2026 Arena Paintball Matariki Race
2026 Arena Paintball Matariki Race was a five-player paintball tournament held on 11–12 July 2026 at Arena Paintball in Feilding, New Zealand. The event was the second round of the 2026 Arena Five-Man Race Series and attracted fourteen teams.[1][2]
CULT Paintball Team won the tournament, finishing ahead of Manawatu Titans in second place and Sydney SWAT in third. CULT reported completing the weekend undefeated, while team member Jordan Gatt received the event's Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.[5][6]
Teams and pools
The published tournament draw divided the fourteen participating teams into two pools.[2]
| Pool A | Pool B |
|---|---|
| Manawatu Titans | Sydney SWAT |
| Lumberjacks | Expendables |
| Cult | Reavers |
| Ballistics Unit 1 | Surge |
| BOP Blast | Ballistics Unit 2 |
| Lycans | Misfits |
| Try It And See | Sharks |
Tournament results
Arena Paintball confirmed CULT as tournament champions on 12 July 2026. The team's own event report stated that it had not lost a game throughout the weekend.[5][6]
Podium
| Position | Team |
|---|---|
| 1st | CULT Paintball Team |
| 2nd | Manawatu Titans |
| 3rd | Sydney SWAT |
Event championship points
The following points were awarded to participating teams for the second round of the Arena Five-Man Race Series.[5]
| Team | Points |
|---|---|
| CULT | 200 |
| Manawatu Titans | 186 |
| Sydney SWAT | 173 |
| Reavers | 161 |
| BOP Blast | 150 |
| Ballistics Unit 1 | 140 |
| Expendables | 130 |
| Surge | 121 |
| Lumberjacks | 112 |
| Ballistics Unit 2 | 112 |
| Sharks | 112 |
| Misfits | 104 |
| Try It And See | 104 |
| Lycans | 96 |
Teams are listed in descending order of event championship points. Equal points totals are not sufficient to determine individual finishing positions.
Individual awards
| Award | Recipient | Team |
|---|---|---|
| Most Valuable Player (MVP) | Jordan Gatt | CULT Paintball Team |
CULT announced Jordan Gatt's MVP award in its post-tournament report on 12 July 2026. Photographs accompanying the announcement showed the championship trophy and an individual MVP award.[6]
Preliminary play
On 11 July, Arena Paintball published photographs of preliminary score sheets for both pools, including results following fourteen rounds of play. These records represented interim scores rather than final tournament standings.[3][4]
Championship standings after Round 2
Following the Matariki Race, Manawatu Titans led the 2026 Arena Five-Man Race Series with 386 points, ahead of Sydney SWAT with 359 and CULT with 350.[5]
The organiser published the following cumulative championship standings on 12 July 2026.
| Position | Team | Round 1 | Round 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manawatu Titans | 200 | 186 | 386 |
| 2 | Sydney SWAT | 186 | 173 | 359 |
| 3 | CULT | 150 | 200 | 350 |
| 4 | Expendables | 173 | 130 | 303 |
| 5 | Reavers | 140 | 161 | 301 |
| 6 | Lumberjacks | 161 | 112 | 273 |
| 7 | BOP Blast | 112 | 150 | 262 |
| 8 | Ballistics Unit 1 | 121 | 140 | 261 |
| 9 | Surge | 130 | 121 | 251 |
| 10 | Misfits | 104 | 104 | 208 |
| 11 | Lycans | 96 | 96 | 192 |
| 12 | Sharks | — | 112 | 112 |
| 13 | Ballistics Unit 2 | — | 112 | 112 |
| 14 | Try It And See | — | 104 | 104 |
| 15 | Chaos | 96 | — | 96 |
A dash indicates that no points were recorded for the corresponding round in the organiser's published standings. Fifteen teams appeared in the cumulative series standings, compared with fourteen entries in the Matariki Race.
See also
References
- Arena Paintball – 2026 event calendar.
- Arena Paintball – Matariki Race pools and draw, Facebook, 23 June 2026.
- Arena Paintball – Pool A preliminary scores, Facebook, 11 July 2026.
- Arena Paintball – Pool B preliminary scores, Facebook, 11 July 2026.
- Arena Paintball – Matariki tournament victory announcement and 2026 series standings after Round 2, 12 July 2026, reproduced by FindGlocal.
- CULT Paintball Team – Matariki Cup victory, undefeated tournament record and Jordan Gatt MVP announcement, Facebook, 12 July 2026.