Organizer’s Guide

The World Beyblade Organization has dedicated itself to running all-ages Beyblade tournaments worldwide since 2008. To accomplish this, we rely on volunteer tournament organizers to run Beyblade tournaments in their local communities.

If you love Beyblade and want to see more people playing it, and are excited by the opportunity to lead and educate new players, we hope you’ll work with the WBO to organize Beyblade events in your community!

Organizer Responsibilities

Organizers represent the World Beyblade Organization in their local communities, and are tasked with:

• Scheduling and promoting tournaments
• Communicating with local bladers and parents
• Bringing appropriate equipment and supplies to the tournament venue
• Following and enforcing WBO tournament regulations
• Accurately tracking the progress of every match
• Handling and reporting rule violations
• Submitting tournament results and fees

Above all else, WBO organizers are expected to instill the values of good sportsmanship, act with honesty and integrity, and create a welcoming atmosphere for all bladers.

Planning Your Tournament

Once you’ve passed the organizers’ quiz, you’ll be able to schedule a tournament. But before you do, you should plan out the following details.

Need help? Don’t hesitate to private message a WBO staff member.

Participants

Most WBO formats require a minimum of eight participants. See the Tournament Systems section below to learn more about the available formats.

Before you schedule a tournament, you should ideally have confirmed interest from at least four registered WBO users or have a plan ready to promote your event (eg. posting on social media, chat groups, posting ads, etc).

WBO events may not exceed 120 participants without prior approval. If you think that your event will exceed 120 participants, outline this in your event proposal so our team can help. If more than 120 participants show up at your event unexpectedly, you will need to accept only the first 120 registrants as players in the tournament.

Check the Communities section of worldbeyblade.org to see if there is already a community near you. If there isn’t, you can create one for your state or province.

Participant Capping

Generally speaking, we encourage WBO events to be as open and inclusive as possible. However, depending on the size of your venue, number of staff available to help you, or local health and safety regulations related to your venue, it may be necessary to impose a participant cap on your event to ensure that it runs smoothly.

If you would like to impose a participant cap on your event, you must propose the cap in your event proposal and outline the reasons why it is necessary. Our team will evaluate your request and let you know whether it is approved or not before the event is posted publicly.

Participant Cap for First-Time Organizers

If you are proposing your first event as a WBO Organizer without any other experienced WBO Organizers assisting you, we require a mandatory maximum participant cap of 24.

Staff & Judges

It is important to plan ahead of time for how much staff and how many judges you will need to successfully run your event. See the “Event Staff Roles List” section under Tournament Management section in this guide for more information about how many people you may need and what their responsibilities should be.

Judge’s Guide

For guidance on how to judge matches at WBO events, please reference our Judge’s Guide.

Organizers are responsible for being familiar with the rules outlined in the Judge’s Guide and for ensuring judges at their event are also familiar with it before judging any matches.

Date Conflicts

To prevent conflicting event dates in your region, we recommend communicating your proposal to nearby organizers.  

Location and Venue

Tournament venues should be publicly accessible and not in a private location like someone’s home.

Public parks are the most common type of venue for smaller Beyblade tournaments, but game stores and other indoor areas are also fine. In each case, make sure you have permission to use the space. Beyblade is a loud game, so be respectful and pick a place where you won’t bother others.

Large Events

Want to do something with a convention, store, hotel meeting space, or community centre? Outline your plans in your event proposal so that we can help.

Consider Venue Capacity

It’s also important to consider how much space will be required for the amount of attendees you anticipate (both players and spectators). We’ve outlined some basic recommendations below for estimating your capacity based on the square footage of your venue. Be sure to choose a venue which is suitable for your event.

Venue Application Restrictions

Please note that at this time we are unable to assist with any venue applications that require the name of our organization (“World Beyblade Organization”) or corporation (“Fighting Spirits Inc.”) to be written as the hosting organization or as an associated not-for-profit organization. Organizers are also not permitted to indicate this themselves when completing a venue application.

In accordance with the Organizer Agreement in our Terms of Service, all liability rests with you as the event organizer or the venue you are hosting your event with.

Format

The format of the tournament determines which ruleset is followed and most importantly, which Beyblades are allowed to be used. You can see rulebooks for all of the WBO formats in the Rules & Resources section.

Note that you can host two formats in one day; however, each needs to be submitted as a separate tournament.

Rank Status

In ranked tournaments, a blader’s wins and losses are recorded in their profile, and their performance affects their BeyRank. Unranked matches aren’t recorded and aren’t eligible for prize reimbursement outside of special events.

Most WBO tournaments are ranked, but unranked events are a great way to play Beyblade in a more relaxed and experimental environment.

Ranked Clauses

Ranked Clauses are a set of optional rulings and banlist variations approved by the World Beyblade Organization for Ranked Play, as an acknowledgement of the ability of the range of valid ways to play Beyblade, and to empower Organizers to make informed choices to suit their own communities.

For information on Ranked Clauses, as well a list of available and Recommended Clauses, please see the Ranked Clauses Guide.

When using Ranked Clauses, Organizers must use the Standardized Text from the Ranked Clauses BBCode Resource Thread for each clause in their Tournament Post (this will be streamlined in future).

Legal Equipment

Much in the same way that it is expected of Organizers to mention Ranked Clauses, any and all relevant equipment must be stated in your tournament proposal to the best of your ability and knowledge. In the event that you plan to use more accessible but unlicensed products to facilitate your event or specific format, this too will need to be stipulated in your proposal.

Prizes

Prize Reimbursement (Temporarily Suspended)

NOTE: Prize reimbursement is temporarily suspended for all WBO Organized Play events. This notice will be removed when it becomes available again.

