Rank the five Qualifier Regions...

[GlobalNinjaFan]

Now that the first phase of competition is over and done with, I thought we could share our thoughts on the qualifiers this year. So far... my thoughts are mixed. There were several solid regions, only one truly great one IMO and a few stinkers. For me:

5) Indianapolis: The worst region IMO and one of the worst qualifier courses of all time. The course was incredibly bland, with the circular construction being the only thing of note, but the course wasn't very interesting for me. I can't describe it... it just felt dull. The Swinging Spikes are boring to watch for me, and the second and third obstacles were returning, the 3rd of which I hate. Not to mention the unforgiveable cutting of Ian Dory and Brian Arnold. Very poorly handled indeed.

4) Atlanta: I'd say this course is only slightly more interesting than Indianapolis. Block Run was interesting but not threatening.  The Pipe Cleaner was just lazy in my opinion, just pipes thrown together with no rhyme or reason. But the Big Dipper/Spin Cycles are still awesome obstacles, and this one featured some of my absolute favourite competitors like Drew and James McGrath. Not the best regional, but fairly decent overall.

3) Philadelphia: This region had a very solid course. It brought back the staple Log Grip, the interesting Paddle Boards but the Rolling Thunder and Wall Drop are fun ingenious obstacles. This would be number 2, but some of the cuts annoyed me. Rahn and Gonzales fast forwarded? NBC teasing Sasuke only to cut it? Not for me. But I love the way they handled Geoff, and we had a lot of veterans this time. Quite a colourful region overall.

2) Los Angeles: The season opener obviously had tons of effort put into it, and I enjoyed it A LOT. The Floating Steps were fun and interesting the first time, the Tick Tock had an amazing name and was a great obstacle, the Elevator was so and so, and the Ring Jump was fairly clever also. Jessie Graff made this episode for me, and Flip + Kevin Bull also managed to bring in the star factor that makes episodes interesting.

1) Oklahoma City: Who'd have thought the Kacy episode would be my favourite? What I love about this is that NBC finally started to tone down the Kacy hype just a little bit, instead favouring the angle of Brent/Kacy as a pair, giving those runs an interesting dynamic. The course this time around was my favourite Qualifier course this season, with an actually threatening third obstacle, the ingenious Ring Swing and one of my favourites: The Flying Bar being included. This region was also full of interesting people, which for me, made the fluff pieces less grating. Oh, and seeing David Campbell take revenge on NBC was SO satisfying.

[Deleted]

5: Oklahoma City - Kacy Failed
4: Indianapolis - Booooring
3: Philly: Why cut an Olympian?
2: Atlanta: Drew and James dominate
1: Los Angeles: Jessie Clears...tick, tock.

[thatoneuser]

Only going to rank the courses because my brain can't handle all these rookies.

5. Indianapolis: Much like Miami in 2012, the designers of this course showed up to work drunk. Easy balance obstacle 4th? Ick.
4. Philadelphia: Rider was right on the mark with Chaos Drop. Why all of this nonsense? Also, the Rolling Thunder is long and dumb.
3. Oklahoma City: Too much swinging.
2. Los Angeles: I really liked the first three obstacles but the Ring Swing and I-Beam Cross made this way too long.
1. Atlanta: One of the best qualifying courses of all time if not for how broomy the Pipe Fitter was.

[matt723894]

5 Oklahoma City. Absolutely ruined by the log runner, and the bar hopper was too easy for my taste. People who fell on the tire swing made it to the finals

4. indy. The cutting and skipping was rediculous, and the build up for the nascar drivers was stupid.

3. Atlanta. Yawn. Boring.

2. Philadelphia. Too hard and the obstacles were dumb, but by far had the best competitor pool.

1. LA. Really fun and innovative obstacles, and it was exciting all the way through.

[ekkerb11]

Based solely on the course design:

5. Atlanta: Pipe Fitter is cool and tests different grip muscles, but still it is only one obstacle.

4. Philadelphia: Log Grip has worn out its welcome IMO. Wall Drop is an aesthetic mess, and it was hard to truly show on TV how tough Rolling Thunder was.

3. OKC: Ring Swing is really cool, the Spinning Logs is tricky but fair, and the Bar Hop is actually quite different than the Flying Bar.

