Does Beyblade Have Too Many Competitive Formats? (WBO Burst Classic Tournament Report)

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The First Ranked Beyblade Tournament of the Year in Toronto

On July 24, 2021 the Toronto WBO Beyblade community gathered for Back to the Classics Part 1 at High Park, our first ranked event of the year. But I didn’t play.

In this article, will explain why that was the case and how it’s lead me to wonder whether there is too many competitive formats available right now in Beyblade.

I give details on how I balance my desire for knowledge and competition, with my love of producing content for this blog, and helping the community as a staff member of worldbeyblade.org along with my approach to ranked events and choosing an area of specialty in Beyblade.

After that, I’ve written a tournament report that acts as a summary of some of my observations as a judge during the first and final stage this event. You’ll learn about the types of Beyblades that were used as well as the combinations that were used by the winners of the tournament.

Tournament Details

• Date: July 24, 2021
• Location: High Park – Toronto, ON
• Format: Burst Classic Format (Rulebook)
• WBO Event Page
• Challonge Bracket – First Stage
• Challonge Bracket – Final Stage

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Why didn’t I play in this tournament?

Many of you reading this report may not care why I didn’t play, but I’m sure a few of you will be wondering.

For those of you that want to compete at a high level but don’t have unlimited time and funds available to invest into this hobby, the reasoning I will explain below could act as valuable advice if you ever find yourself in an active local Beyblade community in the future.

Saturation Followed by Burnout

Back to the Classics Park 1 was our first WBO Burst Classic Format tournament since HIGH PARK THROWDOWN 11 two years ago.

It was also the third different format we played in a three week span (and it was followed directly afterwards by a fourth different format: Metal Fight Limited at MFB AIN’T DEAD!).

After the immense amount of time I put into preparing for, participating in and hosting our first two events of the year–HIGH PARK THROWDOWN 12 Burst Format and Burst Limited Format–and then writing the reports for those events, I was feeling a bit burned out.

Everyone’s tolerance for this will be different, but as someone who is deeply involved in the game on three different levels: the competitive scene, my blog, and as a staff member of worldbeyblade.org, it can at times be difficult to strike the right balance between the passion and dedication I feel towards all three of those things and the reality that saturation is often the death of such things. I felt similarly towards the end of my trip in Japan last year.

I want to feel that I’m keeping up competitively, consistently producing valuable content for everyone taking the time to read this blog, as well as both managing and driving forward new initiatives for the community at large through worldbeyblade.org.

I was also putting pressure on myself to make time to do other things that matter to me in my personal life–like studying Japanese–and it just wasn’t working when all combined. I was having a hard time just relaxing. So, I decided to take a bit of a step back.

Writing this report is a bit of a demonstration that I haven’t quite taken the step back that I intended, but not putting the pressure on myself to actually play and perform at a high level in this event was significant.

And I do feel strongly that what I talk about on this blog shouldn’t ignore feelings like this. I know it is something we all deal with on different levels with different things in our lives whether it is Beyblade or not.

The exhaustion I’ve felt recently was also combined with the fact that this event was going to be played with a format that I have mixed feelings about (which are summarized in part here) and have had mixed results in competitively thus far.

It made it hard for me to feel motivated about doing what would be necessary for myself to feel prepared and confident enough to be able to win the tournament.

The Meaning of Ranked Beyblade Tournaments

In any ranked event, the expectation I place upon myself is to win the event. Anything less than that is failure.

As someone who has lost more matches than anyone else in the history of worldbeyblade.org, I understand well that there is much you can learn from failure; it is absolutely valuable and necessary. But ultimately, it’s still failure in one form or another.

There’s no asterisk beside your name in the results when you play ranked and don’t do well. Nothing that says “Kei didn’t have enough time to test” or “Kei didn’t have all of the new parts”. Your results in ranked reflect not just how much talent or inherent ability you have, but also how much investment you’ve made into that event financially, physically, and mentally.

If I’m going to play in a ranked event that is recorded into history and meant to represent who the best of the best were at that time, I’m going to take it very seriously.

I take them seriously because I want to push myself and others to be the best we can be. There’s always more we can do as individuals and as a community to improve and more deeply understand each other and the game we are playing.

By playing seriously we lift each other up.

We become able to see things that others don’t.

