One of the most popular types of paintball play, and definitely the fastest, speedball is a tournament-style form of battle where the created playing field gives all players equal surroundings. Because of the bunkers, it is easier for spectators to view battles and gives the players a different type of play than they would have in woodsball.
The type of paintball marker that you would use for speedball is not going to be the same kind that worked for you in woodsball because of how different the two sports are.
Speedball is one of the most fun and intense fast-paced extreme sports that you can play, making it completely understandable why it is so popular. If you are just getting your feet wet with speedball or are simply looking for a different marker, you are going to want to get the best speedball gun possible to be successful during a battle.
What Type Of Paintball Gun You Need For Speedball?
Since speedball is distinctly different than woodsball, you will need to be sure that the marker you are using is meant for speedball play. To begin with, a speedball gun has to be small, making it a hard target for your opponents. Even if you are not hit with paint, but your weapon is, you are still out. Best speedball guns are usually the electro-pneumatic designs, running off of CO2 or HPA.
The trigger operates less like a regular gun and more like clicking a mouse on a computer in order to give you a high rate of fire. Since they are electronic, they work off of a circuit board much like a computer and can give you a variety of firing modes. The best type of speedball paintball guns have “eyes” to let you confirm the paintball is ready to fire before you pull the trigger, keeping you from chopping a ball and making a mess during battle.
What Is The Difference Between Woodsball And Speedball Gun
While both speedball and woodsball guns are paintball guns, you would not use the same type of guns in both situations. To begin with, woodsball guns are usually colored so that they can blend in to the field, helping to keep you concealed during battle. The speedball guns do not need to be camouflaged and can come in an array of bright colors.
If you use a speedball gun for woodsball, you will need to make sure that it is a dark color to keep it concealed. Outside of the appearances, speedball guns need to fire rounds quickly, which is why many speedball guns are electronic, taking away the human error and speed that could make the gameplay go slower.
In woodsball, players usually like a more sniper-styled gun that will allow for customization, sights, and add-ons to turn it into the best paintball gun possible. While you can customize speedball guns as well, the need is not as strong. In woodsball, the guns will come with rails to attach flashlights, upgraded sights, and other add-ons depending on your strategy and the scenario that you are playing. Woodsball guns are also typically heavier as you will not be running quite as much as you would with speedball.
3 Best Speedball Paintball Guns Of 2018
Brand | Type | Play Style | Weight | Rating | Check Now |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Dye M2 Marker Editor's Choice | Electronic | Speedball | 1.15 lbs | 99% | |
2. Planet Eclipse CS1 Runner-Up | Electronic | Speedball | 2.0 lbs | 96% | |
3. Dye Proto Rize Budget Option | Electronic | Speedball | 1.9 lbs | 94% |
1. Dye M2 Paintball Marker For Speedball
Best Speedball Gun Overall (Editor's Choice)
Design
With its easy-to-read screen, simple maintenance, and sleek design, the Dye M2 is our choice for the best speedball gun. The battery is rechargeable in this electronic marker and lasts about 8,000 paintball rounds, giving you plenty of juice to last in a paintball tournament.
The M2 has a Billy Wing Fuse Bolt System that is a closed-spool design. The M2 also comes with both .684 and .688 Ultralite barrel backs, which let you change paint sizes and adjust to any weather condition changes. Made to be lightweight and durable as well, the M2 is also compatible with the e.VOKE system, which is like having a coach in your ear at all times.
With the ergonomic grip, the M2 is also easy to hold and fire, ensuring you can stay in the game as long as possible. Dye really hit it out of the park with this marker, making it the best speedball gun you can buy.
Fire Power & Accuracy
The Dye M2 has a low 135 psi. It is made so that the air flow is optimized and efficient, giving you little to no recoil and consistent accuracy. With its 4 firing modes, you can easily change your bpm when you are mid-play. The M2 also fires quietly and smoothly with efficiency.
2. Planet Eclipse Geo CS1 Paintball Gun For Speedball
Runner-Up
Design
The Planet Eclipse Geo CS1 is our choice for the runner-up best speedball paintball gun. It is designed with a SL5 Inline regulator in a grip frame with a quick-disconnect electrical body to frame interface. The CS1 also has pocketed and captured air transfer seals and a 1-piece shaft5 barrel back with a shaft pro barrel tip.
The grip is ergonomic as well, keeping it in your hand and making easy to hold. It is on the higher end of the spectrum price-wise, but it is also is high quality, giving you what you paid for. It operates well in any environment and will not let you down in battle.
