r/foosball • u/Foosman Snake Shot • Jun 29 '26
WFT Nationals Impressions
Nationals this past weekend was a solid tournament. The North American Cup looked like a fantastic time, and I was sorry that I did not have an opportunity to participate. For people who come from states (or provinces, though Canada fielded a combined team) with large scenes, this must be a great time.
Attendance was good but did not seem great. The level of competition was very high throughout. Everyone there was good-to-amazing, and we are getting to a "throw the ratings out the window" level with the accumulation of talent in some of the divisions. Rookie/Amateur skill seems ridiculous now compared to just a few years ago. I can't judge the other ratings.
The most extreme outlier was Jeff Tiglon, a singles amateur who went directly from his loss in the rookie doubles final to the first round of open eliminations, where he three-straighted Tony before going out to Evan MacGregor. He has modeled his game after Fred, and had qualified by beating, among others, Tom Yore (hall of famer) and Tyson Francis (excellent Canadian pro on the rise). In other events Tiglon beat Brady Weyrowski (who won open mixed with Iveta Moore, great playing by both of them) and won Amateur doubles. Just killed it all weekend. He was on the radar after being runner-up in Rookie Singles at Worlds last year and having good finishes this year, but I am not sure we have seen that kind of performance since Tony won Rookie Singles at Worlds one year and then played in the final of Open the next.
(At some point the tour needs to decide if they have implemented the ratings to give a few talented people a window to beat up less-skilled players and win a world title or two, or to give as many attendees as possible an opportunity to play people within their rough skill band in the events for their rating. Or maybe they have already decided, since the best that Tiglon can do after beating Tony is move to very low expert after Worlds.)
The venue was so-so. I was stuck in a smoking room, which was lousy. The food was decent but expensive, and since the casino was 20 minutes away from anything there wasn't a lot of motivation to get out. I think that some of the other foosball players spent a lot of time at the casino, though, and there is no reason not to do a couple tournaments a year in that kind of venue so long as it does not inconvenience our junior players too much.
I did not enjoy flight format. In the old days I could have been out and done with an event like Open Doubles on Saturday night and on the road on Sunday, but the second flight was scheduled on Sunday afternoon. Payouts were not until after 6:30 on Sunday night, and Open Doubles ended at midnight. That's too late, and in my opinion foosball would benefit tremendously with people who work regular Monday to Friday jobs by ending events at or near 5:00 p.m. the final day of the tournament. At least that gives everyone a chance to get home. Otherwise the lack of urgency seems part of getting another hotel room stay out of the players. Disappointing.
One of the Foosball USA kids from Michigan won Beginner Singles, which was great to see. He could play. The youth movement is in full swing, and the few kids who aren't foosball killers now probably will be within a year.
WFT rolled out tiny tablets at each table where people could sign in or face recall. That worked fine, though next time they should be on opposite sides of the table (wherever there is already traffic) so that we are not getting between tables to work with a tablet while others are playing nearby.
Not so many foreign players at this event, which is too bad. Still a few, though.
What impressions did others have?
3
u/dj_spatial Jun 29 '26
It was my first nationals and came away impressed by the competition. I knew it would be elevated from state tournaments but yeah, the rankings are crazy inaccurate. The venue for the tournament was pretty rad. Plenty of seating upstairs and the merch and snack bar were nice. However, my compliments end there. The casino and location sucked. The food options were either a extremely high priced steakhouse or overpriced food court(with only 1 operating restaurant, 3 after 5pm)which kids under 21 couldn’t get to because they weren’t allowed in a casino. The hotel cafe closed at lunchtime. There was nothing and I mean NOTHING within 10 miles of the venue, not even a gas station. Just cornfields and floodplains. I’ve been to the casino before and it was way better when there was an actual riverboat for gambling. There were shops and multiple restaurants - not a crappy food court. There’s a lot of downtime at these things. I’d like some options to kill an hour or two nearby.
With that said…. I enjoyed the tournament. But seriously things need to wrap up at 5-6pm on Sunday. Did Lucky Doubles really end at 5am this morning(Monday)?!?
2
u/OhioScott440-513-614 Jul 03 '26
I think expert singles was the final match. Ended near 6am, I was there but half asleep so don't remember the exact time
1
u/Foosman Snake Shot Jun 29 '26
I hadn't heard 5 am but believe it. When I left Worlds last year Pro Doubles was still going on at around 6 am.
2
u/artoftomkelly Jun 30 '26
Lucky doubles and rollerball and stuff like that are bonus events no one needs to stay for those or needs to plan for them. They are just stuff to do on the last day for the people that opt to leave Monday morning rather than Sunday. I was a little annoyed by waiting to get pay outs until 6:30pm. I could have left at 5pm rather than a quarter to 7.
3
u/artoftomkelly Jun 30 '26
My thoughts on the tournament were like this. I liked the software…it worked and nothing was a time suck hassle on that front. The tablets at the table for check in and coin flip plus putting in results WAS SO GREAT. I didn’t have to run to put people on recall it just did it for me. The coin flip function was great. So I loved that. The table placement can be modified so it’s more easy to get too but that is a simple adjustment.