The WBO will reimburse money spent on prizes for ranked tournaments up to a certain amount, shown below. Keep in mind that unranked tournaments are not typically eligible for prize reimbursement. Organizers are responsible for supplying their own prizes; however, if you need help purchasing or selecting them, please ask for assistance.

Organizers must present receipts or invoices that include the prizes purchased in order to receive reimbursement. If an organizer hosts several events in one day or weekend, only one of those events will be eligible for reimbursement.

If you need prize reimbursement beyond these guidelines for a major event (like a convention), don’t hesitate to contact us for help.

Sponsorship

Seeking additional sponsorship is not required for your event as the WBO can offer support for things such as prize reimbursement (see “Prizes” section above) or signage depending on the circumstances.

However, if you wish to seek outside sponsorship for your event it must first be approved by a member of the WBO staff. Include any details within your event proposal before any announcements are made publicly or agreements are reached with your potential sponsor. Sponsorship includes, but is not limited to: financial support, prizing, or advertising for your event.

Tournament Name, Logo and Description

Every WBO tournament requires a unique name. Feel free to get creative and have fun with it! You can look at some of the tournaments already on the site for inspiration.

You may also include an event description and logo, but you aren’t required to.

Event Equipment

It’s heavily encouraged that organizers and community members make the effort to bring extra stadiums, launchers, and Beyblade parts to tournaments. This ensures that everyone has everything needed to play both in the tournament and in practice matches on the side.

BeyStadium

You must have access to at least one legal BeyStadium for the format you want to play. However, the larger your tournament, the more stadiums (and judges) you will need to efficiently complete all of the required matches.

See our chart below for our stadium recommendations depending on event size:

The BeyStadium must not have any cracks in its floor. Cracks on stadium walls are acceptable provided that there are no pieces of the wall missing and the crack is sealed with tape from underneath.

Additional stadiums for participants to use for free play while not participating in tournament matches is also extremely beneficial, especially during larger events when the wait time between matches for each player might be longer than normal.

Rulebooks

Printed or digital copies of this Organizer’s Guide and the rulebook for your format must be available to any attendees at all times. Printed copies are strongly recommended.

Safety Mats

The use of safety/anti-fatigue mats is strongly encouraged; they make the play area far more comfortable and help prevent dirt and debris from entering the BeyStadium.

Wipes or Cleaning Solution

BeyStadiums can accumulate dirt that can affect how Beyblades perform. Keep BeyStadiums at your tournament clean with either pre-wetted wipes or a cloth and a gentle cleaning solution. Ideally an isopropyl alcohol or water-based solution. Ensure that any such solution does not leave behind residue of any kind that may potentially change the slickness of the stadium floor or walls unnaturally.

Pylons & Barriers

If you anticipate a large turnout, having pylons and barriers available to cordon off a specific area where tournament matches will be played is helpful in controlling large crowds. If you can do this, allow only judges or players who have been called for a tournament match to enter the designated area.

Personal Amplifier, Megaphone, or Microphone

If you anticipate a large turnout, having something to amplify your voice to announce rules, matches, and tournament updates is useful to ensure you are heard.

Once you’ve finalized all of these details, you’re ready to schedule your event.

Lending Beyblades & Launchers

Sometimes people who attend WBO tournaments might want to try out Beyblade for the first time and don’t have any equipment with them.

While it is not required, if you plan to offer equipment to attendees to use during your tournament we would recommend doing so with the following stipulation: all Beyblades and launchers can only be used during tournament matches and must be returned to the judge after each match.

This will help to ensure that no equipment is lost. Please note however that the WBO, Organizers, and any event staff are ultimately not responsible for any lost equipment at WBO events.

Floor Plan

Prior to your event it is recommended that you mock-up a floor plan defining the following:

Floor Plan Elements

• An (ideally) enclosed tournament area
• Free play area
• Registration desk and/or line starting point
• Seating (if applicable)

Share it with both your judges and tournament participants before the event. This will help you communicate to them how it will be organized so they know what to expect.

This is most useful for indoor events, but worth considering for outdoor events at least in a rough fashion as well so that you have a plan for how the event space will function.

Floor Plan Example

For reference, here is a floor plan example created for a past event.

Hosting After a Prolonged Absence (1 Year)

If you have not hosted a WBO event in over one year, you will be required to mention this and check in with the Organized Play team when you post your event proposal so that we can ensure you are aware of any rules which may have changed or been added since you last hosted. The Organized Play team may ask you a series of questions to ensure this.

Posting Multiple Events Simultaneously

Organizers are not permitted to post a new tournament until they’ve completed their post-tournament responsibilities from their previous tournament.

However, if your last three events have been successful, at their discretion our staff may allow you to post up to two events simultaneously.

Organizers who would like to have more than two events posted simultaneously must request special permission to do so from staff in their event proposal(s). These requests will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis and you should plan for the review and approval/denial process to take longer than the normal 72 hour event proposal review time.

Cancelling Your Tournament

Whether due to personal circumstances, inclement weather, or sudden unexpected problems, sometimes you may need to cancel your tournament after it has been scheduled.

Before any tournament, it is highly recommended that you take every precaution necessary to ensure that you will be able to host your event safely and successfully. This can include, but is not limited to, checking local weather forecasts ahead of time or checking to see if any other local events near your venue might affect your ability to run your tournament.

Adjusting the scope of your event

In these situations, it is recommended to first consider if adjusting the scope of the event can be scaled back in order to enable you to run the event successfully and safely. Potential scenarios include:

1. Canceling a secondary tournament if you were planning to host more than one.
2. Reducing the participant cap of your event. Contact a staff member if you would like to do this. All existing event participants will be removed.

Cancellation Procedure

If no change in scope can enable the event to be run successfully and safely, cancel the event. When doing so, please:

1. Cancel your event as far ahead of time as possible.
2. Add “- EVENT CANCELLED” to your event page name.
3. Post a notice of cancellation in your event page tagging all registered users.
4. Notify a staff member to move the event into the Processed Events Archive.

