BLITZ
Introducing an all new competitive paintball format for 2025:
CFOA Blitz!
This format was designed by Tyler Humphrey and Andrew Gibson to address some of the issues that we’ve experienced at the local/regional/national levels of competitive paintball as players, field operators & tournament promoters.
X-Ball was originally designed over 20 years ago as a more spectator-friendly format that was apt for television. X-ball has seen many tweaks and improvements over the last 20 years and may be the best format for the professional level, but we believe there is room for improvement for the local and regional levels.
Why did we create Blitz?
1. X-Ball is prohibitively expensive for some local teams for a number of reasons:
- Unpredictable number of points played = unpredictable amount of paint used
- Expensive equipment (scoreboards, tvs, buzzers, timers) increase the entry fee
- Not many teams can play on one field in one day even using split-deck meaning more playable fields, staffing, and days are required for medium – large events which leads to higher entry fees
- Teams benefit by “protecting a lead” by taking minimal risk and shooting lanes which increases paint usage
2. X-Ball is not always great for spectators, as there can be very long points with teams taking minimal risk
3. X-Ball is not easy to replicate at the local level:
- Few paintball parks have multiple airball fields
- The equipment and staffing required is expensive
4. X-Ball is ultra-competitive as teams are divided into tight divisional brackets
- This creates situations where teams will stop playing events or players leave if they realize they cannot perform well for the season
- This leaves little to no room for players in D3 or higher as there is little to no reason for tournament promoters to hold events for higher divisions
- Bigger rosters and pit crews are needed for X-Ball
Why should my team try Blitz?
- Lower Entry Fees
- Lower & Predictable Paint Usage
- Learn & Improve as a Team
- Raise your Paintball IQ
- Players of All Skill Levels can Play
- Great Practice for X-ball and Other Formats
- Less or no pit crew necessary
- Less Time Required – Tournaments can be completed on less fields and/or less days
- Shooting more players and less lanes = more FUN!
How does Blitz work?
- Two Divisions Elite (Open ) and Fun (D4 and below with max 2 D3 players rostered)
- Divisions are mixed and grouped into Round Robin brackets
- Teams will play one match against each team in their bracket
- Each match consists of 3 points
- Each point has a 3 minute time limit
- Points are won by hitting the buzzer at the opponents’ start station (1 point per game win)
- The points you score in your round robin matches determine your seeding into the next round (not your match wins & losses).
- This means EVERY POINT in EVERY MATCH matters for both teams.
- Seed point tie breakers are determined by a 1v1 match when necessary
- Divisions are split and new round robin brackets are created for the playoff rounds. Play continues until the finals round robins are complete.
- Teams of all skill levels will play against each other in the prelim round – playoff rounds will be divided by skill level
This is a new format that will evolve over the coming seasons. Feedback will be vital to making this the best format it can be and we welcome any and all input. Please come out, have fun, and help us make something amazing!
For more information on the CFOA or the Blitz format, please visit theCFOA.com or email us at play@thecfoa.com.