One of the coolest recent examples of this for me was my usage of a worn down Rise during HIGH PARK THROWDOWN 12 and then seeing that henwooja1 took the experience of seeing me use that and spent the time necessary to wear it down and (presumably) test with it as well.

That event was unranked (although, I prepared for it as if it was ranked!), but ranked is where the most meaningful growth like this typically happens because it’s where players have the most to lose.

That’s what I consider to be the most fun; when someone takes what they are doing seriously and is able to grow not only themselves, but push those around them forward too.

There’s many players who are able to play in ranked events more casually and that is perfectly fine. But for me, being unable to change this feeling, I’ve learned over the years that it is ultimately better to accept it and take a step back when necessary to take a break or simply observe as I did during Back to the Classics Part 1.

As much as approaching the game in a serious way is meaningful to me, the reason I do this is because it’s important to balance approaching ranked play seriously with unranked play or no play at all. It gives you perspective.

Other types of growth can occur in these contexts, and particularly when it comes to unranked events, I do wish that more players embraced this. That might be another topic entirely, but I have talked a bit about it in the “The value of unranked play” section of my Justin Thunder Cloud’s Skateboarding Adventure tournament report.

I’ve begun to realize that it is more meaningful for me to aim for “quality” of tournaments rather than “quantity” of tournaments when it comes to those that are ranked.

What I mean by this is linked to something I spoke about in the “Aiming for Perfection vs. Aiming for a Top 3 Finish” section of my Beyblade West report.

The WBO Ranking System inherently encourages perfection and volume of play by design. This is a valid way to rank players and it should exist, make no mistake.

However, for example, when I look at the final results of MFB AIN’T DEAD! which was played right after Back to the Classics Part 1, I see this:

• Kei: 6 Wins – 1 Loss (3rd Place)
• OldSchool™: 4 wins – 3 Losses (2nd Place)

There’s a disparity here, right? Who is the better overall player? Me because my overall record was better or OldSchool™ because he beat me in the semi-final? The tournament results say OldSchool™, but the WBO Ranking System would probably say me once each individual battle is processed.

A similar thing happened to me at THE BEYS ARE BACK IN TOWN a few years ago. I went 4-3, yet finished in second place. Should I be discouraged because I lost 10 points in the WBO Rankings from that event, or should I be happy that I placed second?

Both answers are valid, but lately I tend to have leaned closer towards being happy I placed second than worrying about how I got there. I’d rather live in the moment and do what I can to achieve the goal and point of any tournament: to win it.

It’s a problem I’m glad to have to face because I do recognize that it is a result of having an amazing and active community around me and such deep investment in the game.

It is after thinking about things like this that I begin to question the necessity of constantly grinding and pushing myself to keep up with a never-ending onslaught of pressure-filled ranked tournaments for the purpose of keeping myself as close to the top of a leaderboard as possible.

It is after thinking about things like this that I begin to question the necessity of constantly grinding and pushing myself to keep up with a never-ending onslaught of pressure-filled ranked tournaments …

I fully understand the desire for this as someone who has done it for over ten years, and don’t want to discourage anyone from pursuing that because that’s what has made me into the player that I am today.

But at this stage for myself, if I can play for fun in an unranked environment to experiment with new ideas, gain experience, and gain perspective that is difficult to obtain playing alone … and then pick my spots to play more seriously and be successful in those moments–even if they are infrequent–that seems that it may be more meaningful.

Or maybe I just play in ranked events even if I am not prepared and stop caring about the results except for those that I know I prepared for.

The perspective I’ve described here is probably counter to most players who always seek ranked events, and is probably also influenced by the pressure I place on myself to perform as someone at or near the top of the rankings at the moment. It’s difficult to enter an event you are not prepared for and then accept the losses as a reflection of your ability.

You can never be fully prepared for every possible scenario, but there is certainly a point before a tournament where I feel that I’ve done enough to feel reasonably confident. If that is the case, it’s easier for me to accept if I overlooked something and ended up losing.

And I can imagine that I may run into some resistance or difficulty finding opportunities to play if unranked is what I’d ideally like to spend more time on as an individual. It’s something I still need to think more about.

The Ever Evolving Beyblade Community & Game

At all times there are new parts being released, changes to existing formats being made, and players discovering new things about what works best and what doesn’t.