Cancelling on the day of your event

If you are canceling your event on the day it was scheduled to happen, it is recommended that you still travel to the venue (if it is safe to do so) at the original start time for the event to ensure that anyone who shows up and may not have seen the cancellation notice is made aware that it was in fact cancelled.

Additionally, we recommend reaching out by any other means possible to ensure the cancellation is communicated to all users who had signed up. This can include calling them, texting them, and asking others who may know some of the participants that you do not to contact them directly.

Please note that Organizers who cancel their event without any prior notice or without a valid reason may be warned in accordance with the Organizer Violation Procedure & Guidelines in the Community Rules.

Tournament Fees

Venue Fees

If your event is being played in a venue that requires a fee to enter (ex. in a store or at a convention) or to cover the costs of renting a space, you may charge a venue fee. Venue fees should not be any higher than is necessary to cover the operating costs required by the venue owner.

If your event requires a venue fee, the following must be included as part of your event proposal:

1. Add the venue fee into the total cost listed under “Admission Fee” on your event page.
2. Include details under “Admission Fee Notes” describing what the fee is for.

By submitting an event proposal with an associated venue fee, you are certifying as the Organizer that the fee adheres to the above guidelines.

Mandatory Tournament Entry Fees

NOTE: All WBO Organized Play events are temporarily free-to-enter and Blader Passports are unavailable for purchase. This notice will be removed when tournament fees and Blader Passports are reinstated.

The WBO is a non-profit organization that uses money raised through our tournaments to run events and giveaways, maintain our website, and provide resources and prizes to our communities.

Players may either purchase a one-time tournament entry or a blader passport, which allows for unlimited entry to WBO tournaments for one year.

All tournament fees must be submitted via PayPal to donate@worldbeyblade.org no later than 14 days after a tournament has taken place.

Tournament Systems

WBO tournaments take place in two parts: a first stage where the format varies depending on the number of players, and a final stage that uses a more strict single-elimination format to determine who moves forward.

The way you’ll conduct the first stage depends on the number of players.

Note: Events exceeding 120 participants require prior approval from the WBO Organized Play team. See “Participants” section above.

Club System (4-7 Players)

In the event that less than eight players show up for an event, this format allows for groups of 4-7 Bladers to play in free-to-enter, unranked tournaments. Prize reimbursement is not provided for these events, but the winners of each event have an opportunity to earn a series of special Club Type Bits.

Rules

• No Entry Fee
• 4-7 Participants Only
• Organizer must submit results spreadsheet and winning combinations like a regular tournament.
• Prize reimbursement not provided
• Winner: Club Champion Bit

Available Formats

• Unranked Winning Streak Format:

• Players line up and compete in single battles (one at a time) for 20 minutes.
• After the first battle (matchup is determined by BeyRank as described below or randomly), the winner stays at the stadium, the loser goes to the back of the line and the winner plays the next person in line.
• 30 seconds maximum for both players to choose combinations before each battle.
• At the end of the 20 minutes, the player with the most battle wins is the victor. If there is a tie, a final playoff tiebreak match (best 3 of 5 using standard WBO tournament match rules) will be played to determine the victor. OR

• Unranked Round Robin Deck Match Type:

• Each player in the event plays each other once using the regular Deck Match Type rules specified here in the Organizers’ Guide.
• At the end of the round robin, the player with the best overall record is the victor.
• If there is a tie, a final playoff tiebreak match (using standard Deck Match Type rules) will be played to determine the victor.

• Optional: Players seeded by BeyRank (top seeds play first in Winning Streak Format)

Round Robin (8–11 players)

Every blader plays against every other blader once. The top four players advance to the final stage using Single Elimination (featuring any one Match Type found here).

Group Round Robin (12–16 players)

Bladers are split into two evenly-sized groups and play against every other blader in their group. The top two players from each group advance to the final stage using Single Elimination (featuring any one Match Type found here).

Swiss (17–64 players)

Bladers play a preset number of rounds, indicated on the chart below.

After the first round, bladers are paired based on their match history. Bladers with the highest records face each other, then the second-highest, etc. The top eight players advance to the final stage using Single Elimination (featuring any one Match Type found here).

Double Elimination (33–120 players)

With between 33–120 players, Organizers may choose to run their tournament using Double Elimination.

In Double Elimination, there are two brackets: the Winners Bracket and Losers Bracket. After losing once, Bladers are sent to the Losers Bracket. If they lose for a second time, they are eliminated from the event.

Once both brackets have been completed, the top eight players (top four from the Winners Bracket, top four from the Losers Bracket) advance to the final stage using Single Elimination (featuring any one Match Type found here).

Final Stage: 80+ Players

If you have 80+ players you must bring the top sixteen players (top eight from the Winners Bracket, top eight from the Losers Bracket) into the final stage using Single Elimination (featuring any one Match Type found here).

Single Elimination (80+ Players)

With between 80+ players, Organizers may choose to run their tournament using Single Elimination (with over 120, they must use Single Elimination).

In Single Elimination, there is one bracket. After losing once, Bladers are eliminated from the event.

Final Stage: 80–159 Players

Once the bracket is completed, the top sixteen players advance to the final stage. With between 80–159 players, Organizers may conduct the Final Stage using either Single Elimination or Double Elimination (featuring any one Match Type found here).

Final Stage: 160+ Players

Once the bracket is completed, the top thirty-two players advance to the final stage. With between 160+ players, Organizers must conduct the Final Stage using Single Elimination (featuring any one Match Type found here).

Match Types

Match Types determine the method of play for each match during a WBO Organized Play tournament. Tournaments can be played using a variety of Match Types in either Stage.

