The 3G and 5G Formats

Introducing the 3G and 5G Formats

The vast majority of tournaments played with Takara Tomy models use the 3G and 5G formats. The 3G format means that players must have 3 different Beyblades, and the 5G format requires 5 different Beyblades.

Once players have chosen their Beyblades, they are said to have built their "Deck". The Deck is therefore the set of 3 or 5 Beyblades used for the tournament. For example, if a player chooses to use only Attack-type Beyblades, it is called an "offensive Deck", whereas a so-called "balanced" Deck is made up of different types.

The key is to put together three or five different combos properly, meaning that each part used can only be used once. For example: if you have a combo fitted with the Dran Sword Blade, you cannot use Dran Sword in another combo.

Finally, it is important to note that collaboration and teamwork are generally allowed. This means that at the start of the tournament, each player declares who their teammate or teammates will be. These previously declared "teammates" are allowed to help the player assemble their combos and give them advice. Teammates are no longer allowed to step in once the time allotted for assembling the combos has run out.

The 3G Format

The two most commonly used variants of the 3G format are "Pick 3 Choose 1" and "3on3". In both variants, players must assemble 3 different combos with no identical parts. Whichever variant is used, organizers often set a maximum number of rounds that cannot be exceeded, in order to separate players and save time. This maximum number of playable rounds depends entirely on the tournament and its organizers.

The "Pick 3 Choose 1" Variant

With the "Pick 3 Choose 1" rule, players assemble three combos and choose only one to face their opponent. Once the 3 combos are assembled, each player must show their Deck to their opponent. Both players generally get 30 seconds to look at their opponent's combos. Once the 30 seconds are up, each player secretly chooses which of the three combos they have assembled they will use. Each player also secretly chooses their launcher.

In a Beyblade Burst tournament, the point limit to win a match is 2 or 3 points depending on the tournament. In the final, the first to score 5 points wins the match. If the players have two or three consecutive draws (depending on the tournament rules), the match is stopped, and both players must choose another combo from their Deck. The match then restarts from zero with two new Beyblades.

The Pick 3 Choose 1 Variant in Beyblade X

In Beyblade X, the first player to score 4 points wins the match. In a tournament final, the first player to score 7 points wins. As mentioned above, both players must choose another combo from the 3 they have assembled if they have 2 or 3 consecutive draws.

As a general rule, matches are only restarted with new combos if the consecutive draws are simultaneous spin finishes. Simultaneous KOs and bursts, even consecutive ones, do not trigger a combo change in most tournaments.

The "3on3" Variant

In 3on3, the 3 assembled combos are also shown to the opponent for 30 seconds. This time can vary: organizers allow anywhere from 15 to 60 seconds to look at the opposing combos, to make the tournament easier to run. Once the combos have been shown to the opponent, they are hidden in a box designed for this purpose, such as the 3on3 Deck Case.

These boxes are important because they have numbered slots (as shown in the photo above). These numbers determine the order in which the combos will be used. Players will therefore try to guess the order in which their opponent will play their Beyblades in order to counter them. Each combo is used for one single round only, and the first player to score two points wins the match.

This means that players will face off with their combo number 1, then in the second round with their combo number 2, and finally the third round is played with combo number 3. In the case of consecutive draws (2 or 3 most often), the current round is cancelled, and the players take the next combo from their Deck, still following the numbering of the box.

If players run through all 3 combos in their Deck and there is no winner, there are two possibilities, once again depending on the tournament and its organizers. The first, which is also the quickest, is that the players put their Beyblades back in their box, and the duel restarts from zero.

The second possibility is that players have to assemble 3 different combos again, most often with the requirement not to repeat a combo already used in the previous duel.

3on3 Variants

There are variants of 3on3, such as 3-point 3on3. Players must score 3 points instead of 2 to win, and they are allowed to "keep" a combo during the duel.

The option to "keep" a combo is available to a player who loses a round, but they can only do it once during the entire duel. Example: Player A faces Player B, and it is the first round. Player A therefore has their combo number 1, and Player B also has their combo number 1. If Player A loses this round, they can decide to "keep" their combo number 1, while their opponent will have to move on to their combo number 2.

As mentioned above, each player can only "keep" a combo once in the entire match. In addition, when this rule is applied, both players simply reorder their combos once they have all been played. They will therefore not be able to assemble different combos.

The Pick 3on3 Variant in Beyblade X

In Beyblade X, because of the many ways to score multi-point Finishes, a 3on3 is won with 4 points. The flow is identical to the rules used in Burst, except that the first player to score 4 points wins the match.

In the final or final stages of a Beyblade X tournament, the first player to win 7 points wins the match.

The 5G Format

Most often reserved for the final of a tournament, or its final stages, the 5G format requires players to be able to assemble 5 different combos, without using any identical parts, just as in the 3G format.

This time, players also show their combos to their opponent, but the allotted time is generally longer. It is not unusual for players to get between 45 seconds and a minute to look at their opponent's combos.

Once this phase is over, players hide their Beyblades in whatever order they want, once again in a box designed for this purpose.

As in 3on3, each combo is used for one single round only. Depending on the tournament, in Beyblade Burst the first player to score 3 or 5 points wins the match. In Beyblade X, the 5G format is not used for the time being.

In the case of consecutive draws (2 or 3 most often), the current round is cancelled, and the players take the next combo from their Deck, still following the numbering of the box.