On one hand it’s a blessing to those of us who love the game; one of the things that has enabled this is that Beyblade Burst is now the longest running Beyblade series of all time at over six years old.

But on the other hand, it’s easy to become overwhelmed, especially if you are trying to grasp all of it. Beyblade can be as shallow or deep as you want it to be competitively.

My feeling is that over the past 12 years since worldbeyblade.org was founded, the Beyblade world has expanded dramatically due to the introduction of two brand new series and the many play formats associated with them. During the original plastics generation and Heavy Metal System generation, there were effectively no other formally recognized formats in the community to my knowledge.

Many new battle formats have also been developed over this time such as WBO Deck Format, the WBBA 3on3 and 5G Formats, and Pick 3, Choose 1 Format.

It seems to me that an appetite for change has continued to grow in the community over time. It’s good that we are asking these questions and pushing to make things better. It shows how much more developed, organized, and engaged the community is now relative to the early days of Beyblade.

When you look at the WBO ten years ago, it was effectively a one format community; Plastics Format and HMS Format existed, but the vast majority of players only played Metal Fight Format because it was the newest thing and the only one that was ranked. We also had just one battle format (the traditional single Beyblade best 3/5 format) throughout each event.

For someone like myself that has been around since that time, the difference in the scope and depth of the competitive community because of these things is clear. It’s amazing.

But there’s both positives and negatives that come along with this increased depth, both for players that are heavily invested in the game and those who are brand new.

While there is a part of me that loves the added depth and diversity, I also recognize that it’s like adding niches inside of a game who’s competitive scene is already a niche.

While there is a part of me that loves the added depth and diversity, I also recognize that it’s like adding niches inside of a game who’s competitive scene is already a niche.

It makes me wonder about how we should actually be structuring and promoting WBO Organized Play if we want it to simultaneously unite the community and make the game more accessible to people.

My perspective might be influenced by the fact that I have additional responsibilities in the form of this blog and my involvement with the WBO trying to manage all of them, but even if I were just a player, I wonder if all of these different options would be overwhelming to me (especially if I was new to the game).

Part of the WBO’s long-term community initiative Project AIDA is the idea that we should be more accommodating to all of these types of play (even those we didn’t conceive of ourselves). Because it is evident that they won’t be going anywhere at this point and if we want to be able to connect with each other on a global level, it’s something we need to embrace.

Unfortunately, I don’t have all of the answers yet when it comes to solving how best to present and manage this on a community level. But the aim is for the space we offer to the community to produce a meaningful framework for everyone to connect and “Play Beyblade, Together” regardless of their method of play or location is.

For a long time I think there is also a component of this whole discussion where there was sort of this feeling that the way the WBO was doing things was the only way it could or should be done because of our ranking system. I still believe in this to a degree; it makes sense for an individual ranking system to have a consistent set of rules.

But clearly to me, I’m not sure there’s a reason why there shouldn’t also be the ability to have more localized rankings that are run using local rules in addition to a standardized set of WBO rules. How that is managed is another question entirely, but if we can solve that, it might be the key to actually uniting the many of the world’s local Beyblade communities onto a single platform.

Choosing Your Area of Specialty in Beyblade

The increased competitive depth in Beyblade that has slowly built over the years is why over the past few years I’ve begun to recognize that–for ranked events–it will be beneficial moving forward to specialize in particular formats rather than trying to know everything about every format and series that exists

Each player’s bandwidth for attention and investment into Beyblade will be different and you should make the decision that is right for you, but this is how I’ve begun to think about things.

I’ve begun to recognize that–for ranked events–it will be beneficial moving forward to specialize in particular formats rather than trying to know everything about every format and series that exists …

On one hand, it is difficult for me to accept because of how much I love the game. I have a desire to play and understand most forms this game takes, but my attention feels divided.

And when my attention is divided, it means my knowledge is compromised in all areas.

It you want to excel, you should do less, better.

It means making hard choices, but with greater focus comes stronger results.

Not playing in this event was the right decision to make because I was able to get the break I needed while also gathering valuable data and experience through observation that has made me look forward to the next time I’ll have the opportunity to play in a Burst Classic Format event, even if only unranked.

Moving forward, I will likely continue to focus my efforts on the standard Burst Format. Alternative formats such as Burst Classic Format are great and should exist, but I feel that they become more attractive and necessary after a series has ended.