View the Match Types Guide Resource for the complete listing of them and the rules for each one.

Running Your Tournament

The WBO mandates the use of Challonge to record match results in your tournament for most events. Remember that it’s your responsibility to submit those results to the WBO within 14 days of your tournament. This deadline allows our team to process events worldwide in as timely a manner as possible.

Using Challonge

Challonge is a popular tournament management platform that can be accessed from any device with an internet connection. It streamlines the process of running tournaments by automatically generating brackets for any format, keeping track of scores, seeding players, determining tiebreakers, and more.

Organizers that use Challonge consistently run faster and more efficient tournaments, and all organizers must use it. However, it is not mandatory for tournaments with 16 or less participants.

Note: If you are running a Round Robin or Swiss tournament, you will be required to create a separate tournament in Challonge for the final stage.

Joining the WBO Challonge Community

All Organizers using Challonge must first be added as a Collaborator on the official WBO Challonge Community, which acts as a central repository for all of our tournament brackets.

If you have not already provided your Challonge username during the initial evaluation process after completing the Organizer’s Quiz, you may post your username in the this Organizer’s Circle thread.

Creating a Tournament

Host

Choose “World Beyblade Organization” from the drop-down menu.

Name

Write the same name you used for your tournament in the event listing. If the tournament you’re creating is the final stage of your tournament, add “— Final” to the end.

URL

Write the name of your tournament in all lowercase letters with underscores for spaces. Add “_final” to the end if this is the second stage of your tournament. If you’re in a rush, press the button to generate a random URL — you can change it later.

Type

The type of tournament depends on which tournament system you’re using:

• Single Stage: Use for Round Robin (7–11 players) or Swiss (17-64 players).
• Two Stage: Use for Group Round Robin (12—16 players), Double Elimination (33-120 players), or Single Elimination (80+ Players) only:

For Group Round Robin, after selecting “Two Stage,” choose “Round Robin” in the Group Stage options. Then, choose the number of participants to compete in each group (max 8, minimum 6).

For Double Elimination, choose “Double Elimination” in the Group Stage options. Then, make the number of participants in each ‘group’ the same number of participants competing in the tournament and the participants set to advance to 8 (or optionally: 16 if you have 80+ players participating, 32 if you have 160 + players participating). There should only be one double elimination bracket created as a result.

For Single Elimination, choose “Single Elimination” in the Group Stage options. Then, make the number of participants in each ‘group’ the same number of participants competing in the tournament and the participants set to advance to 16 or 32 (16 if 80–159 players, 32 if 160+ players). There should only be one single elimination bracket created as a result.

Note that you can change this later if you need to before the tournament has begun.

Format (Round Robin & Swiss)

If you’re playing the first stage of a Round Robin or Swiss tournament, select those here.

If you’re creating a tournament for the final stage of a Round Robin or Swiss tournament, select Single Elimination and check the “Include a Match for 3rd Place” box.

Final Stage (Group Round Robin & Double Elimination)

Select Single Elimination and check the “Include a Match for 3rd Place” box.

Final Stage (Single Elimination)

If you have 160+ players, you must select Single Elimination.

If you have 80–159 players, you may select Single Elimination and check the “Include a Match for 3rd Place” box.

Alternatively, if you have 80–159 players, you may selects Double Elimination and check the “1 Match” option under Grand Finals. Then, manually conduct a third place match at the end of the bracket between the Loser’s Bracket runner-up (player who lost in the final round of the Loser’s Bracket) and Winner’s Bracket runner-up (player who lost in the final round of the Winner’s Bracket before the Grand Final match between the Winner’s and Loser’s Bracket champions).

Advanced Options

Expand the Advanced Options and choose “Quick advance - report winners only, not scores.”.

All other fields and options on the Create a Tournament page can be ignored.

Adding Participants

After completing the initial tournament setup, click the “Participants” tab on the following page. Here, you may add the tournament participants one-by-one, or in bulk.

Seeding Participants

Seeding is the initial placement of players in tournament brackets that determines who they face first. Organizers are encouraged to seed bladers based on their BeyRank, as is the standard for competitive games worldwide.

Order of Seeding

1. BeyRank of registered attendees, collected from the website the night of/morning before an event.
2. Existing WBO players with unknown ranks
3. New players

If you are following this order of seeding for your participants, it is incredibly important that it be done correctly and that, for example, no players who should be seeded highly end up at the bottom of the seeding. If this were to happen, an enormous negative effect is created on the entire tournament–especially in Swiss Format–where the lowly seeded players who should have been seeded higher end up with an easier path to the finals, and everyone else is subjected to an unfair path on one level or another.

Random Seeding (optional for 16 or less participants)

However, random seeding is permitted for tournaments with 16 or less participants. As the name suggests, random seeding must be completely random and not partially random. We recommend inputting your participants into this list randomizer to determine the random seeding.

Seeding of participants is controlled by the order of the list of participants from top to bottom. The first player on the list will be the top seed in the tournament, and the last player on the list will be the bottom seed.

Seeding in the Final Stage

In the final stage, players are seeded based on their rank in the standings of the first stage of the tournament.

Ranked Seeding for Round Robin, Swiss, Double Elimination, and Single Elimination

Drag-and-drop each participant in the list and order them based on their BeyRank. For example:

Ranked Seeding for Group Round Robin

Note that the groups will be automatically generated based on the order of the participant list regardless of each player’s BeyRank. To create competitively balanced Groups with an even spread of higher and lower ranked participants, you need to organize them like this:

Starting the Tournament

When you’re done adding participants, click on the “Bracket” tab.

• Round Robin, Swiss, Double Elimination, and Single Elimination: The matches for the first round of Swiss, the entire Round Robin, or first round of Double Elimination will now have been generated.
  
