September 2024 Freestyle format

We are excited to debut a new Freestyle format for our September 2024 event!

In the past, we’ve run a single-elimination Freestyle tournament. The issue with this was that because we wanted to make sure all 3lb bots eliminated from qualifiers got a chance to participate, we had to start it late in the day.

We also haven’t been able to give our 12lb or 30lb bots many chances to fight outside the main tournament.

We feel that our new Freestyle format will fix this! Here’s how it will work.

Please arrive at the NHRL facility by 9 am so you can go through the bot inspection process. Note that parking may get hard to find later in the morning.

At 11 am, we will hold a special builder meeting for our waitlisted competitors. After the meeting, if you want to fight a Freestyle fight, take one of your pogs (you'll get a few after you pass bot inspection), make sure your bot’s name is written legibly on the back, and drop it in the bowl we’ll provide at the pit desk.

At 12:15 pm, we will pull pogs randomly out of the bowl and create matchups. If there are an odd number of pogs in the bowl, the leftover pog’s bot will be guaranteed to participate in the next round of fights.

At 12:30 pm, we will announce matchups. You’ll be able to find them in True Finals. We’ll also re-open the bowl to drop in pogs for the next round of fighting.

At 1:00, the Freestyle fights will start. This should give you enough time to configure your bot against your opponent.

From then on in, we’ll stick to an hourly schedule. 15 minutes past the hour, we’ll pull pogs out of the bowl; 30 minutes past the hour, we’ll announce matchups, and on the hour, fights will start.

At 2:15 pm, we’ll bring out new bowls for the 12lb and 30lb bots to drop their pogs into. That means 12lb and 30lb Freestyle fights will start at 3 pm.

The last round of Freestyle fights will be rumbles. Drop your pog into the bowl by 6:15. The rumbles will start at 6:30 and (if we have enough competitors) 6:45.

Of course, if you want to arrange a specific grudge fight with a specific competitor while Freestyle fights are open, we can do that! Please come to the pit desk with that competitor to set that up.

Unfortunately, we cannot allow flamethrower bots to use their weapons during Freestyle fights. If you want to fight Freestyle with your flamethrower bot, you must remove your fuel tank before the fight. We allow competitors with no active weapons to fight Freestyle, for now.

We’re hoping that this Freestyle format will give you more opportunities to fight in more weight classes.