Freestyle Relay is an exhilarating, team-based FPV drone competition inspired by the classic electronic game “Simon.” Just like Simon builds on a sequence of colors and sounds, Freestyle Relay challenges pilots to replicate and extend a growing freestyle line. Teams must collaborate, strategize, and execute with precision as the freestyle line increases in length and complexity round by round. It’s a fast-paced, inclusive event where every pilot—from rookies to pros—plays a vital role in their team’s success. Are you ready to take on the challenge and fly your way to victory?

Quick Overview: How It’s Played

Freestyle Relay pits 2-4 teams of pilots against each other in a multi-round competition. Teams work together to complete freestyle lines, score points, and earn bragging rights. The competition is designed to be inclusive and dynamic, rewarding skill, creativity, and strategic teamwork.

1. Teams and Tiers: Players are divided into balanced teams, each with Rookie, Intermediate, and Pro pilots.
2. Freestyle Line Progression: The first round starts with a simple freestyle line of three tricks. At the end of each round, the team with the highest score—based on execution and the value of added tricks—becomes the leader for the next round. The leading team votes on one of their pilot’s lines to set the new foundation, using the added tricks to play to their strengths while increasing the challenge for the next round.
3. Collaboration: Teams strategize to decide which tricks each player will perform, allowing players to focus on their strengths and contribute to their team’s success.
4. Scoring: Tricks are scored based on the Tricktionary, with points awarded for trick difficulty, execution, and uniqueness. Only the top scores from each team count, encouraging pilots to push their limits.
5. Winning: The team with the highest cumulative score after all rounds is crowned the winner.

Registration

Participants fill out a Google Form providing necessary details such as pilot name, location (US or international), goals, drone type, prize preferences, and contact information for prize distribution. Click here to register!

Teams

• Number of Teams: 2-4 teams based on total participants (TBD).
• Balanced Teams: Each team is composed of Rookie, Intermediate, and Pro pilots to ensure a fair and competitive experience. Pilots will select their skill level during registration to help create evenly matched teams.
  • Tier Enforcement: Pilots must follow the tier-specific rules to ensure fair competition. Failure to comply may result in their videos being disqualified for the round or reassignment to a different difficulty tier.
• Team Size: There will be 5+ players per tier on each team, with a minimum of 3 active scores counting each round.
• Team Captains: Assigned during team formation to help guide team strategy.

Tier-Specific Rules:

• Rookie Tier: Rookie pilots may only participate with beginner and novice level tricks. Intermediate or higher-level tricks will disqualify the submission.
• Intermediate Tier: Intermediate pilots may only participate with beginner, novice, or intermediate tricks. Pro-level tricks are not permitted and will result in disqualification. Additionally, to keep the gameplay balanced, intermediate tricks cannot be performed consecutively; they must be followed by a beginner or novice trick. Rookie tricks may be performed back to back without restriction.
• Pro Tier: Participants may use all tricks within the Tricktionary, but advanced and Master level tricks cannot be performed consecutively. Each advanced trick must be followed by an intermediate or lower-tier trick. Rookie and intermediate tricks can be performed back-to-back without restriction.

How it’s played

• Starting Simple: The first round begins with a freestyle line of three tricks. Every player performs these three tricks, then adds two more tricks to the end of the line based on their tier’s difficulty level.
• Determining the Leader: At the end of the round, the team in each tier with the highest score—calculated by their execution of the full line and the Tricktionary value of their added tricks—becomes the leader for the next round.
• Building the Freestyle Line: The leader team votes on one of their pilot’s complete freestyle lines to serve as the foundation for the next round. This lets teams build on their collective strengths while raising the difficulty.
  • Teams should strategize to decide which tricks each player will perform, ensuring pilots can focus on their strengths, boosting overall team performance.
• Progressing Through Rounds: In round 2, players will perform the freestyle line chosen by the round 1 leader, then add two new tricks to the end. This process repeats each round, with the line growing longer and more challenging as the competition progresses.
• The Final Challenge: The final round ramps up the difficulty with a long sequence of additional tricks added to the round 4 line. Players will push their flying skills and memory to the limit as they try to complete as much of the line as possible before crashing or the time runs out.

Example Freestyle Line:

• Round 1: Flip, Roll, Powerloop + 2 tricks
• Round 2: Flip, Roll, Powerloop, Vanny Roll, Juicy Flick + 2 tricks
• Round 3: Flip, Roll, Powerloop, Vanny Roll, Juicy Flick, Matty Flip, Half Mavvy + 3 tricks
• Round 4: Flip, Roll, Powerloop, Vanny Roll, Juicy Flick, Matty Flip, Half Mavvy, Yaw spin, Rubik’s Cube, Split S + 3 tricks
• Round 5: Flip, Roll, Powerloop, Vanny Roll, Juicy Flick, Matty Flip, Half Mavvy, Yaw spin, Rubik’s Cube, Split S, Wall Tap, Maverick Loop, Jump Rope +10 to 20 more tricks.

Scoring System

Individual Scoring

Pilots earn their score by referencing the Tricktionary to determine trick values and using our calculator to factor in points for difficulty, execution, and uniqueness.

• Trick Difficult: the value of the tricks you add to line each round plays a big impact on your individual and team score. The more difficult a trick is, the more points it will earn you.
• Execution: How well you perform each trick
  • Sloppy: performing a trick with sloppy execution will come with a 35% penalty for the trick
  • Bumps/Taps: Bumping an object or tapping the ground will result in a 50% penalty
  • Crashing: Crashing at any point during the run will end your run
• New/Unique Tricks: Additional tricks not performed by any teammate during the current round, or in the main freestyle line, will earn a 1.5x multiplier.
  • Strategize with your team to maximize your points by bringing unique lines to the table.
• Repeated Tricks: Tricks repeated within a team during the current round or already part of the main line earn a reduced multiplier:
  • 1x multiplier for repetition within a team.
  • 0.33x multiplier for repeating tricks already in the main line.

Team Scoring

Negate Bottom 2 Scores: Each round, the two lowest pilot scores are removed from each team, ensuring only the highest scores are considered. This allows for the focus to remain on the team’s top contributors without penalizing the team for absences or rough performances.

With the team scores finalized, all pilot scores within the same tier across all teams are stacked and ranked from highest to lowest. Pilots then earn team points based on their ranking within the tier, which contribute to their team’s overall score across all rounds.

Tiebreakers

• Obstacle Advantage: In case of a tie, tricks are re-scored using the full calculator, factoring in obstacles used during their freestyle line (e.g., Single Gate, Cube, Triple Gate Stack, etc) to determine the winner.

Substitute Pool

• If a pilot knows they will miss a round, they can request a substitute from the substitute pool for just that round.
• Substitutes are randomly drawn from the pool and must be from the same tier as the pilot they are replacing.
• The substitute pool consists of:
  • Pilots with limited availability who cannot commit to the full competition.
  • Pilots who registered after the competition began.
• Pilots who miss a week without prior notice may be permanently replaced and moved to the substitute pool.