• Group Round Robin: Group Round Robin matches will be separated into Group A and B. The “Standings” tab will be highlighted by default. Click “Matches” to view the matches for each group.

To begin the tournament click the “Start the Tournament” button.

Once you have started the tournament, you cannot add more participants without resetting the bracket and all reported BeyBattle scores.

Recording Results

Click the edit icon along the right-side of each match in the bracket to report the winner.

Group Round Robin: Running Groups Simultaneously

If you are running Group Round Robin and have a co-host or judges who have their own device that can access Challonge, we recommend providing them with your login information so that they can run their Groups at the same time as yours.

Results are not updated live on the page for all users viewing the bracket. You must refresh the page to view updates to the results made by someone other than yourself.

Ending the First Stage & Determining Finalists

After all matches have been completed, a chart outlining the final scores of each player is displayed at the bottom of the page. You must now use this chart to determine the finalists of the tournament.

Tied Records

If there are any ties, follow these tiebreaking procedures to break the tie. Start with number one on the list for the format you are running and move your way down the list to the next tiebreaking factor if the previous one did not break the tie:

Important Notes:

• Do not click the “End the Tournament” button; doing so will disable your ability to make any adjustments to the BeyBattle results.
• Tiebreak Matches: Note these matches separately from Challonge. These won’t be ranked, but should be included when submitting results afterwards with a note indicating it was a tiebreaker.

Conducting the Finals

• Round Robin & Swiss: With the finalists, proceed to the finals by creating a new Single Elimination tournament inside of Challonge.
  
• Group Round Robin: With the finalists determined, click “End the Group Stage” to proceed to the Final Stage. The Single Elimination bracket will be automatically generated.
  
  In the unlikely case of a tiebreak unresolved by the TB column in the Group Stage, create a brand new Single Elimination tournament within Challonge using the method described above for Round Robin and Swiss to conduct the finals.

• Double Elimination: With the finalists determined, click “End the Group Stage” to proceed to the Final Stage. The Single Elimination bracket will be automatically generated. The top four players (winners bracket finalists) and fifth to eighth place players (losers bracket finalists) who earned a spot in the finals  should be seeded separately based on their initial tournament seed. For instance, if Player A (Seed 5) is one of the four winners bracket finalists, they cannot be seeded lower than number four in the finals despite their initial seed being 5. Conversely, if Player B (Seed 2) is one of the losers bracket finalists, they cannot be ranked higher in the finals than number five despite their initial seed being 2. This will determine the order of the finalists from number one through eight and ultimately what the matchups will be.
  
• Single Elimination: With the finalists determined, click “End the Group Stage” to proceed to the Final Stage. Depending on the settings chosen when setting up the tournament, a Single Elimination or Double Elimination bracket will be automatically generated. The top sixteen or thirty-two players who earned a spot in the finals  should be seeded separately based on their initial tournament seed. This will determine the order of the finalists and ultimately what the matchups will be.
  

Note:

• In the unlikely case of a tiebreak unresolved by the TB column in the Group Stage, create a brand new Single Elimination tournament within Challonge using the method described above for Round Robin and Swiss to conduct the finals.

Dropped Participants

For all formats, if a player drops before the conclusion of the event their matches played will be ultimately processed into the rankings as normal. However, for the following formats:

Dropped Participants in Round Robin & Block Round Robin

If a player drops from an event before completing all of their matches in a Round Robin-based event, they will be given "losses" for every match both played and unplayed.

What this means is that the matches the dropped player has played will be counted for the WBO Rankings (meaning it should be listed as a win in the results spreadsheet), but will all be considered "losses" within the context of the event.

For example, if someone wins four matches in an eight-player round robin and drops, they'll get the four wins (for the matches played) and three losses (for the matches missed) within the WBO Rankings, but will receive seven losses within the context of the tournament. This will ensure that the flow of the tournament is not disrupted in any way; players who lost to the player that dropped won't be at a disadvantage compared to the players who didn't and get free wins as a result.

Dropped Participants in Swiss Format

If a player drops from a Swiss tournament, they will retain their wins but receive match losses for the remainder of the tournament.

However for all formats, if a player stays to complete their round robin/swiss round matches and makes the finals, they will only be given losses for their matches in the finals.

Dropped Participants in Double Elimination

If a player drops from a Double Elimination tournament, they will retain their wins, but receive match losses for the remainder of the tournament.

Dropped Participants in Single Elimination

If a player drops from a Single Elimination tournament, they will retain their wins, but receive match losses for the remainder of the tournament.

To help avoid the possibility of participants dropping from your event, we encourage all Organziers to announce the estimated length of the tournament before it begins.

Team Format with Challonge

When running a team format tournament, register the teams entering the tournament as participants rather than the individual players, and keep track of the overall scores resulting from the three individual BeyBattles played in each Team BeyBattle throughout the tournament.

The individual players of each team and the three individual BeyBattles that comprise each Team BeyBattle throughout the tournament will need to be manually noted separately from Challonge.

Note: The Single Elimination (15+ Teams) and Double Elimination (12-14 Teams) formats within Challonge are permitted for Team Format.

How to Handle Fixing Incorrect Match Results

While we encourage all Organizers and judges to be careful in their reporting of matches at all times, sometimes mistakes happen.

If at some point during a tournament it becomes recognized that an error was made:

Round Robin & Group Round Robin Errors

Errors in First Stage

You may update the match result within Challonge if the wrong one was accidentally input originally or re-do the match to get a proper result if the mistake made was related to judging or unintentionally modified parts or unintentional cheating.

However, if the player in question broke any rules (outlined in the Rule Enforcement and Incident Reporting section of this guide), they may be disqualified and the result of their match(es) may be reversed for those affected by their infractions.

