posted Feb 17th, 2020 - The NSL News had introduced the Austrian team Black Mantis with the story on 3 October 2019. Final Fire members had actually directed attention to Black Mantis, as they appreciated a potential challenger in the near future.

Black Mantis followed up and keeps increasing the team's efforts and raising the performance and scoring level. This year's trip to the Wind Games became the first time that a team from Austria attended the indoor competition, and Black Mantis finished with an impressive 22.0 average.

The showdowns with Final Fire are still limited to only outdoor competition, which will have a new edition this year. Black Mantis has left behind Final Fire's 21.4 indoor average of 2017 in the meantime, and the competition at the national outdoor championship could become very interesting.

The 22.0 average of Black Mantis at the Wind Games has moved the young team straight up into the middle of the AAA Class field, where they compete on eye level with several other national top teams of different countries.

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Wind Games 2020			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		Q,F,6,14		1,13,4		8,J,15		O,9,D,5		21,A,P,H		N,C,20,12		7,G,K,19		10,16,22		17,E,11		M,B,3,L		Total	Avg
1	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	32	-1	29		28	-1	44	-3	45		29		35		25		34		47		348	34.8
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	34		24	-1	29		45	-2	41		29		34	-1	23		34		39	-1	332	33.2
3	SDC Rhythm XP	US	33		25		27	-1	44	-1	41		26		30	-3	23		30	-2	41	-2	320	32.0
4	IFS-Moscow	RU	27	-3	20	-3	25	-2	45	-2	36	-1	25	-1	30	-1	23		29	-2	33	-5	293	29.3
5	ISR FireFlash	BE	30		23		26		39		36		22	-1	27	-2	20		29		29	-4	281	28.1
6	Weembi Unicorns	IN	28		23		26		42		36		23		29		20		22	-4	26	-3	275	27.5
7	NFTO	UK	28		21		22		38		36		21		27	-1	18		24	-3	32	-1	267	26.7
8	Echochamber	SE	28		21		22		37		35		21	-1	23	-2	19		26		29	-4	261	26.1
9	Nephtys Weembi	FR	26		19	-1	20	-1	35		32		22		26	-1	19		22	-2	32	-1	253	25.3
10	Oceanside AtomiX	DE	25	-2	21		19	-2	31	-1	31		19		27		17	-1	22	-1	31		243	24.3
11	Out of the Blue	NL	25		19		21		31	-2	29	-1	18		25		17	-1	24		16	-7	225	22.5
12	Blue Steel	FI	24		18		20		29		26	-1	20		24		15	-1	21		27	-1	224	22.4
13	Windobona Black Mantis	AT	27		18	-1	21		27	-3	27		19	-1	24		17		21		19	-5	220	22.0
14	Papea	ES	22		19		21		29	-1	27	-2	19		21	-2	17		22		19	-5	216	21.6
15	Lucky Boys	HU	20	-2	18	-1	20		28	-1	27		18		23		17	-3	18	-3	24		213	21.3
16	Voss Vind Girls	NO	22	-1	19	-1	21		28	-1	27		16	-1	14	-3	17	-1	21		22	-3	207	20.7
17	3 Boys 1 Girl	IN	21		16		18		27		26		17		19		15	-1	19	-2	24		202	20.2
18	Realfly Fire	CH	23		16	-3	18	-2	25	-1	28	-1	13	-2	23		17		19		19	-4	201	20.1
19	Windobona Angels	ES	21		16	-1	17	-2	26		26	-1	17		21		15		17	-1	20	-4	196	19.6
20	Standby	IT	20		13	-3	16		22		24		12	-1	19	-2	12	-1	15	-1	23	-1	176	17.6
21	Equinox	LT	22		17		15	-1	20	-2	21	-3	16		17	-2	13		12	-2	16	-3	169	16.9

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Black Mantis' position on the international leaderboard becomes even more interesting after eliminating the AAA Class teams who are either competing in 4-way Women or are not the top teams of their respective countries.

This year's European indoor championship, which is embedded into the FAI indoor world cup in April, applies the same format as FAI world championships, where only one national team is officially ranked on the leaderboard. Arizona Airspeed and SDC Rhythm XP would naturally not be on the leaderboard of a European championship.

The adjusted AAA Class leaderboard of the Wind Games is showing the European teams who could be on the official leaderboard at the European indoor championship. Black Mantis is coming from nowhere to a competitive area around the 5th place.