Introducing the WBO Metal Fight Limited Format after the Metal Fight Beyblade ended was brilliant because it breathed new life into a game which was going to become stagnant while simultaneously creating an environment where the parts that were competitive were those from the era of the series that was the most popular. This gives the format a relatively high amount of accessibility.

I fully understand the appeal of and endorse alternative formats while Beyblade Burst is ongoing for those that it attracts, but I’m choosing to focus my competitive energy on the present and that which represents the greatest mix of performance, competitiveness, accessibility, and the never-before-seen: the standard Burst Format.

Finally, one of the other issues I’d like to touch on here that influences all of this is the existence of multiple formats being mixed into a single ranking. If they were separate, it would make conveying your expertise in a particular area easier.

If there was a ranking for Burst Classic and a ranking for the standard Burst Format but you only wanted to focus your energy on one of them, it would be easier to stop caring as much about your performance in the format you are deemphasizing competitively if your results in it did not affect your record in the one you are focusing on.

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First Stage Report

This event was played with ten participants and the Round Robin format, which meant each player would play each other for a total of nine matches.

From what I observed, these are the things which stood out the most to me:

Dragoon F and Drift

BladerBeast and henwooja1 both used this combo (both with the Polish Disk, I believe) throughout the first stage and were quite successful. It seemed easy to win with this against unsuspecting opponents who were mostly using right-spin Beyblades. The Dragoon F Layer in general saw a lot of use.

However, its infamous burst tendency reared its head a few times, particularly in a match I saw where OldSchool™ was using Dragoon F Polish Destroy.

And evidently, it continued to demonstrate that it wasn’t necessary to win a Burst Classic event given that both the first and second place players in this event did not use it.

Victory Valkyrie and Xtreme’/Quick’

1234beyblade and Justin TC both heavily used these parts throughout the first stage. In fact, it’s all Justin TC used. Over the few Burst Classic Format events we’ve had in Toronto, Victory Valkyrie on these Drivers has continued to be effective for winning players.

Check out the winning combinations for the three Burst Classic Format events we’ve hosted to see this on display:

1. IT’S TIME TO RIP IT! Report & Winning Combinations
2. IT’S TIME TO RIP IT! AGAIN Report & Winning Combinations
3. HIGH PARK THROWDOWN 11 Winning Combinations

Acid Anubis and Revolve

Another combination which continued to be effective was Acid Anubis on Revolve. I believe at least BladerBeast and henwooja1 both used it at this event.

There was one match where 1234beyblade used V2.H.X’ against it and couldn’t burst it. I’m not sure how to feel about this Layer. Seeing it–a stamina combo–not burst against 1234beyblade’s V2.H.X’ left a bad taste in my mouth, though.

While Acid Anubis is outclassed in terms of pure stamina by parts such as the Deathscyther Layer, it seems to have become one of the seemingly safest go-to combos in our Burst Classic events so far because it has enough stamina to outspin a lot of opponents, but better burst resistance than parts like Deathscyther.

However, it does seem like perhaps this burst resistance can vary maybe depending on the mold of the Layer or Driver in use because I did see at least one battle where A2 on Revolve bursted more easily than the aforementioned battle against 1234beyblade.

Dark Deathscyther Layer

The Dark Deathscyther Layer made an appearance for the first time in Toronto in many years. It was banned the last time we had a Burst Classic event. And it honestly was quite cool to see it back in the mix.

Most scenarios in which it was used that I saw were it up against other stamina types, so I didn’t get too much of a feel for how it was able to do defensively in this format yet. It saw use mainly on the classic Defense Driver and Orbit Driver setups.

One other thing that stood out to me especially when watching Dark Deathscyther used on the Defense Driver was that the newer launchers like the Power Custom BeyLauncher LR from B-187 Savior Valkyrie Shot-7 really do make a measurable difference in the performance of old combos like this.

I remember back when Dark Deathscyther was first released and using it on the Defense Driver was popular … you certainly didn’t have to worry about it self-KOing it getting too close to the tornado ridge for too long, if at all. But with the power of these new launchers, it’s a factor players need to keep in mind when deciding what combos to use and how to launch in certain situations.

