Biggest Day in Paintball: Paintball World Cup

Photo Courtesy PSP

AC Paintball is closed Saturday for the holiday, but don’t worry because there will still be plenty of action in the world of paintball this weekend. The 2014 PSP World Cup will take place October 9-12 in Chicago, Illinois. 380 paintball teams from all over the world will compete in what is said to be paintball’s biggest day of the year.

Professional and amateur paintball players will compete on ten identical fields and in four Divisions. Amateur teams will play with five shooters in seven matches. Professional teams will play with seven shooters until one team hits seven points.

The World Cup is the biggest and the last competition of the year for the PSP league. Small competitions have taken place all year in California, Maryland, Chicago, and Dallas.

All teams will play capture the flag style. In case you are unfamiliar with the rules, teams will enter the field from opposite sides and try to shoot the opposing players while avoiding getting hit themselves. The ultimate goal is to obtain the flag located in the center of the field and return it to their starting position.

You can check out the field layout and bunkers in the picture of above. Looks like the fields have a good amount of snake bunkers (small and low to the ground) and Doritos (tall and triangular), which should make for fast and intense games.

You can get in on the action by watching the live webcast this weekend provided by PBA. You can access the stream at paintballaccesslive.com for $19.95.

The webcast will also offer a live episode of The Breakdown, a paintball news series with hosts Matty Marshall and Todd Martinez created by PBA.

The episode will feature interviews with selected players who will discuss their paintball season, thoughts on the field layout, and tactics for the big game. The hosts and players will also talk about Fantasy Paintball picks and drills to try on the field.

In an informal poll on PBNation, fans made their picks for teams most likely to win the World Cup. Top choices were Edmonton Impact from Canada, Moscow Art Chaos from Russia and LA Ironmen. Other fan favorites were Tampa Bay Damage, Houston Heat, and San Antonio Xfactor. Trailing behind was Baltimore Revo, Omaha Vicious, and Upton 187 Crew.
The next few days will be big in the world of paintball. What teams do you think will beat the competition? What are you thoughts on the field design? Let us know in the comments!