Evil Factory NZ (New Zealand Paintball Team)

Evil Factory NZ was a Wellington-based New Zealand tournament paintball team documented from 2004 to 2005. The team also competed under the abbreviated name Evil NZ and was sometimes listed simply as Evil Factory or Evil.

Evil Factory NZ won the Cup at the 2004 Auckland Queen’s Birthday Superball and later competed at the 2004 Rotorua tournament and the 2005 Auckland Queen’s Birthday event.[2][3][4][5]

The New Zealand team was distinct from the visiting United States Evil Factory squad that won the 2004 Wellington X-Cess.[6]

History

2004 Hawke’s Bay Triples

The earliest confirmed appearance identified for the Wellington team was at the Hawke’s Bay Triples during Waitangi weekend in February 2004.[1]

The contemporary report used the name Evil NZ and described the team as coming from Wellington’s Tag stable. It also stated that some of the team’s players were making their first speedball appearance.[1]

Evil NZ recorded 280 preliminary points, placing tenth among the eleven teams that competed. Brewha was also listed in the published table but was explicitly identified as a no-show and is not counted as a participating team.[1]

The report does not provide Evil NZ’s roster or a separate final-round result.

2004 Auckland Queen’s Birthday Superball

A contemporary New Zealand Paintball news report described Evil Factory NZ as a recently assembled Wellington team when it won the Auckland Queen’s Birthday Superball in June 2004.[2] This description does not establish a precise formation date.

The tournament was held at Kumeu on 5–6 June. Evil Factory NZ qualified for the four-team Cup competition alongside Saints, Raiderz and Sleazy Weasel.[2][3]

Evil Factory NZ faced Saints in the best-of-three final. Each team won one of the opening games, while the third game ended in a draw. Evil Factory NZ received first place following a countback of individual game scores, having recorded a flag pull and hang during the second game. Saints finished second and Raiderz third.[3]

2004 Rotorua tournament

Evil Factory NZ competed at Rotorua International Stadium during Labour Weekend on 23–24 October.[4] The contemporary report identified it as a Wellington team and recorded American player John Rathbun playing with the side.

Rathbun had competed in New Zealand earlier that year as a member of the visiting American Evil Factory team.[4][6]

Evil Factory NZ defeated Saints during the Rotorua pool stage. It did not appear among the four reported Cup finalists or as the Plate winner, and its final overall placing was not published in the surviving report.[4]

2005 season

An April 2005 discussion identified Evil Factory as one of the Wellington teams expected to attend the Auckland Queen’s Birthday event at Kumeu.[7] The entry discussion is evidence of intended attendance rather than a confirmed result.

A post-event account confirms that a team published as Evil competed and finished fifth.[5] In the New Zealand event context, this entry is treated as the Wellington Evil Factory team.

The 2005 result confirms that the Wellington team continued competing under the Evil name after the visiting American players from the 2004 Wellington X-Cess had returned home.

Relationship with Evil Factory USA

The American Evil Factory team travelled to New Zealand for the 2004 Wellington X-Cess. It won the Cup after defeating Saints in the final.[6]

Contemporary reports distinguish that visiting American roster from the Wellington-based New Zealand team that competed as Evil NZ and Evil Factory NZ.[1][2][3][6] The American team’s Wellington X-Cess result is therefore not included among Evil Factory NZ’s tournament results.

John Rathbun’s appearance with Evil Factory NZ at Rotorua documents a player connection between the visiting and New Zealand teams, but does not make their tournament records interchangeable.[4]

The surviving sources do not establish whether the Wellington team existed before the American visit or was organised around that period. They do establish that it continued competing in New Zealand after the visit.

Tournament results

Date	Published entry	Tournament	Result
February 2004	Evil NZ	Hawke’s Bay Triples	10th among 11 participating teams; 280 preliminary points.[1]
5–6 June 2004	Evil Factory NZ	2004 Auckland Queen’s Birthday Superball	1st in the Cup.[2][3]
23–24 October 2004	Evil Factory	2004 Rotorua Paintball Tournament	Participation confirmed; final placing not reported.[4]
June 2005	Evil	2005 Auckland Queen’s Birthday event	5th.[5]

Documented players

Player	Event	Documented involvement
John Rathbun	2004 Rotorua tournament	American guest player with the Wellington team.[4]

John Rathbun is the only player directly identified with Evil Factory NZ in the inspected contemporary tournament reports. A complete New Zealand roster has not been recovered.

References