First Stage Errors Discovered After the First Stage Has Ended

If the First Stage has already concluded when any such errors are discovered, you may re-do any affected matches if possible. However, if the updated results affect who earned a spot in the finals and someone who now earned a spot has already left, do not give them a loss for their finals match. Simply give their opponent a bye to the next round.

Final Stage Errors

If the error occurred in the Final Stage, the result may be changed in Challonge and any affected parts of the Final Stage tournament bracket may be redone.

Swiss Format Errors

Errors Discovered Before a Round Has Ended

If an error in match result input, judging, or player rule infraction was made and the round in which it occurred in has not ended, you may update the match result or re-do the match and update the result  in Challonge if necessary.

Errors Discovered After a Round Has Ended

If an error in a match result input, judging, or player rule infraction  was made and the round in which it occurred has already ended, do not update the match result in Challonge. Doing so will skew all remaining match-ups generated for everyone in the tournament in subsequent rounds.

In this case, make note of the wrong result and switch it in your submitted spreadsheet if it was due to an error in match result input. Re-do the match if it was due to a judging error or unintentional player rule infraction and switch the result in your spreadsheet if the winner changes. But do not update the match in Challonge.

Please note it on the spreadsheet however that it was input incorrectly within Challonge. In these cases, some parts of your tournament may not be processed. They will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

First Stage Errors Discovered After the First Stage Has Ended

If the First Stage has already concluded when any such errors are discovered, you may re-do any matches affected if necessary and note them in your spreadsheet, but the result for First Stage matches unfortunately cannot be changed in Challonge if the winner changed at this point.

In this case, only disqualify players from the Final Stage if they had intentionally committed a player rule infraction (outlined in the Rule Enforcement and Incident Reporting section of this guide). Proceed with the Final Stage normally afterwards.

In these cases, some parts of your tournament may not be processed. They will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Final Stage Errors

If the error occurred in the Final Stage, the result may be changed in Challonge and any affected parts of the Final Stage tournament bracket may be redone.

Single or Double Elimination Errors

First Stage Errors

If an error in match result input, judging, or player rule infraction was made the result the match may be redone if necessary and the result may be switched if necessary within Challonge.

If the result is switched, Challonge will automatically regenerate the affected branch(es) of the tournament bracket. Any matches that occur after the affected match would also have to be redone.

First Stage Errors Discovered After the First Stage Has Ended

If the First Stage has already concluded when any such errors are discovered, you may re-do any matches affected if necessary and note them in your spreadsheet, but the result for First Stage matches unfortunately cannot be changed in Challonge if the winner changed at this point.

In this case, only disqualify players from the Final Stage if they had intentionally committed a player rule infraction (outlined in the Rule Enforcement and Incident Reporting section of this guide). Proceed with the Final Stage normally afterwards.

In these cases, some parts of your tournament may not be processed. They will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Final Stage Errors

If the error occurred in the Final Stage, the result may be changed in Challonge and any affected parts of the Final Stage tournament bracket may be redone.

Challonge Stations (Optional)

One important aspect of managing tournaments–particularly large ones–is understanding what matches are currently happening at any given time and who is judging them. Challonge has a feature called “Stations” which can help with this.

After completing the initial tournament setup, click the “Stations” tab on the following page.

“Stations” can be thought of as “Stadiums” for our purposes. Every match in an event can be assigned to a specific Station. The assigned station will show on the tournament bracket itself and matches can be assigned from the bracket as well.

Then, assign a judge to every stadium during your event and announce the numbers of each stadium before your event. When announcing matches you can then declare something like “Blader 1 versus Blader 2 at Stadium 2”.

Click “Create New Station” and make one for each stadium you plan to use during the tournament. Name them as “S1”, “S2”, “S3” etc. until each stadium has a Station.

Also ensure that:

• “Automatically assign stations to matches as they become available.” is turned off.
• “Require matches to have assigned stations before starting them and sending notifications.” is turned on.

The first option seems convenient but can result in some users not playing their first matches for a long time.

The second option ensures that all matches originally announced are completed before a new one is assigned to it. During a hectic tournament environment it can be difficult to keep track of what has started and what hasn’t been started, so being forced to input a result for each assigned match before moving on helps to alleviate this problem.

Pen & Paper Recording (16 Players or Less)

If your tournament has 16 players or less and you don’t have access to Challonge, you may keep track of your results using pen and paper. Each BeyBattle must be tracked chronologically.

If your tournament has over 16 players and you don’t have access to Challonge, you must receive prior approval from the Organized Play team in your event proposal in order to run the event using pen and paper.

Playing in Your Own Tournament

Organizers are permitted to play in their own events, but are expected to exert a neutral, unbiased stance for everything that may occur and is required to be enforced during their event.

The only exception to this are for anything directly related to a match they are actively playing in themselves. During these specific cases, Organizers are to be treated solely as players. If they feel any rules have been broken during their own match, they should voice their concerns, but they are not responsible for or able to enforce rules themselves. The judge of their match and/or any appointed Head Judge is.

Post-tournament Responsibilities

1. Submit Tournament Fees

If applicable, all tournament entry fees must be submitted via PayPal to donate@worldbeyblade.org no later than 14 days after a tournament has taken place.

This does not include venue fees, if applicable for your event.

2. Submit Results Spreadsheet

After each tournament has been completed successfully, the Organizer is responsible for filling out every relevant page of the WBO Results Spreadsheet.

This spreadsheet allows you to communicate important information about:

• Match results listing
• Payment status for participants
• Bits earned by participants
• Winning combinations

Create a copy of the spreadsheet template on Google Drive and then share your completed copy as “View Only” in a post on your event page. This must be completed no later than 14 days after your event takes place.

Please ensure that all usernames listed throughout the spreadsheet are accurate and recorded exactly as they appear on their account. When usernames are input into our ranking system, they are case sensitive.

