posted Dec 27th, 2018 - The NSL Ultimate 4-way Championship will not be the only 4-way event any longer where teams are tested in both indoor and outdoor elements at the same time. CTR Optimum member André Ferraz from Brazil informed the NSL News that he will adopt the same format at a 4-way event series in Brazil next year.

The NSL News had picked up the topic at the end of the 2017 season and applied it for the 4-way teams on the world's top level. It was not a live event, such as NSL Championship or the Brazilian events in 2019, where the same competition draw is applied for indoor and outdoor parts that happen at the same time.

The story and the ultimate ranking featured the Top 10 in the world and the next five teams. There were actually only three Top 10 teams in both indoor and outdoor rankings last year that did not appear in the ultimate rankings. Weembi Lille and IFS-Moscow attended only indoor meets, while Mass Defiance made the Top 10 only on the outdoor leaderboard.

The NSL News used all in the NSL database recorded annual scores, which consistently generate the current NSL Rankings, and combined the indoor and outdoor numbers. Result was the "Ultimate 4-way Ranking" that the NSL News posted with the story on January 3rd.

Rank	2017 - 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
10	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

IFS-Moscow did not make the Indoor Top 10 this year, while Weembi Lille/Mix has even moved to the top spot after winning at the FAI Indoor World Cup 2018. However, both teams do not qualify for the "Ultimate 4-way Ranking", as well as the French pickup team 3Guys1Bride, and Mass Defiance appeared once again only on outdoor leaderboards.

There are also two teams missing in this year's ultimate rankings who placed 5th (Black Cat) and 7th (Golden Knights) at the end of the 2017 season. Both teams do not have recorded indoor and outdoor scores both in the NSL 2018 database.

Black Cat focused only on 8-way training and competition with Russia's Tanay 8-way team. The Golden Knights posted a 27.2 average at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2018 and then missed the USPA Nationals 2018 due to Hurricane Florence threatening the U.S. Army's headquarters in North Carolina. The two missing top teams made it easier for the other ultimate 4-way challengers to get to the Top 10 spots this year. Three new teams moved up: Amnesya (Italy), ISR FireFlash (Belgium), Airheads (Switzerland).

Rank	2018 - Combined		Outdoor - Indoor	Average
1	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	27.8 - 34.0	30.9
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	26.5 - 31.8	29.2
3	Aerodyne RealFly	FR	25.1 - 31.0	28.1
4	French Weembi Girls	FR	24.4 - 30.5	27.5
5	Qatar Tigers	QA	23.2 - 29.4	26.3
6	SDC Rhythm XP	US	23.6 - 28.8	26.2
7	Echochamber	SE	21.2 - 27.4	24.3
8	Amnesya	IT	19.8 - 28.6	24.2
9	ISR FireFlash	BE	20.8 - 26.8	23.8
10	Airheads	CH	20.1 - 27.2	23.7
11	Satori XL	UK	20.3 - 25.1	22.7
12	Ranch 2nd Generation	US	18.9 - 25.6	22.3
13	NFTO	UK	19.6 - 24.5	22.1
14	Airbus	DE	19.6 - 24.0	21.8
15	eX3MO	IT	18.2 - 25.1	21.7

Echochamber (Sweden) and Amnesya shared the 10th place last year, moved up together and are still extremely close to each other in 7th and 8th place. The Swiss team Airheads moved from nowhere (27th indoor - 29th outdoor in 2017) to the last Top 10 spot this year.

Satori XL dropped out of the Top 10 in the ultimate rankings, while other new challengers are waiting in line for one of the Top 10 spots. Germany's Airbus 4-way team finally attended an indoor competition and took the 14th place in the combined rankings. Ranch 2nd Generation came from 35th in the outdoor and 31st in the indoor rankings of 2017 to the 12th place right behind Satori XL.

The Russian 4-way Women team Bubble Trouble did not come back this year, and NFTO improved both the standing and the scoring level slightly. The French Weembi Girls have moved up to the 4th place in the ultimate 4-way world with a combined average (27.5) that would have made the 2nd place last year.

NMP PCH HayaBusa is the first team in history with a combined 30+ average, and Arizona Airspeed has restored the outdoor order since 2014 in the combined rankings, as well. The 29.2 average would have been close to HayaBusa last year. However, all Top 10 teams of 2017 have increased their combined averages, including the world's ultimate 4-way leader from Belgium...