Capital Spark brings Beyblade tournament to STU
- Brianna Lyttle
- 9 hours ago
- 2 min read
Following their success in Moncton, Beyblade Atlantic recently brought the Capital Spark Beyblade X tournament to Fredericton, which took place in St. Thomas University’s (STU) Margaret Norrie McCain Hall on March 7.
Beyblade, based on an ongoing manga and several anime series of the same name, is a game involving spinning tops called Beys competing in a small stadium to knock the other down.
Different Beys come with various advantages and disadvantages based on their builds, with tournament prizes often being boosters and new Beys for players to upgrade their arsenal.
The Beyblade tournament was structured with Swiss rounds followed by a single-elimination bracket of the top eight players in points. Points were garnered from different types of defeat, such as bursting apart, out-spinning, or knocking opposing Beys out of the stadiums.
The event attracted 26 participants. They widely ranged in age and gender, bringing together various communities in the name of Beyblade.
Huy Vo, STU student and organizer of the event, was surprised by the turnout due to the timing of March break and a different event occurring in Moncton.
“We have a more established community in Moncton and Halifax, so I know there's a lot of people who drove from far away to come and play and that kind of drive and passion I really enjoy,” he said.
Vo got into Beyblade through watching the anime in middle school while living in Vietnam. Later, he learned to play in high school.
When he moved to Canada to pursue his education at STU, he eventually found a Beyblade community in Moncton, attending tournaments as a participant and taking photos and videos for the most recent tournament.
“I really wanted to get something started here as well and I started working on that at the end of last year. I talked to a few venues, like cafes and such. I felt like a lot of people didn't take it seriously, but I really think we have something special going on here and STU finally did let us use the space, which is wonderful,” he said.
Participant Heather Meisner, who played Beyblade with her brother as a kid, attended the tournament with her fellow Beyblader fiancé.
“My fiance got back into [Beyblade] and we happened to be up in Fredericton anyways, so we figured we’d hit up the tournament,” she said.
With this being her first tournament, Meisner enjoyed going with the flow.
“It’s really fun when you’re seeing them collide and trying to find out who’s gonna win … it’s a little unpredictable.”
In a twist of events characteristic of Beyblade’s aforementioned predictability, Oliver Sun won the tournament after initially placing second in the top eight.
Years ago, Sun received marketplace Beyblades for Christmas, refining his skill in various generations of Beyblade and leading to the crown spot at Capital Spark.
“This is my first event, so I've just brought a really safe lineup and then it paid off,” he said.