Editing 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 [[Women's National Xball League|WNXL]] championship, and PaintballFIT.com won all five Semi-Pro tournaments to earn promotion for 2024.[1][12]

== Calendar ==

The US championship comprised the following five events.[2–6]

{| class="wikitable"
! 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 ==

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]

{| class="wikitable"
! 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 ===

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 ===

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 ==

San Diego Dynasty won Sunshine State, Lone Star and World Cup. Tampa Bay Damage won Mid-Atlantic and Windy City.[7–11]

{| class="wikitable"
! 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 ===

{| class="wikitable"
! 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 ==

Three different teams won the three American WNXL events. Cheetahs finished second at every tournament and secured the season championship.[1][7][10][11]

{| class="wikitable"
! 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 ===

{| class="wikitable"
! 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 ==

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 ===

{| class="wikitable"
! 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 ===

{| class="wikitable"
! 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 ===

{| class="wikitable"
! 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 ==

{| class="wikitable"
! 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 ==

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 ==

* [[National Xball League]]
* [[Women's National Xball League]]
* [[2022 NXL season]]
* [[2024 NXL season]]

== References ==

# [https://pbleagues.com/league/316/seasonRankings/2023 PBLeagues – National Xball League: 2023 season rankings.]
# [https://pbleagues.com/event/7927/info PBLeagues – Sunshine State Major: event information, 10–12 March 2023.]
# [https://pbleagues.com/event/8016/info PBLeagues – Lone Star Major: event information, 28–30 April 2023.]
# [https://pbleagues.com/event/8098/info PBLeagues – Mid-Atlantic Major: event information, 16–18 June 2023.]
# [https://pbleagues.com/event/8150/info PBLeagues – Windy City Major: event information, 15–17 September 2023.]
# [https://pbleagues.com/event/8196/info PBLeagues – World Cup: event information, 8–12 November 2023.]
# [https://pbleagues.com/event/7927/rankings PBLeagues – 2023 Sunshine State Major: final results.]
# [https://pbleagues.com/event/8016/rankings PBLeagues – 2023 Lone Star Major: final results.]
# [https://pbleagues.com/event/8098/rankings PBLeagues – 2023 Mid-Atlantic Major: final results.]
# [https://pbleagues.com/event/8150/rankings PBLeagues – 2023 Windy City Major: final results.]
# [https://pbleagues.com/event/8196/rankings PBLeagues – 2023 World Cup: final results.]
# [https://www.nxlpaintball.com/post/nxl-world-cup-recap-dynasty-wins-historic-fourth-straight-pbfit-perfect-pro-paintball National Xball League – NXL World Cup Recap, Dynasty Wins Historic Fourth Straight, PBFit Perfect, Quinn Nadu, 22 November 2023.]
# [https://www.nxlpaintball.com/post/nxl-windy-city-major-recap-tampa-bay-back-to-back-pbfit-best-divisional-team-ever 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.]

== External links ==

* [https://pbleagues.com/league/316/seasonRankings/2023 Complete official 2023 season standings]

[[Category:National Xball League seasons]]
[[Category:Paintball in the United States]]
[[Category:2020s in American paintball]]
[[Category:2023 in paintball]]