points.[4]
Semi-professional competition
[edit]PaintballFIT.com defeated Blast Camp 6–1 in the semi-professional final, completing a season in which it won all five NXL events.[2][5]
The team finished with 600 season points and earned promotion to the professional division for 2024.[2][4]
Event results
[edit]The following tables distinguish World Cup event results from the overall season standings. Team names follow the official event record.[3]
X-Ball and exhibition competitions
[edit]| Competition | First | Second |
|---|---|---|
| Professional X-Ball | San Diego Dynasty | Edmonton Impact |
| WNXL X-Ball | Dallas Vibe | Cheetahs |
| Semi-professional X-Ball | PaintballFIT.com | Blast Camp |
| Division 2 X-Ball | New York Wrecking Crew | Dynamic |
| Division 3 X-Ball | tppcrew | Just Us |
| Division 4 X-Ball | Jackpot | Air Capital Threat |
| Division 5 X-Ball | Dynamic | Ryukyu Kings |
| Masters X-Ball | Papeletto Team | Philippine Titos |
| Commander Cup X-Ball | Navy | Army |
| 7/3 exhibition | New York Xtreme | Brooklyn Bears |
Other competition winners
[edit]| Competition | Winner |
|---|---|
| Classic Mounds Open 10v10 | All Americans |
| Amateur 10v10 | Rejects |
| Classic Mounds Open seven-player | Extreme Rage |
| Classic Mounds Open five-player | PHILIPPINES |
| WNXL amateur five-player | San Francisco Sirens |
| Division 3 five-player | Papeletto Legends |
| Division 4 five-player | TPP Wookies |
| Division 5 five-player | WAR |
| Youth five-player | Infamous Kidz |
| WNXL three-player | Black Magic |
| Open three-player | Killers |
| Amateur three-player | MurdaGoons 2023 |
| Intermediate three-player | BDC |
| Novice three-player | Deep Impact |
| Youth three-player | Salty Smurfs |
Season championships
[edit]World Cup event winners and season champions were not necessarily the same teams. The following table records the leaders of competitions contested across multiple events.[4]
| Competition | Season champion | Ranking points |
|---|---|---|
| Professional X-Ball | San Diego Dynasty | 1,146 |
| WNXL X-Ball | Cheetahs | 384 |
| Semi-professional X-Ball | PaintballFIT.com | 600 |
| Division 2 X-Ball | New York Wrecking Crew | 486 |
| Division 3 X-Ball | tppcrew | 400 |
| Division 4 X-Ball | Jackpot | 393 |
| Division 5 X-Ball | All Mixed Up Gold AMU | 282 |
| Amateur 10v10 | Extreme Rage | 392 |
| Classic Mounds seven-player | Extreme Rage | 396 |
| Classic Mounds five-player | Spread Eagle Tavern | 388 |
| WNXL amateur five-player | Suricatos Women | 582 |
| Division 3 five-player | Veteran Militia | 382 |
| Division 4 five-player | TKO Texas KnockOut | 388 |
| Division 5 five-player | SMSC | 253.64 |
| Youth five-player | Infamous Kidz | 300 |
| Amateur three-player | MurdaGoons 2023 | 393 |
| Novice three-player | Smoke D5 | 272 |
| Youth three-player | Salty Smurfs | 300 |
Promotion and relegation
[edit]PaintballFIT.com's semi-professional championship secured promotion to the professional division. Latin Saints were relegated after finishing the season without a match victory.[2]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- PBLeagues – NXL World Cup: dates, venue, registration and competition formats, 2023.
- National Xball League – NXL World Cup Recap, Dynasty Wins Historic Fourth Straight, PBFit Perfect, written by Quinn Nadu, 22 November 2023.
- PBLeagues – NXL World Cup: final event standings, 2023.
- PBLeagues – National XBall League: 2023 season rankings.
- PBLeagues – NXL World Cup: match scores, 2023.