San Diego Dynasty Wins the NXL Champions Cup in near mercy rule victory over Tampa Bay Damage11/13/2022 Behind stellay play from Ryan Greenspan, Oliver Lang, Dalton Vanderbyl, and Marcello Margott, San Diego Dynasty has won the NXL Champions Cup and $40,000 with it! They are now three time champions of the World Cup over the last three years in the NXL.
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Behind huge performances from Oliver Lang, Ryan Greenspan, and Alex Fraige, San Diego Dynasty is the 2022 Season Title Champion.
Follow along here and on our social media to get all the newest updates from the NXL Paintball World Cup. The 2022 season ends with everything on the line in pro paintball and the semi pro title race. Who will be relegated? Who will be promoted?
GI Sportz releases the Triad hopper.JT has released their brand new Triad loader and it appears to use an updated and refined Prophecy drivetrain. Details are still emerging but it looks to be one of the best new additions to the loader market with a focus on consistent feeding and rates of feeding as high as 15BPS. H2K Paintball releases Tank Tool, a tool that solves the tank reg problemDesigned by long time pro, Carl Markowski, the Tank Tool solves an age old problem. No more broken or damaged air tank regulators or damaged seals in your marker. The Patent Pending Tank Tool seamlessly vents the air in your tank while also allowing for safe and damage-free removal of your regulator Why risk damaging your regulator by slamming it against a hard surface to remove it, or risk a leak in your marker by draining out your tank through your gun? Use the Tank Tool for the fastest, safest, and most effective way to remove and service your tank reg. Available at H2KPaintball.com Virtue Spire 5 to be released at World CupWhat has become the most reliable and consistent loader platform in paintball, Virtue is rumored to be releasing the Spire 5 at World Cup this year. With the loader itself already being nearly perfect, it will be interesting to see how they continue to add new tech to the loader, such as the built in lane-level they innovated with the CTRL. Planet Eclipse Announces CS3 MarkerOn November 2nd, Planet Eclipse announced the third generation of their popular CS platform with the CS3. With a brand new engine featuring larger air volume, brand new milling, SL63 barrel, mech frame, and an electronic conversion single trigger frame, the CS3 is bringing even more innovation to one of the most popular markers of all time. The marker comes after the mid season release of the LV2 marker. The mechanical frame will be capable of recieving the electronic board in order to offer game timers, shot counts, and alarms for mech players needed every edge. Jack Wood commented that the new engine will see greater efficiency, a softer shot, and a longer more ergonomic platform. Full info here HK Army announces new hopper, The SonicHK Army has released yet another affordable and high performance loader in the Sonic. The internals appear to be an improvement on the HK Speed loader design packaged inside the very durable TFX 3 style shell material. Dye reveals DLS, the Paragon Core finally debuts."The Patented Paragon Core represents tomorrow’s thinking delivered today. Patented innovation allows for an uncompromising level of elegance in its simplicity. The Paragon Core features a dwell independent valve and bolt cycle. The Paragon core boasts incredible efficiency and minimal points of failure to ensure maximum reliability. Continuing DYE’s commitment to collaborative innovation, the Paragon Core creates a unique spreading action between the bolt and the valve while the air is being forced closed by the air firing the paintball down the barrel. The Patented clutch design de-couples the valve action from the bolt cycle. This separation allows for optimized ball handling and valve efficiency. This unique action, combined with DYE’s industry best soft tip bolt design ensures players can put paintballs down field with unrelenting effectiveness." After acquiring Lurker Paintball and its IP more than a year ago, Dye Paintball has released some teaser images hinting at a potential release of a Paragon infused Dye paintball marker. The Paragon was a marker designed by Lurker paintball that never made it to market and was rumored to be an incredibly advanced platform. We will continue to follow this story. Macdev releases Clone GT2, return to the popular engineFeaturing the classic GT engine with modern parts compatibility and a hoseless design, the GT2 marks the return of the most popular engine in Macdev history.
Macdev Paintball originally released the Clone GT engine nearly a decade ago to high acclaim from the paintball community. However they moved away from that engine over time as they transitioned to their next gen markers. Now, they have leaked a video puzzle that seems to show the letter "G" "T" and "2" with little other info. Is this potentially the return of the incredibly smooth and quiet GT engine with some modern improvements? DMG entered the World Cup with relegation being almost assured for the sturggling pro franchise; for team captain Dylan Boyum, that wasn't an option. Facing a tough schedule and just three matches to save their franchise in the NXL pro division, DMG fought hard to post a 2-1 record, and in the final game of the day Dylan Boyum won an assertive 1v1 in overtime against Al Fernandez to send his team into Sunday.