Minoboros on Xtreme’

1234beyblade used the Minoboros Layer on the Xtreme Dash Driver several times throughout the event.

In the early days of Beyblade Burst during the time when the Dark Deathscyther Layer was top tier in the standard Burst Format, we used the Minoboros Layer on various attack type setups as a counter to D2 because it tended to do well at bursting it compared to other attack types using parts like the Victory Valkyrie Layer and Valkyrie Layer. It also had more stamina than them, giving it a bit of an upper hand against other attack types.

Given the unbanning of Dark Deathscyther for Burst Classic Format, it was smart of 1234beyblade to think about bringing back Minoboros!

The highlight of its usage however was not against Dark Deathscyther, but against Justin TC’s Gaianon G2 on Ωcta. Just … check out this video!

Hasbro Beyblade Burst Parts Usage

I could just be ignorant, but it felt strange to me to not see much usage of Hasbro Beyblade Burst parts at all in this tournament.

One of the reasons I felt uncomfortable playing in this event was because there’s so many new parts that have been released by Hasbro over the past few years that I know next to nothing about. I didn’t want to enter a situation in a ranked tournament where I came up against something I had no idea how to play against.

In this event, the Hasbro Dranzer F Layer on the Absorb-S Driver saw some play from henwooja1 who just barely missed out on making the top three. And Justin TC used Gaianon G2 against 1234beyblade in the above video, but lost … other than that there was a few other cases of Hasbro usage, but nothing notable.

First Stage Battle Videos

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Final Stage Report

Advancing to the finals were henwooja1 with a score of 8-1 followed by 1234beyblade, Justin TC, and BladerBeast each with scores of 6-3.

Semi-Final: Justin TC vs. henwooja1

I didn’t watch this particular match as I was judging and recording the other semi-final between 1234beyblade and BladerBeast, but luckily henwooja1 recorded it!

The match starts with henwooja1’s DZF.H.Y-S easily outspinning Justin TC’s defense type G2.G.Kp’ to take a 1-0 lead.

Justin TC declined the rematch option and henwooja1 sticks with Dranzer F. Justin TC makes the obvious choice and went for the top-tier attack type V2.H.X’. He then knocked-out Dranzer F to take a 2-1 lead. The hit which accomplished this wasn’t particularly vicious, which demonstrated the relative ease with with Dranzer F can be knocked-out in general.

After suffering this loss, henwooja1 declines his rematch option. Justin TC stuck with V2.H.X’, which allowed henwooja1 to switch into M.K.Qc’. This is a nice matchup for M.K.X’ because both the Minoboros Layer and Quick Dash Driver have superior stamina to the Victory Valkyrie Layer and Xtreme Dash Driver.

henwooja1 was able to take advantage of this and outspin V2.H.X’ to tie up the match at 2-2. In this round, Justin TC’s only chance would have been to KO M.K.X’. To do this, he would have to make use of the one real advantage he had: speed. The Xtreme Dash Driver can move faster than the Quick Dash Driver thanks to its wider tip. However, based on this video it looks like Justin TC didn’t launch hard enough to make give himself a chance to take advantage of this.

Justin TC then chose to play the rematch here, which I don’t agree with. He had better options to respond directly to whatever henwooja1 would have picked if he said no rematch.

henwooja1 won the rematch via a non-contact KO (1 point) and took a 3-2 lead.

henwooja1 stuck with M.K.X’ in the next round, allowing Justin TC to play a much better matchup between it and his G2.G.Kp’. This allowed him to tie up the match 3-3.

With the match tied at 3-3, both players ended up selecting the two remaining combos in their decks that hadn’t seen play yet: Justin TC’s D2.K.O and henwooja1’s DGF.P.Dr.

Justin TC was able to burst Dragoon F for the win and earn a spot in the finals! Final score 5-3. Here’s what he had to say about the matchup:

Dragoon F is known for having severely weak teeth plus I was using D2.K.O and I know D2 and Orbit are great for destabilizing while Knuckle helped with the burst resistance, coupled with D2 small offensive abilities it has when it makes enough hard hits to the opposing blader’s bey.

It’s scenarios like this that have always made me wary of using the Dragoon F Layer.

It always seems like a good idea or scary in theory given the lack of left-spin Beyblades in Burst Classic Format … but then crazy things like this burst finish happen against an opponent you would have surely outspun. But I guess that’s the risk you take and part of what makes Dragoon F balanced in this format despite the opposite spin advantage it carries.