2. Indy: Spinning Disks could have been more tricky. It's a very interesting concept though and if not for the pole is my favorite balance obstacle. Also, the fly wheels looks cool, and the branching paths in the swinging spikes was a clever new idea that could be incorporated into more obstacles.

1. LA: Tic Toc is cool. Escalator is too easy in my opinion but still a different idea. Ring Hopper is a clever take on the salmon ladder/ring toss, except it is painful as hell on your hands. I-Beam is my least favorite 5th obstacle, but everything else on the course makes up for it.

[mayhudson]

5. Philadelphia: IMO the rolling thunder was waaay too extra. I would have liked it more if the competitors had to roll it a shorter distance, or if it didn't have those glass parts. The wall drop should have kept a single..uh..thing..to hold on after jumping. Also, not showing Jamie's full run?That hurt.
4. Indianapolis: Way too much hype for those nascar drivers. I really liked the fly wheels, but the disc runner felt like it had lost potential. People were just jumping across, and that's standard for any balance obstacle.
3. Atlanta: I think the pipe fitter could have been better designed. Other than that I liked it, but nothing extraordinary.
2. OKC: I felt devastaded seeing those stars fail the course. The obstacles were very varied and fun to watch, though.
1. LA: I might be a little biased here because Flip is my favorite , but there were also other great runs like Jessie's and Bull's. To me it seemed like the most balanced course while still being fun to watch.

[SasukeForever]

Based on courses
5. Indianapolis - Even though I was there, the back half of the course was very weak and honestly it wasn't an exciting region overall...the swinging spikes are one of the worst obstacles in ANW history and I hope it never returns.
4. Atlanta - Kind of a meh region, Big Dipper and Spin Cycle are fine. But Block Run and Pipe Fitter are not very interesting and I didn't care for them.
3. Philadelphia- Interesting region, log grip isn't too hard anymore, but Paddle Bridge, Wall Drop, and Rolling Thunder are all excessively difficult to all be in one qualifying round IMHO...and Wall Drop is just stupid, so much going on makes it hard to follow.
2. Oklahoma City - Exciting and difficult course overall. Ring Swing is a good concept, and fast paced. Log Runner aka MXC is very exciting, and took out a number of solid competitors, Tire Swing is fine, the only obstacle I didn't like was the Bar Hop. It just seemed a little too easy for the 5th obstacle and while it took out some big names like Brent, I didn't really like it.
1. Los Angeles - every obstacle was really solid, and this was the most complete course. Tick Tock is fantastic, hopefully this gets brought back in years to come. Escalator is very fun to watch, and while it didn't take hardly anyone out its a fast paced and interesting area. Ring Jump was a good mix of the Salmon Ladder and Ring Toss. And then the I-beam cross is very exciting towards the end, and I think it's another good obstacle.

[DonalM]

5. Oklahoma. Way too difficult, and the Log Runner seemed similar to Snake Crossing last year, with a boring Ring Swing and confusing Bar Hop.
4. Philadelphia. Exciting to watch, but again way to difficult, with the jump and pray obstacle's trampoline back as only the 4th obstacle, and an even more unfair obstacle for the 5th, with anyone under 5-4 being f***ed for the reach. Also last obstacle I wanted back again this year was the Log Grip.
3. Indiannapolis. Didn't want to see the Rolling Log back again, they should have kept the pole out of the Donuts, with maybe a wider platform, and they should have kept last years Swinging Spikes, as this year's was simply a mess.
2. Los Angeles. Nice obstacle concepts, but was just really boring to watch with how slow the course ran.
1. Atlanta. Did have wtf obstacles like the Pipe Fitter, but watching people like Drew and Cow Man race through the course was reallly exciting. They should try and make more fast-moving courses like that.

[kangaroo]

I like the pipe fitter not sure why peopel hate it has an old school sauske feel to it I mean how many people have we seen go down in stage two on the Pipe slider be it sauske or anw not sure why the hate the balance obstale where nice my favorite where the logs and the paddle boards. Did not like the donut slowed it way down where speed and light feet nattered every where else. The rookies did not bother me or the fast forwards we will see thoe guys in the next round