posted Jan 3rd, 2018 - The NSL News had posted the ultimate 4-way rankings of 2017 with the story on 26 December 2017. It was the combination of 4-way indoor and outdoor results that determined the rankings of the best all-round 4-way teams in the world.

Only the Top 10 teams were listed in the ultimate 4-way rankings when the story was published, even though the SKYLEAGUE.COM database has much more to offer. The NSL News mentioned that it was a very close race with a few other teams in the race for the last Top 10 spot and promised to follow up.

Swedish team Echochamber was in 10th place, and the distance to Amnesya was only a hair. In fact, both teams are mathematically tied in 10th after rounding the digits behind the comma.

However, the Swedish team had a 0.1 advantage for the outdoor average, which eventually won the last Top 10 spot.

Rank	Teams - Combined		Outdoor - Indoor	Average
1	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	26.2 - 32.8	29.5
2	RealFly-Sion	FR	25.3 - 29.1	27.2
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	25.2 - 29.2	27.2
4	SDC Rhythm XP	US	24.5 - 27.3	25.9
5	French Weembi Girls	FR	20.8 - 29.5	25.2
5	Black Cat	RU	21.3 - 29.0	25.2
7	Golden Knights Gold	US	22.3 - 25.9	24.1
8	Qatar Tigers	QA	19.5 - 27.1	23.3
9	Satori XL	SE	19.6 - 26.1	22.9
10	Echochamber	UK	20.0 - 25.2	22.6
11	Amnesya	IT	19.7 - 25.4	22.6
12	Espoir Weembi Saumur	FR	18.7 - 25.7	22.2
13	ISR FireFlash	BE	18.0 - 24.4	21.2
13	Bubble Trouble/Struggle	RU	18.2 - 24.2	21.2
15	eX3MO	IT	18.2 - 23.9	21.1
16	Airbus	DE	19.2 - 21.9	20.6

The names of the next six teams are just as well known in the 4-way world as the ones of the Top 10. Espoir Weembi Saumur is one of the two French B-teams, which are the recruiting grounds for the French national coaches. All members of both current French national teams in 4-way Open and 4-way Women started in the French B-teams.

Espoir Weembi Saumur and Espoir Weembi Maubeuge both have mixed-gender lineups, and national coach Mathieu Bernier can fill open slots in 4-way Open and 4-way Women with well trained competitors.

Current French Weembi Girls members Pamela Lissajoux and Clementine LeBohec are former members of the Espoir Weembi Saumur lineup, won their first FAI silver medals at the FAI Mondial 2016, followed up with indoor gold at the FAI Indoor World Meet 2017 and are now on their way to outdoor gold medals in Australia.

Both French B-teams can be expected to move up the rankings in 2018.

The same counts for ISR FireFlash who will focus only on 4-way training and competition this year. The NSL News story on 28 November 2017 explained the plans of the Belgian team for the 2018 season.

There is also another all-female team in the six spots behind the ultimate 4-way Top 10. Bubble Trouble/Struggle from Russia is exactly tied with ISR FireFlash after the same 0.2 indoor and outdoor differences. The higher value of outdoor scores due to exit, sub-terminal page, equipment and the competition draws were not considered for the rankings.

FAI Indoor World Meet 2017			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		16,P,12	2,8,H	22,20,3	15,D,4	A,J,6,L	7,M,19	5,Q,21	18,B,17	G,14,C,N	K,E,10,11	Total	Avg
1	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	30	29	25	30	47	33	34	34	37	28	327	32.7
2	Weembi High Rollers	FR	30	29	26	30	41	35	32	32	37	28	320	32.0
3	Arizona Airspeed	US	29	28	24	29	41	32	27	31	35	26	302	30.2
4	Black Cat	RU	30	27	24	30	39	34	32	28	33	25	302	30.2
5	Qatar Tigers	QA	28	21	24	27	36	31	23	27	29	26	272	27.2
6	Satori XL	UK	23	23	21	21	38	29	25	26	32	23	261	26.1
6	Echochamber	SE	24	24	22	25	34	28	27	28	28	21	261	26.1
8	Amnesya Fly-In	IT	25	21	18	23	29	28	24	22	31	20	241	24.1
9	Papea Spain	ES	24	20	18	21	29	26	23	21	26	20	228	22.8
10	Inlaws	CA	23	22	17	21	31	28	20	20	22	18	222	22.2
11	HF Bad Boys	CZ	21	20	17	20	32	21	22	21	23	22	219	21.9
12	China 4-way Gold	CN	19	18	16	18	26	22	19	18	22	20	198	19.8
13	Monaco	MC	17	15	14	15	22	21	19	15	21	17	176	17.6
14	Bahrain	BH	10	13	11	11	17	19	12	8	16	12	129	12.9

Italian 4-way outdoor champion eX3MO is the second team from Italy behind the Top 10. Amnesya has passed the 4-way veterans by the numbers and still has to follow up at live meets. The 2018 season will probably feature a very tough battle for the top spot in Italy.

Germany's 4-way champion Airbus is facing a similar situation with the AtomiX YUU challenger pushing from behind. Airbus will probably focus only on outdoor training and competition after double duties at the FAI Mondial 2016 and winning the German 8-way title in 2017.

The six listed teams behind the Top 10 are close enough to move up the rankings in 2018. However, the Top 10 include several full-time teams, while the challengers are "amateur" competitors. Satori XL and Echochamber are in the most vulnerable spots of the Top 10 rankings...