Editing 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 ===

{| class="wikitable"
! Event !! Dates !! Venue !! Location
|-
| [[2020 NXL Las Vegas Open|Las Vegas Open]]
| 5–8 March 2020
| Craig Ranch Regional Park
| North Las Vegas, Nevada
|-
| [[2020 NXL World Cup|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]

{| class="wikitable"
! Event !! Announced dates !! Status
|-
| [[2020 NXL Texas Open|Texas Open]]
| 30 April–3 May 2020
| Cancelled
|-
| [[2020 NXL Mid-Atlantic Open|Mid-Atlantic Open]]
| 25–28 June 2020
| Cancelled; planned for the Richmond, Virginia area
|-
| [[2020 NXL Chicago Open|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]

{| class="wikitable"
! 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]

{| class="wikitable"
! 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 ===

{| class="wikitable"
! 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.

{| class="wikitable"
! 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 ===

{| class="wikitable"
! 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]

{| class="wikitable"
! 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]

== See also ==

* [[National Xball League]]
* [[2019 NXL season]]
* [[2021 NXL season]]
* [[Paintball in the United States]]

== References ==

# [https://pbleagues.com/league/316/seasonRankings/2020 PBLeagues – National XBall League: 2020 season rankings.]
# [https://pbleagues.com/event/6726/info PBLeagues – 2020 Las Vegas Open: event information and formats.]
# [https://pbleagues.com/event/6990/info PBLeagues – 2020 World Cup: event information and formats.]
# [https://zenandtheartofpaintball.com/2020/05/11/the-age-of-covid-paintball-what-did-they-know-and-when-did-they-know-it/ Zen and the Art of Paintball – The Age of Covid Paintball: What did they know and when did they know it?, 11 May 2020.]
# [https://damnpaintballs.com/2020/07/18/nxl-regional-conference-events-cancelled/ Damn Paintballs – NXL Regional Conference Events Cancelled, 18 July 2020; reproduces the league's cancellation statement.]
# [https://pbleagues.com/event/6726/rankings PBLeagues – 2020 Las Vegas Open: final rankings.]
# [https://pbleagues.com/event/6990/rankings PBLeagues – 2020 World Cup: final rankings.]
# [https://www.nxlpaintball.com/post/anywhere-but-here-relegation-looming National Xball League – Anywhere BUT here. Relegation looming, 21 October 2021; discusses the 2020 relegation freeze.]
# [https://zenandtheartofpaintball.com/2021/11/23/go-pro/ Zen and the Art of Paintball – Go Pro, 23 November 2021; firsthand account of the Hurricanes' consecutive Semi-Pro championships and subsequent promotion.]
# [https://shopusa.planeteclipse.com/blogs/news/nxl-world-cup-2020 Planet Eclipse – NXL World Cup 2020, 13 November 2020.]

[[Category:National Xball League seasons]]
[[Category:Paintball in the United States]]
[[Category:2020s in American paintball]]
[[Category:2020 in paintball]]