Urban Open Ladyblades + Urban Madness

Urban Open Ladyblades and Urban Madness return to Urban Axes Durham January 17 - 19! This will be another action-packed weekend as we enjoy competition and camaraderie while celebrating women in the sport of axe throwing! So come throw some bullseyes in the Bull City and see who is crowned a champion!

Our tournament weekend will feature fun Skills events on Friday evening, two Urban Open Ladyblades tournaments on Saturday, and our Urban Madness tournament on Sunday. Ladyblades events will be women*'s only tournaments and Urban Madness will be open to everyone. Both tournaments have been designated Majors for the IATF Tournament Circuit,  so the winners will each be reserved a spot in Round 2 of the International Axe Throwing Championship!

Check back here for updates and follow our Facebook event for more announcements!

* Ladyblades is an inclusive definition and we welcome cis/trans women, genderqueer women and non-binary individuals who identify as a woman in a way that is significant to them.

Urban Axes events are run on the values of Inclusivity, Equality, Respect, Diversity and Fair Play. All participants are expected to conduct themselves in accordance with our League Values.

announcements

Tickets are on sale now for our Friday Ladyblades ABC Marathon League, Saturday Urban Open Ladyblades Premier Double Elimination and Urban Rules Swiss tournaments, and Sunday Urban Madness tournament.

Tickets for Friday Night Skills will go on sale Tuesday, Dec. 17th at 6pm EST! Two Friday Night Skills tickets will be available for purchase:

• Ladyblades Friday Night Skills: $55 / person

  • Includes entry to all Skills events, including Lucky 7’s 1.5 Rotation Blackjack, Urban Rules Doubles, and THREE Team Challenge games.

• Non-Ladyblades Friday Night Skills: $40 / person

  • Includes entry to Urban Rules Doubles and THREE Team Challenge games.

Both tickets include entry to Urban Rules Doubles and Team Challenge, but the Ladyblades Friday Night Skills ticket also includes entry Lucky 7’s 1.5 Rotation Blackjack as this Skill is open only to Ladyblades competitors. You can find descriptions of each event and a link their full rules in the Friday Night Skills section below.

• As players will register for Friday Night Skills individually, each member of a Doubles or Team Challenge team must purchase their own Friday Night Skills ticket. Urban Rules Doubles teams must include at least one Ladyblade competitor & Team Challenge teams must include at least two Ladyblades competitors. Throwers will choose their own teammates, so please be ready to include your their names when booking and feel free to use our Facebook event to scout for teammates!

We are adding a single-elimination Big Axe Tournament on Sunday, January 19th! This tournament will follow Urban Madness and will have no prize pool, just a fun, friendly competition after finals. Tickets are $20 and will be available at 6pm EST along with our Friday Night Skills tickets. This tournament sold-out last year, so purchase today and claim you spot!

 

Friday: Marathon + Skills

Ladyblades ABC Marathon League

January 17th, Daytime

We are adding a Ladyblades Marathon League to Friday of this year's tournament! We consulted about their interest in a marthon league and what ruleset was preferred, and the result was a Standard Rules marathon with Mandatory Clutches in each 5-throw round! We call these ABC Marathons at Urban Axes Durham, with "ABC" standing for "Always Be Clutching!" This ruleset has been a hit at recent marathon leagues so we're excited to share it with more Ladyblades!

Each player will throw 20 Standard Rules matches followed by a double-elimination playoff. We need a minimum of 12 members to run the marathon league, and everyone will make the playoffs (even if we have more than 16 throwers!) $20 from each registration will be contributed to the prize pool, and we'll award the playoff winner, runner-up, third place, and first place in regular season standings.

Friday Night Skills

January 17th, Evening

Tickets for Friday Night Skills will go on sale Tuesday, Dec. 17th at 6pm EST! Skills will take place on Friday evening following the Ladyblades ABC Marathon League. We'll be offering individual, doubles, and team skills, with a wide variety of skill throws and match formats represented.  Read on for a brief description of each game, or visit urbanaxes.com/events/ladybladesmadness/skills for their full rulesets.

Lucy Seven's 1.5 Rotation Blackjack

This is an individual Skill open to Ladyblades competitors only! Players have 7 throws to get as close to 21 as possible (without busting!) while throwing 1½ rotation hatchet. Hit 3 Clutches in your first 3 throws and you win the Lucky 7’s Jackpot and can stop throwing, safe with your 21. Miss 1 of the 3 Clutches and you must finish the game on the main target. 

Urban Rules Doubles

In Urban Rules Doubles, teams of two players throw at the same target simultaneously and receive the combined score of both throws. At least one Ladyblades competitor must be included in each Doubles team. Compete in head-to-head, best 3-of-5 Urban Rules matches and advance through a random-seeded, single-elimination bracket to win!

Team Challenge

Urban Axes' Team Challenge is an annual competition where teams of 4 take part in three Skill games. Each team of 4 must include at least 2 Ladyblades competitors. Teams are awarded points based on their performance in each Skill game. The two teams with the highest total scores after all 3 events will face off in the Team Challenge Finals, with the victors winning the honor of displaying the Team Challenge Cup at their home venue.

Press Your Clutch

• Teams take turns throwing to accumulate and multiply points. One player throws to set a point value, scoring 0-5 points, with each Clutch hit their teammates multiplying that score. Each thrower takes their turn setting the point value while their team attempts Clutches; with each round, the possible points goes up, but so does the risk of losing all of the points if your team misses their Clutches. Teams must decide to press their luck, or “cash out” with the points they've scored. Strategy and skill combine to in this exciting and unpredictable game!