Semi-Final: 1234beyblade vs. BladerBeast

This match opened with 1234beyblade’s trademark W.H.R combo versus BladerBeast’s V.H.X’.

You’ll notice in the video that 1234beyblade launched his combo on an angle so that it would initially spin close to the tornado ridge around the perimeter of the Burst BeyStadium Standard Type’s interior bowl. This helped him to avoid many early hits from V.H.X’, which is key to having a chance of victory against any aggressive attack type using a Driver like the Xtreme Dash Driver.

The reason this worked in the first round is because BladerBeast was obviously in position to launch from a deep angle as well. The result of this is that there would be less chance that his Beyblade would circle around the ridge and inflict a powerful hit on W.H.R. Instead, launching on an angle like this causes the Beyblade to sweep into the middle of the stadium with more frequency.

This is often desirable as an attack type user because in most cases opponents using stamina types will launch into the center of the stadium.

However, at higher levels of play you will find players such as 1234beyblade who will attempt to counter this by launching in the manner he did in the first round of this match.

It can be risky because by doing so you leave yourself open to an attack if your opponent launches using a slightly flatter angle, which is exactly what BladerBeast did in round two where he was able to KO W.H.R. and take a 2-1 lead.

I think this sequence is one of the most typical–yet subtle–examples of such high level strategies that might go unnoticed to the untrained eye.

After losing the second round BladerBeast chose to stick with his V.H.X’. 1234beyblade chose to counter that with his V2.K.X’, which he is very confident with. In fact, he basically won the first Burst Classic tournament we hosted in Toronto (IT’S TIME TO RIP IT!) using that combo with Heavy instead of Knuckle exclusively.

However, in this scenario my feeling is that it was a risky choice given that knock-outs count for two points in the WBO Deck Format finals. 1234beyblade is a strong attack type player, but even so, attack versus attack can be a little bit of a toss up … considering that I might have instead chose to go for D2.G.D instead of V2.K.X’ in this scenario; I’m not that confident the Valkyrie Layer can burst the Dark Deathscyther Layer.

Amazingly, while 1234beyblade did lose the round, his combo somehow didn’t touch BladerBeast’s and instead of taking a 4-1 lead, it increased to only 3-1.

1234beyblade then switched over to D2.G.D in response to BladerBeast choosing again to stick with V.H.X’.

1234beyblade launched slightly higher than BladerBeast to slightly delay his entry into the stadium, but still suffered an early strong blow from V.H.X’. D2.H.D survived that however, and won the round by outspin. The score was now 3-2.

Now recognizing that his D2.G.D had a chance to beat everything in BladerBeast’s deck, 1234beyblade chose to stick with it for the next round. BladerBeast switched to A2.K.R and was easily outspun. The score was now tied 3-3!

BladerBeast switched back to his V.H.X’, but over the next two rounds wasn’t able to quite get his launch right to land enough blows on D2.G.D to take it out. 1234beyblade completed the comeback and won the match 5-3!

This match demonstrated how strong the Dark Deathscyther Layer is to me … I’ll be interested to test it out myself more in the future against things like Minoboros on Xtreme’, which should be more effective.

Third Place Match: henwooja1 vs. BladerBeast

The star of this match was BladerBeast’s Acid Anubis Knuckle Revolve.

As you can see in the above video, it went up against henwooja1’s Valkyrie Gravity Trans’ several times and didn’t burst once. In the first round of this matchup BladerBeast even mentioned that he only lost one click on A2.

It also outspun henwooja1’s Dragoon F Yell Absorb-S two times and Dranzer F Heavy Absorb-S once.

BladerBeast took the match by a score of 5-2! Tough way to end the tournament for henwooja1, who had been so successful with a score of 8-1 during the first stage.

He lacked a solid counter for A2. In his semi-final match versus Justin TC he had Dragoon F Polish Drift in his deck, which might have done the job here … but it seems like he switched to Yell Absorb-S here in order to be able to win the Dragoon F vs. Dragoon F matchup against BladerBeast’s version using Polish and Eternal. But that matchup never materialized.

