2023 NXL season
The 2023 NXL season was the United States tournament season of the National Xball League. Its calendar comprised five major events, concluding with the 2023 NXL World Cup. San Diego Dynasty won the professional season championship, Cheetahs won the American WNXL championship, and PaintballFIT.com won all five Semi-Pro tournaments to earn promotion for 2024.[1][12]
Calendar
[edit]The US championship comprised the following five events.[2–6]
| Dates | Event | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| 10–12 March 2023 | 2023 NXL Sunshine State Major | 6000 West Osceola Parkway, Kissimmee, Florida.[2] |
| 28–30 April 2023 | 2023 NXL Lone Star Major | Old Settlers Park, Round Rock, Texas.[3] |
| 16–18 June 2023 | 2023 NXL Mid-Atlantic Major | 547 Royersford Road, Royersford, Pennsylvania.[4] |
| 15–17 September 2023 | 2023 NXL Windy City Major | Chicago Gaelic Park, Oak Forest, Illinois.[5] |
| 8–12 November 2023 | 2023 NXL World Cup | 6000 West Osceola Parkway, Kissimmee, Florida.[6] |
The professional WNXL championship was contested at Sunshine State, Windy City and World Cup. Separate women's amateur five-player competition took place at all five events.[7–11]
Competition formats
[edit]The season combined professional, Semi-Pro and divisional X-Ball with separate five-player, three-player, classic and amateur ten-player competitions. Women's amateur and youth competitions also formed part of the programme.[2–6]
At the Sunshine State Major, the advertised X-Ball formats were:[2]
| Division | Playing time | Mercy limit |
|---|---|---|
| Professional | 15 minutes | Six-point lead |
| WNXL professional | 15 minutes | Five-point lead |
| Semi-Pro and Division 2 | 15 minutes | Five-point lead |
| Divisions 3 and 4 | 12 minutes | Four-point lead |
| Division 5 | Ten minutes | Three-point lead |
Separate five-player games used five-minute limits, three-player games used three-minute limits, classic seven-player games used seven-minute limits, and amateur ten-player games used ten-minute limits.[2]
World Cup awarded double ranking points. Divisional championship standings used different numbers of counting results: four for Division 2 X-Ball, three for Divisions 3–4 X-Ball, and two for Division 5 X-Ball.[1]
Champions Cup
[edit]World Cup's professional Champions Cup field comprised 24 teams. San Diego Dynasty, Tampa Bay Damage and Houston Heat received preliminary-round byes as the leading US teams, alongside European champions Toulouse TonTons. Those four teams played a warm-up round while the other 20 competed for knockout places.[12]
7/3 exhibition
[edit]World Cup also introduced a separate 7/3 exhibition on Wednesday, 8 November. Matches comprised three four-minute periods. A team could score three points by reaching and activating a buzzer at the midfield snake bunker, followed by seven points for activating the opposing start-gate buzzer. New York Xtreme won ahead of Brooklyn Bears.[11][12]
Professional results
[edit]San Diego Dynasty won Sunshine State, Lone Star and World Cup. Tampa Bay Damage won Mid-Atlantic and Windy City.[7–11]
| Event | Winner | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|
| Sunshine State Major | San Diego Dynasty | Tampa Bay Damage |
| Lone Star Major | San Diego Dynasty | Houston Heat |
| Mid-Atlantic Major | Tampa Bay Damage | San Antonio X-Factor |
| Windy City Major | Tampa Bay Damage | Houston Heat |
| World Cup | San Diego Dynasty | Edmonton Impact |
Sources: official event and season results.[1][7–11]
Dynasty's World Cup victory was their fourth consecutive win at the tournament. Marcello Margott won the decisive final point against Edmonton Impact after being left in a one-against-three situation.[12]
Final professional standings
[edit]| Position | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego Dynasty | 1,146 |
| 2 | Tampa Bay Damage | 1,012 |
| 3 | Houston Heat | 973 |
| 4 | Edmonton Impact | 900 |
| 5 | San Antonio X-Factor | 798 |
Source: official season standings.[1]
WNXL
[edit]Three different teams won the three American WNXL events. Cheetahs finished second at every tournament and secured the season championship.[1][7][10][11]
| Event | Winner | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|
| Sunshine State Major | Destiny | Cheetahs |
| Windy City Major | The Heroines | Cheetahs |
| World Cup | Dallas Vibe | Cheetahs |
Sources: official event results.[7][10][11]
The Heroines won Windy City with an unbeaten 6–0 match record, defeating Cheetahs in overtime in the final.[13]
Final WNXL standings
[edit]| Position | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cheetahs | 384 |