Variety Show Yahtzee

• Teams of 4 must accomplish set throwing goals in order while throwing 4 different Skill throws. Each team member will select either Big Axe, Underhand, 1.5 Rotation, or Premier hatchet. Teams receive set point values for accomplishing each goal, with deductions for missed throws.

Team Big Axe Around the World

• Teams of 4 throwers rotate in a set order, throwing Big Axe one at a time. Teams have to hit the following sequence: Bullseye, Left Clutch, Left 1, Left 3, Bull, Right 3, Right 1, Right Clutch. If a thrower hits their target, the next thrower moves on to the next point value. If the thrower misses their target, the next thrower must throw for the same value. Teams start with a score of 320 and each miss counts as negative 20 points.  If you get to zero, the round is over.

Saturday: Urban Open Ladyblades

Last year, we ran polls to determine the tournament formats and rulesets preferred by Ladyblades competitors and created a new format for Urban Open Ladyblades based on the results. We're keeping last year's format for our 2025 tournament and are offering two events: a Double-Elimination, Premier rules tournament and a Swiss + Single-Elimination, Urban Rules tournament. Both events will take place on Saturday, January 18th and will be played concurrently.

Unlike our traditional tournament tiers, both Ladyblades tournaments will be open registration so players can choose the event type or IATC qualification prize they prefer. If we have sufficient Swiss sign-ups to support an additional tournament bracket, the Swiss + Single Elimination tournament will be split and tiered by average as well.

Ladyblades Premier Double-Elimination

January 18th, Daytime

The Ladyblades Premier Double-Elimination tournament will begin with best 3-of-5 round matches and will progress to best 4-of-7 round matches before A bracket finals. Big Axe tiebreakers may occur at the end of each tied 5-throw round, and both hatchet and Big Axe will be played under full Premier rules (no-bleed bullseye, 5 pt touch Clutch, 7 pt Premier Clutch) throughout the tournament. The tournament will be played from start to finish on Saturday, and throwers will progress through the A and B brackets until they have taken two losses or are crowned champion. This event is an IATF Major, meaning the winner will secure a spot in Round 2 of the 2025 International Axe Throwing Championship, and the second, and third place finishers will receive a guaranteed entry into the US Championships hosted by ChillAxe in March.

Ladyblades Urban Rules Swiss

January 18th, Daytime

The Ladyblades Urban Rules Swiss tournament utilizes the Swiss + Single-Elimination format Urban Axes has developed and our Urban Rules scoring. Each competitor is guaranteed to throw 5 matches before any elimination occurs, and each successive match will be played against a thrower with the same or a similar win/loss record (2-0, 1-1, etc.), ensuring matches become more balanced with each successive round. The tournament will be played under Urban Rules, our scoring system which utilizes the “no-bleed” bullseyes and Premier Clutches of the Premier ruleset while adding intermediate scoring values of 4 & 2 and points for touch Clutch. Urban Rules have been updated to award 6 points for a touch Clutch and 7 points for a Premier Clutch, and you can find the fully updated ruleset here.

Matches in the Swiss portion will be best 3-of-5, with each round going to Big Axe to determine a winner in tied rounds. After 5 rounds of matches, players are ranked by their wins and losses throughout the Swiss portion, with additional tiebreakers for throwers with the same record. The top throwers will then advance to the Single-Elimination bracket portion of the tournament; this is often the top 8 or top 16 throwers, though the number of advancing throwers will be determined by signups and announced prior to the event. The seeded Single-Elimination bracket will run until a champion is reached! The winner of this tournament will reserve a spot in the IATC Women's Tournament at the 2025 International Axe Throwing Championship!

Sunday: Urban Madness + Big Axe

Urban Madness

January 19th, Daytime

Urban Madness is open to all throwers and will be played on Sunday, January 19th. It will be a Swiss + Single-Elimination tournament played under Premier Rules, and its format will be the same the Ladyblades Urban Rules Swiss tournament described above. We expect this event to have enough competitors to divide the field into multiple Swiss tournaments. After the Swiss tournaments are complete, the top throwers from each Swiss tournament will be combined into a single bracket and will then advance to the seeded Single-Elimination portion of the tournament. Like in Ladyblades, the number of advancing throwers will be determined by signups and announced prior to the event. Urban Madness is also an IATF Major, meaning the winner will secure a spot in Round 2 of IATC 2025, and the second and third place finishers will receive a guaranteed entry into the US Championships hosted by ChillAxe in March.

Big Axe Tournament

January 19th, Afternoon

Following Urban Madness finals, we will host a bonus Big Axe Tournament to keep the throwing going! The tournament will be single elimination and will be played under Standard Rules with playoff-style Big Axe tiebreakers. This event will have no prize pool and is itended to be a fun, friendly competition to close out the weekend. Tickets are $20 and are available at now above. This tournament sold-out last year, so purchase today and claim you spot!

after party

We will be hosting an After Party on Sunday evening following the conclusion of Urban Madness! More details will be announced soon, but stick around to celebrate with everyone after the competition is over!

hotel block

This year's hotel block will be at the Durham Marriott City Center! This hotel is an 8-minute walk from Urban Axes Durham and rooms are available for $169 a night from January 16th-21st. Amenities include a 24-hour gym, free wi-fi, hotel restaurant, and a Starbucks® in the lobby! Valet parking is available for a $25 daily fee. 

Click here to make your reservation! The last day to book our group rate is Friday, December 27th, so please take advantage of this rate while you can!

Weekend Schedule

This is the broad strokes of our tournament schedule. We will release our full schedule including all events and start times closer to the tournament.