Thrötoberfest

Join us for Urban Axes Boston's 3rd annual tournament!

Urban Axes Boston is thrilled to host our new tournament Thrötoberfest September 26-28! This event is a reimagining of our former Red, White & Bullseyes tournament under a new name, date, and corresponding Oktoberfest theme. Thrötoberfest event will feature many of the same events from last year, including two tournaments: one on Saturday and another on Sunday. So don your dirndls or lederhosen and come throw with us in the City of Champions!

Thrötoberfest will be a three-day event; we'll kick off the weekend on Friday night, September 26th, with a Skills competition featuring an Oktoberfest theme.  On Saturday, September 27th, we will host an Over/Under Swiss Tournament, and the event will culminate on Sunday, September 28th with our open double-elimination Premier Thrötoberfest tournament. Throwers of all ability levels are encouraged to participate, and we're very excited to see you at Urban Axes Boston this fall!

event info

Click here to view the Weekend Schedule

Click here to view the Friday Night Skills Rules!

Click here to book Practice Hours

Click here to view the final Over/Under Swiss Tournament Tiers

• This list features registrations as of 12:00 PM, 9/26; this ranking is final and players will throw in tomorrow's tournament in the Swiss tiers listed.

updates

• Online registration for Friday Night Skills has closed!

  • If you're still looking to take part and have a full team of 4 throwers who have NOT yet registered for Skills, reach out to nathan@urbanaxes.com and we'll see if we are able to add your team!

  • You can find the rules for each Skill and gameplay videos here.

• You can still purchase tickets to Sunday's Thrötoberfest tournament & Big Axe Tournament!

• Spectator Tickets will be $15 and will be available for purchase in-person at Urban Axes Boston. Only one ticket is needed per person to gain entry Friday through Sunday!

  • Spectator Tickets are intended for friends and family who will not be competing in any events. Any thrower registered for the Marathon League, Friday Night Skills, Over/Under Swiss Tournaments, Thrötoberfest, or the Big Axe Tournament will not need to purchase a spectator ticket to attend events on another day.

• RSVP to our Facebook event to be kept up to date on all things Thrötoberfest!

• Throwers 18 and up will be allowed to compete in Thrötoberfest!

 

 

Event Details

Friday, 9/26: Marathon Leagues + Friday Nights Skills

Thrötoberfest Marathon Leagues (Daytime)

• We'll be hosting marathon leagues on Friday, September 26th, with practice at 8:30 AM and matches beginning at 9:00 AM.

• The default ruleset for this marathon will be Premier Rules, but we hope to offer both Premier AND Standard Rules marathon leagues if enough players register to participate!

• All throwers will register for a single marathon league, and if we reach 24 or more players, we will split the league into two rosters, with the higher average league playing Premier Rules and the lower playing Standard Rules.

• 12-month Standard and Premier averages will be adjusted for comparison and throwers with both averages will be ranked by the higher of their two averages. For WATL throwers, we will calculate an equivalent IATF average for use in this ranking.

• Each thrower will receive 20 IATF matches + Playoffs. We need a minimum of 12 members to run each marathon league, and everyone will make the playoffs (even if we have more than 16 throwers!) Come enjoy a season's worth of practice before the tournaments begin!

• Discount Code: Throwers who also register for Over/Under Swiss and Thrötoberfest tournaments can use code THROTOBER10 for $10 off when booking their Thrötoberfest Marathon League! You must be registered for all 3 events (marathon league, Swiss, & Thrötoberfest) to qualify!

Friday Night Skills (Evening)

Friday Night Skills will be a team competition featuring Oktoberfest and Beer-lympics inspired Skills events that combine axe throwing with games such as Stein Holding, Hammerschlagen, Flip Cup, & Beer Pong! Teams of 4 will take part in multiple events throughout the evening, including:

• Yatzheeschlagen

  • Teams of 4 will take turns choosing a random target value (Premier Bullseye, Standard 1, etc.) that all 4 players must then attempt to score with their assigned throw type (Overhand, 1.5 Rotation, Underhand, or Big Axe.)

  • Each successful throw earns a strike on the team’s nails with a cross peen hammer, à la Hammerschlagen.

  • Players continue taking turns choosing target values, throwing, and striking their team's nails. The game ends when nails are flush with the surface of the wood, and the object is to earn as many strikes as possible each turn and drive in the nails in as few attempts as necessary.

 

• Stein Trials

  • All 4 team members will be timed as they hold a full 1L beer stein at arms length as long as they can without spilling or bending their elbow. The team will receive a time bonus during their Time Trials attempt based on their team’s average time.

  • Players then take turns making Time Trials passes, with each choosing from Overhand, 1.5 Rotation, or Underhand for their attempt.

  • 1.5 throws award a 1 pt bonus and Underhand throws award a 2 pt bonus, and teams may make additional passes if there is time remaining after all 4 team members have had their turn. The goal is to earn as many points as possible before time expires!

• Flip Cup Around the World

  • 3 team members flip their cups one after another, with each successful pass earning one Around the World throw for their 4th member.

  • Team members will rotate flipping cups and throwing until Around the World has been completed, with each team racing to record the fastest time.

 

• Axe Pong

  • Pairs of players from each team will attempt to throw a ping pong ball into an opposing team’s cups, while their partner will throw their axe at a matching target.

  • Each cup they successfully hit is taken out of play, and partners will swap axe throwing and beer pong roles each turn. The team that clears all their opponents' cups first wins.

• Friday Night Skills is beer fest themed and drinking will be allowed, but drinking will not be required to participate! Throwers of all axe throwing (and party game!) ability levels are encouraged to participate!

• Tickets are on sale now on this webpage! Players will register as individuals, but please include the names of your team members and your team name when registering!

Saturday, 9/27: Over/Under Swiss Tournament

• A tournament comprised of a Swiss + Single Elimination bracket in which players are split into two tournament tiers based on their IATF or equivalent WATL average. This method ensures most players will compete against throwers of a similar skill level, making this tournament ideal for beginner and intermediate level throwers.

• Each tournament tier will compete in seperate Swiss + Single Elimination brackets, in which each player will be guaranteed a minimum number of matches before any elimination occurs. No more 0-2!

• Each Swiss tournament will be run under the following rulesets:

  • Over Tier - Premier Rules

  • Under Tier - Urban Rules

• Urban Rules is a combination of the IATF Premier and Standard rulesets introduced by Urban Axes at our first major tournament at Urban Axes Boston. It is intended to be accessible to throwers of all ability levels while remaining challenging, strategic, & fun. Click here to view the current ruleset and learn more about Urban Rules.

Sunday, 9/28: Thrötoberfest + Big Axe Tournament

Thrötoberfest (Daytime)

• The main event of our tournament weekend! Thrötoberfest will be an open double elimination, Premier Rules tournament featuring a randomly-seeded, 64-person bracket.

Big Axe Tournament (Afternoon)

• We've added a bonus Big Axe Tournament to be played following Thrötoberfest finals! 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 intended to be a fun, friendly competition to close out the weekend. Tickets are $20 and are available above!

Weekend Schedule

These are the broad strokes of our tournament weekend schedule. Click here to view our full Weekend Schedule, with start times for each event!