Designed to be low maintenance, the CS1 is easy to take care of and only weighs a little more than 2 pounds, giving it a lightweight design. It is also designed to be a standard speedball marker, allowing you to use barrels from other brands on it if you would like to.
Fire Power & Accuracy
The CS1 has a low 120 psi operating pressure, keeping the recoil down while it fires silently, but it can also function on 250 psi, ensuring that you always get an accurate shot. The CS1 also comes with a built-in regulator inside of the frame that will keep you from wasting air. The performance is both reliable and accurate, helping you get your shot the first time, but allowing you to fire rapidly in case you don’t.
3. Dye Proto Rize Speedball Paintball Marker
Budget Option
Design
Another win from Dye, the Dye Proto Rize is the best speedball gun that you can get on a budget. The Rize comes with an hourglass trigger and the Dye Sticky Grips designed to give you an ergonomic feel. Made of a composite nylon and fiber glass 45 frame, the Rize gives you durability. It also has a adjustable aluminum trigger, low profile balanced design, and a simple screw together bolt design.
Maintenance and cleaning of the Rize is specifically designed to be simple, especially with the color-coded O-rings and the self-cleaning M2 eye pipe. Despite the simplicity and low price of the Rize, the speedball gun is made to give you a high quality performance, even for the most avid paintball player. The Rize also has a no slip reg sleeve.
Fire Power & Accuracy
The Rize comes with 4 tournament firing modes, giving you the ability to fire as you need to depending on your battle situation. It also has a self-cleaning M2 eye pipe that will keep you from chopping balls when fired. With its Precision True Bore Proto one-piece barrel, and improved solenoid design, the Rize operates at a low pressure, 140 psi, giving you a more efficient and accurate shot. You cannot use CO2 with the Rize, but HPA works well. The Rize has little recoil and is quiet.
Speedball Game Rules & Strategies
Speedball’s game begins even before the timer has been started on the tournament. The second that you walk into the playing field, you will need to walk through the field with your team, allowing you and your team to create a plan of which player should be where during the game.
Communication with your team is what can make or break your success during battle. You will have to engage in communication and your strategy right off the break or you could fall quickly.
In speedball, you are considered out no matter what is hit on you, which means your gun as well. Anything that you have in your hand is an extension of you and will put you out if it is hit. You cannot conceal yourself like in woodsball, so your best bet is rapid fire, keeping your head down, and coordinating with your team. When the timer ends, the team with the most players remaining is the winner. If there is no timer, you will have to eliminate the entire other team to end the game.
Why People Prefer Speedball Over Woodsball
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To understand why someone would prefer to play speedball over woodsball, you have to understand what the differences are between the two types of gameplay. With woodsball, you are going into a more realistic battle situation. Many players wear camouflage use the natural terrain and environment to play the game.
Woodsball requires a different type of strategy and tactics. Where woodsball is on a natural battlefield, speedball takes place in created arena where the teams have equal means of protection. Speedball does not require the patience that woodsball does and it moves a lot faster. With its constant, rapid movement, speedball is an adrenaline rush.
Speedball also has become a professional competitive sport with audiences, endorsements, coaches, and more. Because of how fast speedball goes, a tournament usually is comprised of 5, 10, or 15-minute timed matches with the goal being to eliminate everyone on the opposing team.
Since speedball is timed, moves quickly, and has a lot of rapid fire an action, some paintball enthusiasts will prefer it over woodsball, which is not as fast-paced and is more of a scenario gameplay. If you are less interested in the military experience of woodsball, you might find the action of speedball to be more to your liking.
Final Verdict
When it comes down to looking for the best speedball gun for you, you will need to consider several different factors. To begin with, are you both a woodsball and a speedball player? If you do engage in both, you can also use a speedball gun in a woodsball game, provided it is not in a bright electric color.
You cannot effectively use a woodsball gun in speedball, however. A woodsball gun is not meant for rapid fire and will not work against an electronic gun.
If price is no object for you, the Dye M2 is the best speedball gun you can get. Not only is it durable and reliable, but it is accurate and low-pressure. The budget-friendly option, the Dye Rize, is also made by Dye, meaning you are still going to get the reliability that you can get with the M2, just with a fewer amount of perks.
Before you commit to one speedball gun over another, consider more than just your budget, but think about your gameplay and style and then you will find the best speedball paintball gun for your needs.