Organizers are not permitted to host a new tournament until they’ve submitted all fees and spreadsheets from their previous tournaments.

Spreadsheet Requirements for Unranked Events
The results spreadsheet for an unranked events may forgo a full recording of the match results if you instead post a link to your Challonge bracket in the corresponding tournament thread along  with a link to your otherwise completed spreadsheet.

This applies to events run using Round Robin Deck Match Type as well.

If you are running Club Format using the Winning Streak Format, you do not need to include the results themselves at all in your spreadsheet or otherwise (as that format cannot be performed using Challonge).

3. Pre-Process Tournament Results

After you have completed your results spreadsheet, you must pre-process them on the page for your event so that the Organized Play Contributor team can more quickly input them into the rankings when it is time. Learn How to Pre-Process Here.

4. Post Winning Combinations

We also ask that organizers share the winning combinations of their event’s top 3 Bladers in the Winning Combinations Topic.

Combinations should only be listed if they were used to win a match in the First Stage, or won at least one battle within a match that the user won during the Final Stage. The latter must be indicated with “(Finals Only)” beside the combination name when posted.

Failure to Complete Post-Tournament Responsibilities

Organizers must submit their tournament results, winning combinations, and fees (if applicable) within two weeks after their event has ended and may not host another event until they have done so. Organizers who have failed to submit their tournament information may be warned according to the guidelines in our Community Rules.

If there are any legitimate personal circumstances which are preventing you from getting results, winning combinations, or fees submitted on time, please be sure to contact one of our Staff members so that we are aware of the situation and can make an exception.

Tournament Management

Tournament Invites

Once you have created your Event page, click the “Join Tournament” button to access the  "Invite Players" section. Type in up to 25 usernames at a time and instantly send invitation PMs and notifications to the chosen Bladers.

Event Equipment

Before departing for any tournament, ensure that you have with you all of the equipment listed in the event equipment section.

It’s common for bladers to arrive early, so try to arrive at your venue no later than 30 minutes before the designated start time.

Pre-Tournament Announcements Guide & Notes Template

To help assist Organizers prepare for and begin their tournaments, we have created this Pre-Tournament Announcements Guide and Notes Template.

The goal of this guide is to provide a modifiable template Organizers can use to outline all of the pre-tournament announcements they need to make and to capture notes related to the tournament all in one place which is easy to share among judges and WBO staff members after the tournament if needed.

We encourage all Organizers to make copies of this template for each of their events and modify as is necessary.

Registration

Begin tournament registration immediately when the tournament start time begins, and try to begin the tournament no later than fifteen minutes after that. If you anticipate a large turnout, be sure to account for that by increasing registration time.

Ensure Event Participants Have worldbeyblade.org Accounts

All event participants must have accounts prior to being formally registered for your event.  Anybody who wishes to participate in the tournament but has not yet created their account must be instructed to complete the following three easy steps before returning to the registration station (you can read this like a script):

1. Go to “world beyblade dot org” and click the red “Join Now” button located in the top right corner of the page.
2. Create an account with a unique username, password, and email address.
3. Click the icon in the top right of the homepage and click “My Profile” (direct link: https://worldbeyblade.org/usercp.php?action=profile). Then, return to the registration station and show your username.

You can also print copies of our Account Registration Guide to hand out to participants needing to create an account that covers these same steps in an easy to follow step-by-step guide.

Additional Registration Guidelines

• The night before the tournament, make sure to take note of each blader’s BeyRank for seeding. You can see this by opening the participants list on the tournament page.

• Collect entry fees from bladers as they register. Make sure to store the money safely and keep it with you at all times. Write down the names of all participants and what amount was collected from them.

• If possible, tag team the registration process with someone else helping you out. One person can handle adding participants to the Challonge bracket as they register, and another can handle creating a separate list of participants noting whether they have a Passport, are paying the one-time entry fee, or are purchasing a Passport.

• Before the tournament begins, announce an approximate tournament length. This will help set expectations for all players participating and parents, guardians, or friends spectating and lower the chances of players dropping during the event.

Need-to-Know Information Sheet

To help assist Organizers communicate the most essential rules participants and spectators must know when attending a WBO tournament, we have prepared this  Need-to-Know Info Sheet Template.

The goal of this sheet is to provide a modifiable template Organizers can use to outline all of the essential rules participants in their event need to be aware of.

We encourage all Organizers to make copies of this template for each of their events and modify as is necessary.

Once copied and updated, post a link to it on your event page and also make printed copies to hand out during registration at your event if possible.

You should also announce a summary of rules and encourage new players to read the printed need-to-know information sheets and rulebooks you have on-hand.

Tournament Desk Inaccessibility

It is recommended to make your tournament desk or Challonge Master inaccessible to participants in order to avoid unnecessary distractions. Appoint another staff member to handle inquiries from attendees.

Stadium Numbers

To help make stadium identification easier for players, we recommend assigning numbers to each one and announcing them before the event starts.

To go along with this, we have prepared a collection of printable stadium number cards that you can use for your event. Judges can hold these up whenever a match is called for their stadium.

Download Stadium Number Cards

Video Review Policy

Organizers may choose to allow or disallow video review of rounds from consideration by judges at their events.

We recommend whether you choose to allow it or not, announcing your video review policy at the beginning of the event.

Depending on your policy, please note:

• If you choose to disallow video review, attendees may still independently record matches. However, they may not be reviewed during the event.
• If video review is permitted for use by judges, we recommend having them use the WBO Video Review Protocol outlined in the Judge’s Guide  for all applicable matches.

Video review is supplemental to a judge’s initial call. The judge’s final call is always final and never insufficient if they do not review any video.

