Last weekend’s national qualifier at Anime Expo represented a lot of firsts for the 25 year old toyline. It was both the first official US tournament for the Beyblade X generation, and a qualifier for 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:X’s first World Championship. This is also the first time in the entire history of 🧸Beyblade that US bladers over the age of 12 have been invited to compete. As a result,🐎 and perhaps most importantly, this was the first time that Beyblade creator Takara Tomy has seen firsthand just how passionate the competitive Beyblade community is.

Despite some confusion and crowd management issues early in the day, Beyblade X’s first US National Qualifier was a resounding success, and a great star𓆏t to what will hopefully lead to more officially supported competitive Beyblade events in the future. While the available space could not support the overwhelming demand, it goes to show just how much the community has grown in the Beyblade X generation, and how much passion bladers have for high-level competitive play.

A Turnout That Exceeded All Expectations

Hundreds of players descended on Anime Expo last Saturday for a chance to compete in the national qualifier, wi🍒th some traveling in from across the country in hopes of representing the US at the World Championship in Japan this fall. With a limited number of spots and just 🐻a single qualifier moving on to Worlds, hopeful bladers arrived at the convention early - some even camping out overnight - to secure their spot. More than 350 players lined up for a chance to play. Only 128 made it in.

Disappointment is assu꧂red anytime availability is limited, but a lack of preparation on the part of Anime Expo made getting into the tournament even harder than it needed to be. As the line continued to grow throughout the night and early morning, convention organizers moved the queue around several times, causing confusion that some ♔took advantage of to jump the line.

When the doors to the convention finally opened, man꧂y of those waiting in line made a mad dash inside, turning first come, first served into a foot race. One attendee, a SoCal local known as Tsubasa, and were subsequently trampled and injured by the rush of people racing to the booth.

Once the players got to the Beyblade booth, tournament organizers had to work quickly to organize attendees 🅺and get players checked in. Anime Expo does not allow large crowds to congregate in the aisleway between booths, which forced organizers to start the tournament ahead of schedule in order to get people into the competition area and thin out th🅘e crowd.

Once things were in motion, the rest of the day went smoothly. It’s a shame that more than half of the people who came to play couldn't get into the tournament, but based on my discussions with Takara Tomy staff, it’s clear that no one expected a turnout this large. This was the Japanese company’s first exposure to the competitive Beyblade X community in the States, anཧd🌸 I’m told it was both an eye-opening and inspiring experience for the developers.

128 Bladers Enter, Only 8 Survive

The first stage of the tournament consiﷺsted of four single-elimination rounds. Players went head to head in a 1v1, first to four match, with the winner moving on to the next round, and the loser immediately removed from the tournament. The eight players who managed to win all four of their matches moved on to the top cut in the afternoon.

While it may seem like a brutal format compared to the Swiss, 3v3, and first to five format American players are used to, this is the same format used in sanctioned Beyblade events throughout Asia, including💛 in last 🎉year’s Asia Championship. The only difference was that the US National Qualifier used Hasbro Beystadiums and only parts released by Hasbro were permitted.

Because the Hasbro stadium is smaller than the Takara Tomy stadium, we saw some pretty interesting combos being played. Meta staples like Cobalt Dragoon 3-60E and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Beat Tyranno 1-60R were still popular, but we also saw a number of players using Wizard Rod with attack bits like rush and low rush. The Hasbro-exclusive Hover Wyvern, which just launched in the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Drop Attack Stadium set, was also a popular choice.

The competition started around 9:20 and it took less than two hours to get all 128 players through rounds 1-4, at which point the tournament s🌱pace became an open play area until Top Cut kicked off at 3:30pm.

Crowning The United States Champion

A sizable crowd formed around the tournament space to watch the top 🔜eight players compete for their chance to play at the World Championship. All eight players were introduced by the tour🦩nament’s MC on stage before facing off in the quarter finals. The group included a couple of hometown heroes from the Southern California Beyblade community, as well as two of the ten players who traveled in from Texas to compete. The top eight featured just one woman, ElenaBEY, who immediately became a crowd favorite thanks to her apparent shock at her own performance, and her fervent group of friends who made sure she always got the loudest cheers in every round.

With the finalists whittled down to four, thꦰe tournament took a brief break as they moved to the main stage for the remainder of the tournament. The crowd, which was now spilling out into all of the surrounding booths, was allowed to move in closer to watch the r🌌est of the event from the tournament space. The final four players: Cosmo Dragon, Yushwa, TMS, and ElenaBEY, returned to the stage in official Beyblade jerseys for the final four matches of the tournament.

As the stakes got higher, so did the sportsmanship. Not only did each of the four finalists put on a good show for the crowd, but they demonstrated incredible respect and compassion for each of their opponents as well. Losses were accepted gracefully, and each eliminated player showed genuine support for the winner. As a fan mys🍰elf, I couldn’t have asked for four better representatives of the American Beyblade community up on the big stage.

There could be only one winner though, and in the end it was ElenaBEY who won out, earning herself a trip to Japan to compete in the 2025 Beyblade X World Cham🔥pionship to play against the top players from around the 🦂globe.

I spoke with ElenaBEY after her historic win, and learned that she’s a Los Angeles native who just started playing Beyblade this year. Her friends helped her build her deck for the qualifier, which consisted of three aggressive attack builds, and while she was excited to play in the tournament, she never expected that she would be the one representing the United States on the global stage. “It just goes to show that even if you just started Beyblading, anything ♑can happen, just keep playing,” she says. “The most important part is having fun, and I did!”

Elena says her friends helped her build her deck for the 🅺tournament. “They’re very knowledgeable about the bits and ratchets, but I do want to say that the Buster Dran was all me.”

Each of the top eight finishers received prizes, while the top three finishers: ElenaBEY, Yushwa, and TMS, received a gold, silver, and bronze-coated Sword Dran, respectively. Second place finisher Yushwa, a San Diego resident, says the tournament gave him hope for the future of Beyblade. “I’m hoping Beyblade becomes an official sport,” he says. “We have esports, why can’t൲ we have Beyblade? Beyblade is at that level already.”

Hopefully The Start Of A Bigger And Better Things

As a blader, it’s hard to describe how much it means to attend an event like this. I know first hand how dedicated the competitive players are because I get toℱ see them practice, play, and build a community together week after week in cities all around the country. Dozens of bladers gather in public parks and local game store𓃲s to hone their skills and celebrate their hobby all on their own, without any organized play support from Hasbro or Takara Tomy.

The Beyblade players in the West have long admired the culture of competitive Beyblade in Japan and other Asian countries, where the open category for players age 13 and up has been thriving for years. This tournament was ou🔴r first taste of the kind of official events we’ve always dreamed of, and after speaking to players throughout the day, it’s clear that they’re hungry for even more.

We don’t know what the ღfuture will hold for competitive Beyblade, but this was an important moment for the game, and for players across the United States, and I’m hopeful that th🎐is tournament is just the beginning of bigger and better things.