| 2 | The Heroines | 379 |
| 3 | Destiny | 373 |
| 4 | Dallas Vibe | 370 |
Source: official US season standings.[1]
Divisional event winners
[edit]The following tables summarise tournament winners. Event titles and season championships were separate awards. Team names follow the respective event records.[7–11]
X-Ball
[edit]| Division | Sunshine State | Lone Star | Mid-Atlantic | Windy City | World Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Semi-Pro | PaintballFIT.com | PaintballFIT.com | PaintballFIT.com | PaintballFIT.com | PaintballFIT.com |
| Division 2 | Dynamic | New York Wrecking Crew | AG Knights | Shut up we're trying | New York Wrecking Crew |
| Division 3 | gg_Factory D3 | tppcrew | DBS FACTORY | tppcrew | tppcrew |
| Division 4 | NJ BOMBSQUAD | Austin Notorious D4 | Baltimore Braves | Jackpot | Jackpot |
| Division 5 | Embry-Riddle Eagles Black | Tribe Powerhouse | Suicide Squad | Houston Zone D5X | Dynamic |
Sources: official event results.[7–11]
Five-player
[edit]| Division | Sunshine State | Lone Star | Mid-Atlantic | Windy City | World Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division 3 | Gulf Coast RAGTAG ARMY | Suricatos | Veteran Militia | Struggle Paintball | Papeletto Legends |
| Division 4 | TPP Eruption | Dropouts | ScheiBe | TKO Texas KnockOut | TPP Wookies |
| Division 5 | Reapers | SMSC | Strange | BC Boys | WAR |
| WNXL Amateur | Carbon | Suricatos Women | Suricatos Women | Suricatos Women | San Francisco Sirens |
| Youth | Infamous Kidz | Dangerous Toys | Enemy Kidz | Not contested | Infamous Kidz |
Sources: official event results.[7–11]
Classic, ten-player and three-player
[edit]| Division or format | Sunshine State | Lone Star | Mid-Atlantic | Windy City | World Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amateur ten-player | Extreme Rage | Houston VcK | CRBN | Extreme Rage | Rejects |
| Classic Open seven-player | PHILIPPINES | FZR | Image | Extreme Rage | Extreme Rage |
| Classic Open five-player | Extreme Rage | Extreme Rage | Spread Eagle Tavern | Extreme Rage | PHILIPPINES |
| Amateur three-player | Punish-em | Lost Dutchman | XPX | Boss Paintball Products | MurdaGoons 2023 |
| Novice three-player | Smoke D5 | Bri | Denial | Chicago Envy | Deep Impact |
| Youth three-player | Not contested | Salty Smurfs | AG Kids | Not contested | Salty Smurfs |
Sources: official event results.[7–11]
Additional World Cup winners included All Americans in Classic Mounds Open ten-player, Papeletto Team in Masters X-Ball, Navy in Commander Cup X-Ball, Black Magic in women's WNXL three-player, Killers in Open three-player and BDC in Intermediate three-player.[11]
Divisional season champions
[edit]| Division or format | Champion | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Semi-Pro 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 ten-player | Extreme Rage | 392 |
| Classic Open seven-player | Extreme Rage | 396 |
| Classic Open 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 |
Source: official season standings. Names follow the season listings, which can differ from individual event listings.[1]
Promotion and relegation
[edit]PaintballFIT.com, also known as PBFit, defeated Blast Camp in every Semi-Pro final. Their five event victories secured promotion to the professional division for 2024. Contemporary league reporting recorded a season match record of 33 wins and two losses; the sweep of tournament titles did not constitute an unbeaten match record.[12]
Latin Saints were relegated from the professional division following a season in which they lost all 20 matches.[12]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- PBLeagues – National Xball League: 2023 season rankings.
- PBLeagues – Sunshine State Major: event information, 10–12 March 2023.
- PBLeagues – Lone Star Major: event information, 28–30 April 2023.
- PBLeagues – Mid-Atlantic Major: event information, 16–18 June 2023.
- PBLeagues – Windy City Major: event information, 15–17 September 2023.
- PBLeagues – World Cup: event information, 8–12 November 2023.
- PBLeagues – 2023 Sunshine State Major: final results.
- PBLeagues – 2023 Lone Star Major: final results.
- PBLeagues – 2023 Mid-Atlantic Major: final results.
- PBLeagues – 2023 Windy City Major: final results.
- PBLeagues – 2023 World Cup: final results.
- National Xball League – NXL World Cup Recap, Dynasty Wins Historic Fourth Straight, PBFit Perfect, Quinn Nadu, 22 November 2023.
- National Xball League and Iconic Paintball – NXL Windy City Major Recap, Tampa Bay: Back to Back, PBFit: Best Divisional Team Ever?, Quinn Nadu, 25 September 2023.