Valhalla National Rankings

Valhalla National Rankings was an independent New Zealand paintball team ranking system maintained through the Mercenaries Star website. The database operated from 2000 and included retrospectively compiled tournament standings dating back to 1997.[1][2]

Valhalla was developed to compare competitive paintball teams from different regions of New Zealand using results from national and regional tournaments. Its surviving records cover the 1997–2001 seasons and document the performance of numerous New Zealand teams during this period.

History

The Valhalla ranking system was established in 2000, with historical results from 1997, 1998 and 1999 subsequently incorporated into the database.[2]

The original ranking concept divided teams into grades according to the number of national tournaments they attended. This approach was later revised because it excluded regional competitions and did not adequately represent teams that competed outside the principal national events.[1]

The revised methodology incorporated a broader selection of tournaments, allowing teams competing in different regions and competition structures to be included in the same annual rankings.

Valhalla was maintained through the Mercenaries Star website, with Neil M. Harris listed as the contact for tournament results, corrections and submissions.[1]

Ranking methodology

Valhalla calculated rankings using a points-based system designed to compare tournament results across different competition formats.

The system converted each team's score in a tournament round into a percentage of the maximum points available. Subsequent elimination rounds were calculated using the same approach, while final rounds received additional weighting.[1]

For qualifying and elimination rounds, the calculation was:

Round score = (Points earned / Maximum available points) × 100

For final rounds occurring after an earlier round, the calculation was:

Final score = 75 + 25 × (Points earned / Maximum available points)

The calculated round scores were then averaged to produce each team's annual ranking score.

Teams entering multiple squads, such as Saints Gold and Saints Black, were generally recorded separately.

The methodology was revised during the database's operation. The published 2001 standings used cumulative tournament-round totals rather than the average scores presented in the earlier rankings. Consequently, scores from 2001 are not directly comparable with those from 1997–2000.[1][6]

National rankings, 1997–2000

The archived Valhalla database contains annual rankings for 1997 through 2000.

Year	First	Second	Third
1997	Katipo 1 (91)	Saints Black (79)	Kamo Karzi (74)
1998	Saints Gold (92.5)	Grey (78)	Katipo 1 (72)
1999	Saints Gold (91)	Paint Contractors (80)	Psychosis (77.5)
2000	Saints Gold (91)	Team Crisis (82.5)	Grey (82.5)

Source: Mercenaries Star, Valhalla annual rankings, 1997–2000.[2][3][4][5]

Katipo 1 headed the retrospective 1997 rankings, while Saints Gold occupied first place in each of the following three seasons.

The 2000 rankings contained 37 team and squad entries. The compiler reported that results had been obtained for almost every tournament held that year, with the Southern Three-Mans identified as a principal omission.[5]

2001 rankings

In 2001, Valhalla published separate rankings for seven-man, five-man and three-man tournament formats.

The surviving tables are dated October 2001 and should not necessarily be interpreted as final standings for the complete season.[6]

Format	First	Second	Third
Seven-man	Saints Gold (400.5)	Jetts (313)	Katipo (308.2)
Five-man	Tag n' Release (214.5)	Saints Gold (211)	House Steiner (93.4)
Three-man	DamNatives Red (226.4)	Insane (181.7)	Tag n' Release GPS (159.3)

Source: Mercenaries Star, Valhalla 2001 rankings.[6]

Seven-man

The seven-man standings incorporated results from the Northland Open, RotoVegas and New Zealand Paintball Nationals.

Saints Gold headed the published rankings with 400.5 points, followed by Jetts and Katipo.[6]

Five-man

The five-man rankings included results from the South Pacific Championships and Wellington Cup.

Tag n' Release ranked first with 214.5 points, narrowly ahead of Saints Gold on 211.[6]

Three-man

The three-man standings incorporated several smaller tournament formats, including the Hawke's Bay Triples, Indoor Three-Man Open, National Three-Man Centre Flag Championships and Combat Zone Three-Mans.

DamNatives Red led the published standings with 226.4 points, followed by Insane with 181.7 and Tag n' Release GPS with 159.3.[6]

Limitations

Valhalla was an independent statistical ranking system rather than an official national championship.

The database's compiler acknowledged several limitations, including incomplete historical results, differences in tournament strength and the difficulty of comparing teams attending different numbers and types of competitions.[1]

The inclusion of smaller regional tournaments also created situations where teams performing strongly against limited opposition could rank above teams competing in larger, more competitive events.

Although the original website described the leading teams as Valhalla National Champions, these rankings should not be confused with championship titles awarded at the New Zealand Paintball Nationals or by national paintball organisations.

Historical records

Valhalla's archived standings document competitive New Zealand paintball teams that participated in tournaments during the late 1990s and early 2000s.

The database preserves historical results for teams including Saints, Katipo, Paint Contractors, Kamo Karzi, Grey, House Steiner, Tag n' Release, Insane, Phoenix, Flashpoint and numerous regional squads.

The original ranking pages remain preserved through the Oocities archive of the Mercenaries Star GeoCities website.

References

External links