It looks like the Latin Saints will be relegated from the NXL Pro division unofficially as of Day Two of the NXL World Cup. After showing some life with a win on day one, they finished the even 1-2 while NYX and DMG both posted 2-1 records to save their seasons. Of course, we will wait for official confirmation from the NXL.
The NXL Europe season has concluded and the TonTons have won both the Championship event and the season title after a year they never placed lower than 7th. The victory has earned them one of the three coveted European invites to the Champions Cup hosted in Kissimmee, Florida in November and the chance to win paintballs's biggest prize.
In addition to the TonTons, the 2nd place and 3rd place teams will also recieve an invite to the Champions Cup representing Europe, Breakout Spa and Gladiatori Unicusano. NXL Power Rankings, Post Windy City Major. Impact reigns supreme, NYX fights off relegation threat.9/13/2022 It's still too early to claim the top team in professional paintball for 2022, but Impact and Dynasty have made the conversation centered around them.Chaotic results in Chicago shouldn't trigger overreaction from fanbases with title hopes still high for multiple pro franchises. The Chicago event was nuts; here are some quick takes to ponder on after a wild finish in the Windy City. Dynasty was quite literally one jammed loader away from another finals trip; I believe they could have beat Impact in the finals and claimed their fourth straight major event win. They will have to settle for the current points lead in the season title race and their eyes are now firmly pressed on the Champions Cup crown at World Cup. Houston Heat had a super tough elimination from this event. Paintball is often a game of singular moments, and one moment defined an otherwise fantastic event for Heat. Had one call went Heat's way during the semi-finals, they may have been the last team standing instead of Edmonton. Luckily, the Ironmen should be able to stave off relegation this year as fans across the country let out a sigh of relief. Lets hope they come into World Cup with a chip on their shoulder and another cinderella finals run like the Golden State Open. The Saints may very well be the first professional team in paintball history to be relegated from the pro division in the same season they had a finals appearance. Impact looks perfect; this is a team built to win World Championships and fans should be praying for an Impact v. Dynasty finals at World Cup in less than two months from today. 1) Edmonton Impact (Previous Rank: 1) Player of the event: Matt Jackson Impact is back! After winning the Lone Star Open, Impact repeated their performance after fighting through some adversity against Houston Heat in the semi finals to move on to place the Red Legion for the Windy City Major crown. Impact continues to show the major level of depth they have offensively with major contributions coming from Alex Goldman, Axel Gaudin, and Mike Zuppa all weekend. Mouse was moved to the dorito side and looked like the best dorito player of the event. The anchor spot isn’t always credited, but Matt Jackson played a brilliant event from the back line, showing off his versatility when he was required to fill out to the snake side and into the snake. Dave Bains made perhaps the most brilliant but riskiest call of the season during the quarter finals vs. Houston Heat down 1-2 with 7 minutes left. Bains allowed a large portion of the clock to run off while trusting Goldman to close out the point and send the game to overtime where they beat Heat and moved on to finals. 2) San Diego Dynasty (Previous Rank : 2) Player of the event: Ryan Greenspan While still on the top of the NXL season title rankings by more than 40 points, Dynasty had a less than desirable exit from the semi-finals against Red Legion after Ryan Greenspan had a hopper malfunction during what looked like the game winning move that would propel them to finals. However, Greenspan was the player of the event for Dynasty; he was tasked as the spear of the center attack for Dynasty on top of his normal role as the central anchor for the team. Mike Urena saw more playing time and looked effective on the dorito side of the field and was a strong source of offense. Dynasty still is the favorite to win the Champions Cup, and still is the most dangerous team in the league. 3) Houston Heat (Previous Rank : 3) Player of the event: Tyler HarmonHeat continues to be the most consistent team in the NXL pro division this season, placing 6th or better in every event this season, albeit without an event win. The ending to the Windy City Major had to be disappointing for Heat. With less than 30 seconds left in a 3-2 and a trip to the finals on the line, Heat wasn’t able to hold off Impact and then lost the match in overtime. Tyler Harmon was by far the best player for Heat during the event; his level of gunfighting skill and survivability continues to be unmatched across the league and fans were thrilled to see him playing up the center a bit more during the event as well. Something tells me we may see yet another World Cup surge from Heat and a magical end to the season for Heat, with a chance to steal the season title and the Champions Cup crown. 