Outside of raiding, the professional Resonator battling scene is one of the biggest machines that drives the economy. Professional battles attract hundreds of thousands of people and is always the talk of the town where they take place. Getting top placement in any tournament rewards prize money, the higher the level the better the prize pool. The prize money for top competitors is lucrative enough that there are many "Professional Battlers" that make training and battling Resonators their primary job.
The scene itself has many people who battle casually, however there is organized play which has maestros compete in tournaments with their carefully trained Resonators. There are several tiers of organized battling seen below.
- Locals
- Regionals
- Nationals
- Masters
Anyone can enter regional competitions but its highly recommended that prior to entry participants have a good grasp on their local tournaments or have a good battle record.
Entry is completely free competitors must have at least one resonator to compete.
Both Maestro and any Resonators being entered must be at least fifteen years of age or older. Average age for most competitive battlers is around the twenty to thirty range. Those outside of this range are typically seasoned battlers who have made a name for themselves.
Nationals are based on geographic location with six total "Leagues" around the world. You can only enter a national competition by coming first place in a Regional. Nationals are held in different cities in their respective continents each year.
- Libertera Nationals - January
- Typically the Nationals with the fewest competitors given the proximity to the Master's tournament
- Selvica Nationals - March
- L'ultera Nationals- May
- Kalanichi Nationals- July
- Nabhon Nationals- September
- Unis-Résonne Nationals - November
- The harshest of the National-level tournaments since it’s the last chance to get into the Master's tournament.
The Masters Tournament is held in December in Quiretteh the six winners from the year's national tournaments make up six members of the eight person bracket.
There are two additional slots on the tournament roster
- The People's Selection - over the course of the year, polls are regularly taken about fans favorite competitors, after Unis-Résonne Nations, the person with the most votes that is not already in the tournament is sent an invite to compete.
- The Grand's Selection - Once the other seven competitors have been chosen, the Grand Masters themselves will pick a competitor to fill the eighth spot.
Winners of the Master's tournament can choose the prize money or they can decline that and challenge a Grand Master of their choosing for their spot. This very rarely happens, but when it does it generates a lot of press and media coverage given the rarity of the event.
Battle Format
Prior to the start of any tournament, each maestro can register up to three resonators for use during the tournament.
Battles are conducted in a 1v1 winner-take-all format. When the maestros step up to battle they may select any of the three resonators registered to them for battle. Once the selection is made there are no substitutions. Selections are made simultaneously, so there is an element of luck and mind-games when making resonator selections.
Battles are decided once a resonator's rhythm reaches zero (The point just before hair starts turning white) or they are rendered unconscious, whatever happens first. Tuners automatically track resonator's rhythm levels, this data gets synced with the tournament staff and displays for real time tracking of current remaining rhythm.
Ultimate-level spells are expressly banned due to the strength of such spells being nearly uncontrollable.
Killing of the opponent's resonator is an automatic game-loss, and expulsion from the tournament scene indefinitely. Additional prosecution and possible jail-time may also be added on after a thorough investigation of the incident.
Additionally, Resonators must be registered and chipped on Riterra. Resonators who are registered to Luna using a Lunar chip and tuner are expressly forbidden from any and all tournament offerings.
The "Meta"
The meta shifts from year to year, depending on how the tournament scene develops. Typically Fire, Solar, Earth and Lightning are preferred elements with Solar being the most common. Nature and Water are typically seen as anti-meta calls. There are a few brave maestros that try to make Lunars work, but they usually get eliminated pretty fast due to the heavy Solar meta that is common and the general distaste for the element. Strong Null element resonators are used in mind games to force a bad match-up.
Attribute wise, again is a meta call. Typically most maestros want to have one of each of the main triangle on hand just in case. Null and healing attributes are avoided as much as Lunar elements since they offer no advantage in offense or defense.
Species will typically depend on the element. Ailuridae (Fire only) for example are strong picks because their class skill can be used offensively and they can cast it for free as long as they remain grounded, which provides them an element of speed and free offensive pressure.
Felines are also popular due to their speed being generally higher without any bad downsides. Favored elements of this species tend to be solar and lightning.
Little League
For Maestros fourteen years of age or younger, there is little league format which they can participate in. Due to the restrictions in spell power (Piano ranked spells or lower) rather than zeroing your opponent's rhythm, it's on a hit based system and a timer. The Resonator who lands the most spells on their opponent is declared the winner.
In recent years, unofficial non-minor tournaments adopting this ruleset (though with unrestricted spell usage) have become popular since there are some people who find the skillful positioning and accuracy of their resonators more interesting than relying on the speed and raw power to knock out your opponent.