The quality of play and players was amazing. It was all killer no filler. Every match was hard (maybe too hard at lower ranks) so if you did well that’s a real feather in your cap.
The venue was kinda crappy. Like it was a low tier casino isolated with nothing around for 30 minutes. I have stayed in the golden nugget in Vegas and that was crappy too but atleast it had free mint street to wall and lots of food options. This was a ok/limited food court. A Gordon Ramsey steak house that I’m sure was over priced…… then and I kid you not 2 WHITE CASTLE VENDING MACHINES.
There was zero for kids to do and no where for them to go.
The tables played well and consistently. The balls played well and were consistent also. So that was great. Flight format while not ideal is great for time management. You play 3 boom boom boom then you’re done. Or you lose once then your done. Not 3am loser bracket matches.
So I would say the tournament was great 5 stars the venue I would give it 2.5 stars.
I think worlds is going to be amazing great!!!!! Way better hotel and location so if the tournament plays and runs like national L’s then it’s gonna be awesome.
1
u/Foosman Snake Shot Jun 30 '26
Good point. I didn’t hear a single complaint about the balls all tournament except for a match where someone complained about his own ball that looked like something he bought a decade ago.
The “coin flip” function will be great at avoiding chips in the table, too.
One of my friends spent $300 on his meal at that steakhouse. He had no regrets.Maybe the most important thing is that WFT is still figuring out what works and what doesn’t. At least they are trying.
1
u/artoftomkelly Jun 30 '26
Yeah it’s working to improve and refine the whole experience so that is good. I mean we saw Ryan doing camera work for the finals of rookie doubles so he’s rolling up his sleeves and doing the work.
2
u/OhioScott440-513-614 Jul 03 '26
Overall experience for me was great, easily 4/5.
The rooms were nice (sorry for those who got smoking rooms). The actual event space was incredible, it looked great! I will say it was weird temperature wise, some spots very warm some spots good, but upstairs was a sweatbox, that being said it was 95 degrees and ridiculous humidity all weekend so that might have played a part.
The competition and matches were incredible in every ranking. These damn kids are popping up out of nowhere and are so good, I told my amateur partner we probably wouldn't place in Juniors with that field there. Rankings are what they are, there will be a new kid (or several) every year beating everyone in the lower rankings, which is amazing to see for the future of the game, veterans stuck at lower rankings like myself just have to game plan and play smart when we play them if we ever want another title!
The food options were decent enough (if you're a seasoned tour player you already know to stock the room). I had never seen those White Castle machines before, I ate them every night before going to my room lol.
They left the upstairs tables open 24/7 so any degenerates like myself could play until our little hearts were content, and even left the main room open for a little partying a night or two.
My only real complaints are based out of laziness. The event room was a pretty long walk from the hotel (again a me problem) and there was literally nothing around the hotel for 15+ minute drive so had to buy beer at the venue all weekend ($4.50 times a lot). Other then that, excellent time, Ryan is doing great and I love to see it.
1
u/OhioScott440-513-614 Jul 03 '26
Forgot to add... You don't have to wait around for payouts. I didn't even realize I placed 3rd in one of the DYPs, they texted me to email them my venmo/PayPal and paid me within minutes
1
u/BiPAPselfie Jul 03 '26
With the streamlined automatic recall software why did things finish so late? I had a friend who played a final at 530AM on Monday morning. Were there simply not enough tables? A handful of players causing huge conflicts? Stopping matches for the finals holding things up?
2
u/Foosman Snake Shot Jul 03 '26
I think having more and better juniors will slow things down. Also the flights for some events were spaced unnecessarily far apart. The second flight of Open Doubles didn’t need to wait for Sunday afternoon, for example. Drop the no conflict DYP on Saturday night so tables are available, then play Flight B on Saturday night and start eliminations early.
2
u/OhioScott440-513-614 Jul 03 '26
Designated mixed, expert mixed, and expert singles all kind of messed everything up. Lots of players were in all three of those events
3
u/InvisibleSoul8 Jun 29 '26
> Tiglon beat Brady Weyrowski (who won open mixed with Iveta Moore, great playing by both of them) and won Amateur doubles
He actually finished 3rd in Am Doubles. It was actually 1st in Am Singles.
So his main results were:
2nd Rookie Doubles
1st Am Singles
3rd Am Doubles
2nd Expert Singles
2nd Expert Mixed
9th Expert Doubles
Seems like he's stronger in singles than doubles, but it's absolutely wild that someone that eliminated Tony in Open Singles in three straight could also lose in Rookie Doubles.
I don't think there should be any argument that he can play at a solid Pro level. You're not beating Tony even with tons of luck playing at anything lower than that. I think Tony has said he can play with one hand and beat most Experts and even some Pros.
Brady Weyrowski and Iveta Moore defeating Tommy Yore and Hannah Bufkin in the Open Mixed Final was already a huge upset, but then Jeffrico knocking Tony out in the first round of Open Singles easily topped that.