4) San Antonio XFactor (Previous Rank : 11) Player of the event: Colt Roberts XFactor has been continually able to improve as the years goes on; they came very close to making a deeper run on Sunday but gave away a lead in the quarterfinals to Impact after going up 2-0 early in the match. They really appear to be carving out their identity as the year goes on, and having a fully healthy Raney Stanczak anchoring this aggressive offense has been key. Colt Roberts continues to be an offensive machine for XFactor and had arguably the move of the event during a prelims four-pack. 5) Red Legion (Previous Rank : --) Player of the event: Sergei Solnishkov Legion had a dominant event at Chicago, and arguably the best player of the tournament was Sergei Solnishkov. He was able to move down the center of the field at will throughout the event, and consistently closed out games for Red Legion. Their offense still seems to be a little hot and cold but if they can get Smotrov and Malloy more involved, this could be a dangerous program heading into the season finale in Florida at the World Cup. 6) Columbus LVL (Previous Rank : 7) Player of the event: Dany Schonauer LVL posted their second straight top eight finish in a row as they continue to search for season long consistency from event to event. We are finally starting to see more refined development from their mid/2 players and that is bringing an entire new element to the LVL style of play compared to last years ultra-aggressive style. They made the interesting choice of playing pocket vs. Dynasty early on Sunday which ultimately led to their elimination, but overall they had another strong event; now they need to make a deep Sunday run to solidify it all at Cup. 7) Tampa Bay Damage (Previous Rank : 4) Player of the event: Keith Brown Although Damage did have one of the tougher brackets of the weekend in Chicago, they underwhelmed a bit with losses to both LVL and Xtreme, whom a team of Damage's caliber should be beating. In 2022 so far, they have been relatively strong in the standings, but with only a match win against the Saints to show for their weekend in Chicago, they drop a few spots in the ranks. Damage should be able to find their stride at the World Cup and still have a small chance at the season title, although it's a long shot. Keith Brown continues to be one of the bright spots of the year for Damage and had a relatively solid event in Chicago. 8) New Orleans Hurricanes (Previous Rank : 8) Player of the event: Stuart Ridgel The Hurricanes are having a heck of a season in their rookie year as a pro franchise in the NXL. They just continue to impress and much of that is because of the brilliant coaching of Mike Bianca, and the teams high level of poise. Typically with younger teams, we see the strategy of pure aggression, but New Orleans plays a more mature style and is constantly adjusting and adapting. Stuart Ridgel was a machine for the Hurricanes in the center of the field and was a massive part of their 4-0 record in the prelims. This team may surprise at the Champions Cup. 9) Los Angeles Infamous (Previous Rank : 6) Player of the event: Thomas Taylor Infamous is having an odd season, their roster arguably got better in the offseason after they narrowly lost the season title to San Diego Dynasty in 2021. However, they have struggled to find top level finishes in 2022, finishing 10th or worse in half of the events they have played this year. They certainly played much better than the 10th place finish at the Windy City Major shows, and they had nearly pushed the Red Legion to the brink of elimination in the opening round of Sunday. Thomas Taylor looked versatile and dangerous in this event, helping to fill the void of Harrison Frye being inactive due to injury and he was all over the field producing for Infamous. Jonah Jamroz continues to quietly get better and better every event in the snake, and looks like a player that may soon be entering the conversation as one of the best young snake players in the league. 10) Baltimore Revo (Previous Rank : 12) Player of the event: Rob Velez Revo played pretty well in Chicago, but saw their weekend slip away during one of the longest points of the event against Diesel in the prelims. Diesel was able to burn off a ton of clock with the lead against Revo and it effectively sealed their fate at 2-2 in the prelim round. Rob Velez played well as the anchor on the snake side of the field for Baltimore; his versatility was on display, playing at all depths of the snake side for Revo and generally filling any need they had. You’d like to see a strong top-4 finish at the World Cup for Revo to improve their season standing and go into the offseason on a positive note after an inconsistent year on a rebuilt roster. 11) Seattle Thunder (Previous Rank : 15) Player of the event: Paddy GleasonThunder struggled during this event after they went on a tear earlier this season to find themselves ranked fifth in series points prior to Chicago. After Chicago, they watched their chance at a top four finish on the season slip away, however they can still assert the progress this team has rapidly made in 2022. The coaching efforts from Pat Sanelli and Scott Schechter to bring together this new roster have been admirable, and I believe Thunder still has some gas left in the tank for a top finish at World Cup to cap off a great season of growth. 12) MLKings (Previous Rank : 9) Player of the event: Luis Betancourt In terms of a season-long effort, the MLKings should be happy about their progress in the 2022 season; they have been able to consistently finish around the middle of the pack or better at every event this year. They have made headway in becoming a more precise and poised program throughout the year and have seen talented young players like Betancourt, Kelley, and Donaldson emerge. They secured a strong win over ac Diesel in the prelims, and otherwise played well in a tough bracket. 