Player's Tournament Guide

Tournaments are INTIMIDATING - especially for first-time throwers like you!

With that in mind, in collaboration with the Womens Axe Council we put together a guide to help you!  We are including some of the most important things for you to know here, and a link to the full guide is below.

Tournament Day Tips

• Be on time! 

  • Arriving late for your bracket could cause you to forfeit your match if you are not present when it is called.

  • Double-check the event page/your email for scheduled practice, check-in, and bracket start times.

• Stay informed!

  • If you need to leave the venue during the tournament (and you're still participating), find a buddy! Have them message you when your match is coming up, or has been called. You have 10 minutes to arrive for your match before it is forfeited. 

• Know the rules!

  • Refresh yourself with the current gameplay rules (WATL, WKTL)

  • Connect with a Women's Axe Council member or WATL Ambassador. One or more members of each of these groups is almost always present at every tournament.

    • Women's Axe Council

    • WATL Ambassadors

    • Not sure how to find them, or shy about approaching? Ask the tournament host to introduce you!

What to Expect

The "steps" of a tournament day

• Check-in/equipment checks

  • Usually 1 hour before the first bracket starts

• Practice

  • Usually 30 minutes - 1 hour before the first bracket starts

  • Every tournament does its practice times differently. Make sure you know when practice is scheduled for your bracket/discipline.

  • Best practice is to take 10 throws and then rotate to the next thrower. Don't be shy about asking someone to rotate for you to get a chance to practice and vice versa, don't hog a lane if there are other throwers waiting to practice.

• Brackets

  • All official sanctioned tournaments will run as best 2/3 matches, double elimination bracket

    • Best 2/3 matches - each time you are called to the lane, you will play at least 2 matches. The winner is determined by whoever wins the best 2/3 games in the match set.

    • Double elimination - you must lose 2 matches (each best 2/3) to be eliminated. This means you will play a minimum of 4 games.

  • Once your match is called, you have 10 minutes to report to the lane, otherwise, you forfeit the match.

  • At larger tournaments, you will have quite a bit of downtime between matches. Bring a book or games to stay occupied, or mingle and get to know the community!

• After party/dinner/local attractions

  • If there is no official after-party scheduled, connect with other throwers to see if they are getting together for dinner somewhere.

  • Consider getting a group together to go see local attractions before or after the tournament.