In fact, even the competition for the 4th place could become interesting, as all teams between 4th (Oceanside AtomiX) and 9th place (Lucky Boys) posted scores that are very close to each other round by round. Only the medal positions seem to be out of reach.

Wind Games 2020			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		Q,F,6,14		1,13,4		8,J,15		O,9,D,5		21,A,P,H		N,C,20,12		7,G,K,19		10,16,22		17,E,11		M,B,3,L		Total	Avg
1	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	32	-1	29		28	-1	44	-3	45		29		35		25		34		47		348	34.8
2	IFS-Moscow	RU	27	-3	20	-3	25	-2	45	-2	36	-1	25	-1	30	-1	23		29	-2	33	-5	293	29.3
3	Echochamber	SE	28		21		22		37		35		21	-1	23	-2	19		26		29	-4	261	26.1
4	Oceanside AtomiX	DE	25	-2	21		19	-2	31	-1	31		19		27		17	-1	22	-1	31		243	24.3
5	Out of the Blue	NL	25		19		21		31	-2	29	-1	18		25		17	-1	24		16	-7	225	22.5
6	Blue Steel	FI	24		18		20		29		26	-1	20		24		15	-1	21		27	-1	224	22.4
13	Windobona Black Mantis	AT	27		18	-1	21		27	-3	27		19	-1	24		17		21		19	-5	220	22.0
8	Papea	ES	22		19		21		29	-1	27	-2	19		21	-2	17		22		19	-5	216	21.6
9	Lucky Boys	HU	20	-2	18	-1	20		28	-1	27		18		23		17	-3	18	-3	24		213	21.3
10	Realfly Fire	CH	23		16	-3	18	-2	25	-1	28	-1	13	-2	23		17		19		19	-4	201	20.1
11	Standby	IT	20		13	-3	16		22		24		12	-1	19	-2	12	-1	15	-1	23	-1	176	17.6
12	Equinox	LT	22		17		15	-1	20	-2	21	-3	16		17	-2	13		12	-2	16	-3	169	16.9

The progression of Black Mantis is not too surprising. NMP PCH HayaBusa has visited the Windobona wind tunnel in Vienna three times to work with the Austrians, and the preparations for the indoor world cup and European championships will continue.

Black Mantis will post more new indoor scores before traveling to Charleroi in Belgium in April, as the Austrian national indoor championships are scheduled for the end of February. Black Mantis are the defending champions after a 20.7 average in February 2019, without Final Fire attending the event.

The scores of the FAI European Championship Indoor 2018 are showing that a 22+ average level will probably not be enough to get to the same finishing position. However, the same opponents of the Wind Games will probably be back for a new indoor battle.

It is a fact that it will be the first time that a 4-way team from Austria will attend an FAI indoor world cup or world meet.

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FAI European Indoor Championship 2018			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		G,12,20		F,16,22		N,E,D,21		17,L,4		18,14,O		19,2,5		7,15,Q		6,B,M,P		K,11,9		8,H,J,C		Total	Avg
1	Aerodyne Realfly	FR	25		29		39		31		26		26		32	-1	45	-1	33	-2	38	-2	324	32.4
2	Black Cat	RU	23		31		36		32		25	-2	26		32	-1	46		30	-2	35	-2	316	31.6
3	Echochamber	SE	21	-1	26		34		27		23		23	-1	29	-2	38	-1	27	-2	35	-1	283	28.3
4	Airheads	CH	21	-2	26		35		26	-1	22	-2	23		29		40	-1	28	-2	32	-4	282	28.2
5	Amnesya	IT	21	-1	28		29	-2	22	-3	24		22		29	-1	39	-2	27	-2	38	-3	279	27.9
6	ACM Weembi	UK	19	-1	24		29		24	-1	20	-1	22		29		35	-2	25	-2	28	-3	255	25.5
7	FlySpot Sky4Four	PL	16	-1	18	-1	20	-3	19		17		16	-1	21		25	-2	21	-1	20	-4	193	19.3
8	Skydive University Slovakia	SK	14		18		21	-1	17		15	-1	14	-1	19	-1	27		21		25		191	19.1
9	Norway	NO	13		14	-1	19	-1	13	-2	14		15		16	-2	26		19		15	-3	164	16.4
10	HF Bad Boys	CZ	16	-1	22	-2	22		21	-1	-		-		-		-		-		-		81	20.3

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