13) ac Diesel (Previous Rank : 14) Player of the event: Nate Roberts Diesel started out the event with two strong wins over the Ironmen and Dynasty and looked dangerous and full of depth after the first day of action. At the end of prelims they stood at 3-1 and were one of the better teams of the weekend. However, their preference towards a slower play style may have been their undoing; on a field that teams were able to score rapidly on, their grinding style hurt them during the Red Legion match on Sunday. The Red Legion simply bided their time against Diesel and used their superior experience to dig them out one by one. Nate Roberts looked great for Diesel and was a strong source of offense. It's time for this program to elevate at the World Cup and secure a top level finish and prove they can graduate from their inconsistency issues over the last two seasons. 14) San Diego Aftermath (Previous Rank : 5) Player of the event: Ethan Castro After a great start to the season, Aftermath now seems to be moving into rebuild mode once again. After losing Mike Mesa right before the event, rumors are now swirling about multiple veteran players departing the team at the end of the season, and their top player, Thomas Kim, confirmed he will retire at the end of 2022. It almost feels like this program is in purgatory at this point, forever destined to finish in the middle of the rankings each season. Ethan Castro was absolutely a bright spot for this team in Chicago, and looks like he may be the next young, elite talent being built up by Mike Hinman. 15) NRG Elite (Previous Rank : 10) Player of the event: Caleb Abuhl NRG posted a 2-2 record in one of the toughest brackets of the preliminaries. The simple analysis is that this team needs a serious injection of some veteran leadership on the roster; inconsistency has plagued this team and they would seriously benefit from bringing in a few veteran players that have some event wins under their belt. Caleb Abuhl was strong for NRG during this event, and although they went 2-2, they did play great in a close lose to Aftermath. 16) Los Angeles Ironmen (Previous Rank : 17) Player of the event: Trent Nitta After a Cinderella finals run at the Golden State Open a month ago, the Ironmen have regressed to the mean and posted another low placing finish at the Windy City Major. This year has felt like struggling to stay afloat while treading water for professional paintball's oldest franchise, but luckily their second place finish should be enough to avoid relegation. The Ironmen need to go into the World Cup with reckless abandon and play like they have nothing to lose. The rookie pro Trent Nitta, once again looked good for Los Angeles and his snapshot is quickly becoming one of the most vicious in the league. 17) New York Xtreme (Previous Rank : 13) Player of the event: Harris Hussain It is good to see NYX improving as the year goes on; they are finally breaking the 2-2 curse that plagued them for more than a season. After going 3-1 in the prelims, they made Sunday, and although they had a 6-1 loss to Houston Heat in the opening round of playoffs, there is a lot to be happy about for NYX. They looked much more consistent in this event and keep placing higher and higher as the year goes on. A top eight finish at the World Cup would go a long way in solidifying this core roster and show they are ready to step up in 2023. Hussain is truly filling his role as the head of the team, and has been trading trash talk for leadership as the year has gone on. 18) Seattle Uprising (Previous Rank : 16) Player of the event: Scott Knight Uprising has spent multiple seasons now as one of the league most inconsistent programs, a poor start to the season followed by two top ten finishes and a 16th in Chicago shows that. The roster is full of talent and they have seemed to once again fight off relegation for the year, but something is just missing with this franchise. Hopefully they can play a bit more consistently at the World Cup and finish the season strong, but it will require a lot of poise and patience, something they have lacked at times during big matches. I liked the command that Scott Knight had in the center of this event, and his calm zone control will be important for this team to finish the year. 19) Sacramento DMG (Previous Rank : 18) Player of the event: Dylan Boyum DMG is the biggest risk of relegation right now in the NXL pro division, however they are still able to look relatively competent during matches. This team generally lacks offensive firepower and could use another veteran injection of talent similar to the addition of Zack Hill midway through the season. Dylan Boyum has to be the player of the event for his standoff with Justin Cornell during their match against Impact; that sort of toughness and relentless mentality should be used as motivation for the World Cup where this team still can fight off relegation. 20) Latin Saints (Previous Rank : 19) Player of the event: -- This team just does not have the talent needed to win in the pro division right now. They started the season with hopes of a season title, but after the entire roster imploded they are now left fighting off relegation at the World Cup. Initially their second place finish to start the year should have been enough to avoid relegation, but they now may become the first team in professional paintball history to be relegated after making a finals trip during the season in which they were relegated.