Breaks

For large events which are expected to take over five hours, we recommend considering implementing a 30-60 minute break within your event schedule at some point during the First Stage or at least at the end of the First Stage before the finals begin.

Event Staff Role List

Outlined below find a list of common staff roles that should be considered for every event depending on size and number of staff or volunteers available.

We’ve split the role list into “Skilled Roles” which require previous knowledge of Beyblade, the WBO, and our rules in general and “Unskilled Roles” which are also important, but which do not necessarily require specific Beyblade or WBO-related knowledge.

If possible, try asking some parents or guardians attending your event ahead of time if they would be willing to help with some of the Unskilled Roles.

Some staff can potentially handle multiple roles.

Skilled Roles:

1. Tournament/Event Organizer (1)
Responsible for overseeing management of the entire event.

• Support and manages all staff.
• Act as liaison between staff, venue, and any third-party providers.
• Directs tournament setup.
• Will make pre-tournament announcements.
• Will complete Roll Call before the event begins with the help of Challonge Master.

2. Challonge Master (1) + Optional Announcer (1)

• Challonge Master will work with Tournament/Event Organizer to complete Roll Call before tournament starts.

• Challonge Master will create the tournament brackets on Challonge the night before the event.
• Challonge Master will work with Registration staff to compile final list of tournament participants and input them into the bracket.
• Challonge Master will work with Announcer to tag team progression of tournament bracket. These two people understand what is happening within the tournament bracket at all times and work to announce matches, record results, and progress the tournament.
• For smaller events there may be multiple Challonge Masters (for instance, during a Block Round Robin event).

3. Judges (1 Minimum)

• Judges should be assigned to a specific stadium and judge only at that stadium for the duration of the event.
• If judges will also be participating in the event, alternate judges should be appointed for when the primary judges are playing their own tournament matches.
• When a match is called for a judge’s stadium, they are to stand up and raise their tournament number card (or hand) over their heads until both players arrive.
• Judges are required to report match results to the Challonge Master immediately after finishing a match and then return immediately to their assigned stadium. Once seated, they should raise their stadium number card (or hand) to indicate that they are free.
• One head judge should be appointed. Ideally, the head judge will not judge individual matches, but if there is any disputes he will try to resolve the issue and will watch the remainder of the match with the assigned judge.

Unskilled Roles:

1. Registration Managers (1 Minimum)

• Registers new users in customized Pre-Tournament Announcements Guide and Notes Template.
• Checks that each person has an account on the WBO. If they don’t an account needs to be made before they can register..
• When done registering a user, they will raise their hand to indicate to the Door Manager that they are free for the next guest.

2. Floor Managers (Optional)

• Exterior Tournament Area Floor Manager: They will manage the entrance to the tournament area. Their job will be to ensure that the entrance and path to it stays clear at all times. If anyone has questions, they should call over the Interior Tournament Area Floor Manager to convey the question to the Tournament Desk.
• Interior Tournament Area Floor Manager: They will manage the flow of people within the tournament area and guide people towards the appropriate stadiums or out of the tournament area.
• Space Floor Manager: This person will manage the overall space. They will act in accordance with fire, health and safety regulations for the venue. They should also ensure that the free play area remains organized and easy to enter/exit. If equipment is required to be moved or added to a certain area during the event, they will be responsible for it.

3. Door Manager: (Optional)

• Hands out customized Need-to-Know Info Sheet to attendees as they enter the venue.
• Answer basic questions about the event from attendees.
• Manage the flow of people into the venue. Direct them towards the next open Registration Staff Member.
• If possible, have an additional Door Manager running up and down the line outside the venue to hand out the Need-to-Know Info Sheet and ensuring everyone has their account open on their phone (or creates one if they don’t have one).

4. Information Desk Manager (Optional)

• After Registration is complete, the Registration Desk will become the Information Desk and the person manning it will be responsible for answering any questions that attendee may have throughout the day.
• Players will be directed to tell the Information Desk if they have to leave or go to the washroom. The Information Desk Manager will be responsible for taking their username and sending it to the Challonge Master so that they are aware.
• If you did not use or do not have a desk to use, simply appoint someone as the Information Manager and direct people to ask them questions during the event while performing your Pre-Tournament Announcements.
  

Contests, Raffles, and  During Your Events

All members are subject to our Terms of Service, including our policy on contests, raffles, gambling, and betting and  at events.

If you notice someone advertising or posting about these things on your event page, report it to a WBO Staff Member.

If you notice someone conducting these activities within your event venue, you may ask them to stop. However, if you do not feel comfortable or safe doing so, refrain from interacting with them and report it to a WBO Staff Member afterwards.

Rule Enforcement and Incident Reporting

For most rule violations, such as launching at the wrong time or accidentally touching the stadium, educating the player on the rules and telling them to not repeat the action is usually enough.

In some situations you may deal with players who are determined to cheat or disrupt a tournament. You should disqualify a player from your tournament if they intentionally:

• Illegally modify their Beyblade’s parts or performance
• Spy on an opposing player during the Beyblade selection phase
• Throw a match or attempt to fix the result of any player’s match
• Break or circumvent the format’s gameplay rules to gain an advantage
• Insult, steal from, or otherwise harass another player

Be lenient when it comes to disciplining newer or younger players who may not fully grasp the rules or how they apply. While organizers must enforce the rules, they must also work to educate inexperienced players about the basics of play.

Always put your personal safety and the safety of other players first. If disciplining a player results in a conflict, your goal should be to de-escalate the situation, even if that means letting a disqualified player continue to play. The WBO staff will work with you after the tournament to address the situation.

As an Organizer, you’re expected to know how to differentiate fake Beyblades from real ones. For information on how to spot fakes, check out theflightyellz’s guide on the WBO.

All incidents of suspected cheating, foul play or harassment must be reported to the WBO staff immediately following a tournament.