Final: 1234beyblade vs. Justin TC

Justin TC opened the match with his Gigant Gaia Gravity Keep’ versus 1234beyblade’s Kaiser Kerbeus Heavy Revolve. Both players were clearly anticipating a change in strategy in comparison to the first stage where both of them relied heavily on offensive combos using the Victory Valkyrie Layer.

K2.H.R was an interesting choice by 1234beyblade; he hadn’t shown it at all before this point in the tournament to my knowledge. I would need to test it as it has been a while, but it seems to me that it falls into a similar category alongside the Acid Anubis; a Layer with good–but not the best–stamina and decent defensive qualities.

Justin TC on the other hand went all-in on defense with G2.G.Kp’ and lost the first round because of it. Not a bad call on his part given 1234beyblade’s propensity for attack types, but evidently 1234beyblade was one step ahead of him in this first round. He took the 1-0 lead.

In the next round 1234beyblade had a decent matchup as well with D2.G.D against V2.H.X’ … V2 certainly had a chance to win, but not as much as a similar combo using the Minoboros Layer would.

However, in attempting to launch a bit higher than Justin TC, 1234beyblade ended up landing right on top of V2.H.X’ and getting knocked into the pocket immediately. The score was now 2-1 for Justin TC thanks to knock-outs being worth two points.

From there, it turned into a matchup between D2.K.O versus M.K.X’. This was interesting because Justin TC chose to use the Knuckle Disk which has a bit better burst resistance than the Heavy Disk or Gravity Disk. And the Orbit Driver made it a bit more difficult to hit than if he had used the Defense Driver.

They played three consecutive rounds of this matchup, with the match eventually ending at a score of 6-1 for Justin TC. Reviewing the footage above, it seems like maybe 1234beyblade banked a little bit too hard in the first two rounds of this matchup. It seemed like if he had been able to circle the perimeter of the stadium more he might have been able to KO D2. Then, in the final round he launched straight to circle the perimeter, but did so a bit too powerfully and was knocked-out himself.

1234beyblade made some smart choices in this match between the inclusion of Kaiser Kerbeus Heavy Revolve and Minoboros Knuckle Xtreme’. Choosing the Minoboros Layer over the Victory Valkyrie Layer he had relied on in previous matches meant he would be able to avoid the inevitable mirror match with Justin TC otherwise and have the upperhand due to the edge Minoboros has in the stamina department and it meant he’d have a better shot at bursting D2 … but it just didn’t end up working out for him in the end.

Justin TC’s deck on the other hand, was–justifiably so given his opponent–very defensively minded outside of V2.H.X’, and it paid off for him!

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Tournament Winning Combinations (Best Beyblade Burst Classic Combos)

Discover the Beyblade combinations each of the top three players in this tournament used to win below. They are some of the best Beyblade Burst Classic combos in the game right now.

I’ve also highlighted below what you need to build three of them which each fill different, but important competitive functions.

1st: Justin TC

• Victory Valkyrie Heavy Xtreme’
• Victory Valkyrie Heavy Quick’
• Gigant Gaia Gravity Keep’ (Deck Format Finals Only)
• Dark Deathscyther Knuckle Orbit (Deck Format Finals Only)

2nd: 1234beyblade

• Minoboros Heavy Xtreme’
• Wyvern Heavy Revolve
• Victory Valkyrie Knuckle Xtreme’
• Dark Deathscyther Heavy Defense
• Dark Deathscyther Gravity Defense

3rd: BladerBeast

• Dragoon F Polish Drift
• Acid Anubis Knuckle Revolve
• Dragoon F Polish Eternal (Deck Format Finals Only)
• Valkyrie Heavy Xtreme’ (Deck Format Finals Only)
• Acid Anubis Heavy Revolve (Deck Format Finals Only)

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Photo Gallery

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What do you think? Comment below!

I’d love hear what you guys think of the Beyblade Burst Classic metagame as it stands right now, whether you attended the tournament or not.

Comment below and let me know!

And to answer the question posed by the title of this article–”Does Beyblade have too many formats?”–my conclusion is no. I’m all for the addition of more formats (within reason), but feel that it is players who need to decide how far they want to invest themselves in the game if they are competitive and want to understand things on the highest level possible.

If you enjoyed reading this article, please also feel free to share it with any of your friends who are into playing Beyblade competitively or enjoy hosting tournaments.