The NXL Windy City Major is less than one week away and professional paintball teams from across the country are preparing to converge on Chicago for the critical third major event of the NXL season. Here are the top five stories to watch for at the event where season titles and relegation may be decided. #1 - Can San Diego Dynasty make history with one more win?San Diego Dynasty is on the verge of paintball greatness; not since Edmonton Impact during the 2015/2016 season has a team been able to win 5 major events in less than two seasons. For San Diego, they have managed the near impossible task of 4 straight major event wins over the last two seasons of play. With a victory at the upcoming NXL Windy City Major, they could accomplish what no team in modern Xball history has with 5 straight event wins, and 6 overall wins in a two season stretch. If they are able to complete this task, they will go down as the uncontested greatest roster of all time. #2 - Is Thunder ready to strike and potentially steal a season title?Seattle Thunder has been an intriguing team throughout the 2022 season thus far. After finishing outside the top 10 at the season opener in Florida, many fans assumed it would be another middle-of-the-pack season for Seattle. However, Thunder began to quietly adapt their style of play behind the brilliant coaching and team leadership of Corey Field and began to climb the ranks. Now with just two events left, Seattle sits in fifth place overall. If they are able to simply reach the finals at the Windy City Major, they will catapult themselves into third place overall in the seasons rank. If they somehow manage to win the event, they will be in serious position to steal the season title from Dynasty at World Cup and shock the paintball world. Can they do it? #3 - Can NYX avoid relegation from the division?The 2022 season has been shrouded in mystery for New York Xtreme; they have a very talented roster, practice extensively and with high intensity, and are led by a great team owner in Beau Milo. However, throughout 2022, they are currently sitting at last place overall in the season title rankings. If they cannot rapidly improve their standings, NYX may be in serious threat of losing their professional ranking to the relegation rule in the NXL (last place team is demoted). With the 18th place team more than 70 points ahead of NYX in the ranks, their only hope to is place higher than Sacramento DMG in the final two events of the year, who currently hold just a two point lead in the standings. Can NYX save their season, and with it, their professional rank? #4 - Can Heat end the drought with classic late-season rally?The current six event win drought is the longest that Houston Heat has experienced since after their 2013 win at NXL Chicago nearly a decade ago. Since 2016, Heat has never went more than 4 events without posting a win, one of the most impressive stats in paintball. However, if there is one certainty in the sport of professional paintball, it is a late season rally by Houston Heat. They always just seem to find their groove later in the year when the stakes are highest, and after a disappointing loss at the NXL Mid Atlantic Major, Heat will be hungry to take back their crown. Can they once again find a way to win? #5 - Will San Antonio XFactor continue to climb the ranks?After posting one of their worst finishes in franchise history at the NXL Sunshine State Major to open the season, San Antonio XFactor has been on a tear, with a 9th place, 4th place, and 3rd place finish over the last three events. Every event they seem to refine their playstyle and adapt to the offseason loss of star player Archie Montemayor. Behind 2021 Snake Player of the Year Billy Bernacchia and the resurgence of Raney Stanczak, this roster looks like they are ramping up for another finals trip in Chicago and potentially an event win. Will XFactor continue to climb the ranks and potentially win an event?
After signing with LVL in the beginning of the year, Carl Markowski will finally make his return to the professional paintball field. His near 20 years of pro experience should bring a much needed veteran presence to this young roster and his role as a total offensive weapon will make LVL much more dangerous off-the-break and more difficult to scout. Markowski still boasts legendary speed and his presence forces teams to respect him at all points of a match and will create some space for Dany Schonaur, Sam Silberg, and Corwin Weber to create more pressure.
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