Mechanical paintball tournaments , classic paintball as it is known now , have made their annual return to Pittsburgh ’ s Urban Assault Paintball , actually located in McDonald , PA and right next to the Pittsburgh Airport . The much anticipated Pittsburgh Open Classic had finally arrived , and it brought 54 tenman teams and 19 five-man teams ready to dominate the competition and be crowned the champions . This particular mechanical tournament is a rebirth of a rebirth of sorts . This is the tourney that a few years back revived the classic mechanical style with new age equipment . This year it is under a new name , and new management that did not miss a beat . They took all the lessons learned from the previous experiences and implemented changes that enhanced the players experience . This event brings the “ old school ” heavy hitters head-to-head with the “ new school ” superstars . When you add in some amatuer mechanical enthusiasts and four formidable fields , it is a recipe for fierce and exciting paintball .
Urban Assault Paintball has all the amenities a veteran paintball player or the occasional weekend warrior could want . They have ample amounts of parking and staging areas , as well as plenty of room for food and merchandise vendors . They set aside extra parking and staging areas to allow for the 1000 + people in attendance for this annual event . The vendor row includes such favorites as AC Empire / EVILpb , Infamous , Hydra fit , Inception Designs , Powerhouse Air , 724 Customs , and Gatormaille ready to provide all your needs for the latest and greatest in equipment , upgrades and soft goods . Planet Eclipse and Inception Designs was also available for upgrades and fixes on any equipment issues a player might have . For those battle worn warriors or the peckish spectators
Dilly Dilly Donuts ( buckets of sweet , delicious treats ), Pizza Capri , Melloveo , PK Winery and Urban Assault ’ s own outdoor kitchen was supplying tantalizing treats to quench your hunger and thirst . Urban Assault is no stranger to a big population on the weekend , they house a stout air system ready to meet the challenges of this tournament and all of its participants . The incredible amenities aside , the contestants showed up for some retro paintball action , and some retro paintball fields ! Classic paintball is played on fields such as hyper , hybrid , mounds and woods . The hyperball field is a similar layout of speedball fields with standup and lay down bunkers made of corrugated plastic pipe .
The mounds field is a labyrinth of grass / weed covered dirt mounds that players navigate , cautiously or rather hostile . The woods ball field is exactly as it sounds . Bunkers of wood , trees and bushes make up this tumultuous battlefield . Lastly , the teams will compete on the hybrid field . Composed of structures , dirt mounds , and woods , the hybrid field truly is the amalgamation of classic paintball . The teams will have to come together , walk through and strategize to try to face every conceivable possibility that may cross their path on the way to glory .
Teams started to arrive Wednesday into Thursday , early enough to settle in and explore the different fields that Urban Assault was going to throw at them . For some , they had a few days to become acclimated but for 19 teams they only had until Friday morning . These teams entered into the Friday Five-Man competition . The concept is the same , but the time and team size is considerably shorter . The teams had 5 minutes to dispatch their foes , grab the
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