Floor note 02
Attack, defense, endurance, balance — picking an Infinity Nado spinning top
Four builds, four ways to win a round. What changes physically between Infinity Nado spinning tops, and which type suits which player.
Attack
An attack Nado is built to end rounds early. The attack ring carries teeth or blades at the rim, the mass sits further out, and the tip is sharp so the top moves aggressively around the dish instead of sitting in the middle.
The trade is rotation. An attack build burns its spin hunting for contact, so if it fails to land a decisive hit in the first ten seconds it usually loses on time to something duller. It suits a player who enjoys the chase and does not mind losing half the rounds. Most dragon series Infinity Nado tops are built this way, and they are the ones kids ask for by name.
Defense
A defense build is heavy at the rim and smooth around the outside — there is nothing for an attacker's teeth to catch. It takes the hit, converts it into a short slide, and keeps turning.
This is the most forgiving type on the floor and the one we hand to a new player who is tired of being knocked out. It rarely wins spectacularly; it just refuses to lose.
Endurance
An endurance Nado is wide, flat and deliberately boring. The weight sits close to the rim for a high moment of inertia, the tip is rounded for minimum friction, and the whole thing is designed to be the last top turning.
Against an attacker it plays a waiting game: let the aggressive top wind itself down and still be turning when it stops. Against another endurance build the round can run well past a minute, which is either dull or the best part of the evening depending on your table.
Balance
Balance builds sit between the three. Enough rim mass to survive a hit, enough shape to do damage, a tip that compromises between grip and glide.
It is the type we recommend when someone is buying one top and does not yet know how their child plays. A balance Nado will not be badly outclassed in any matchup.
Reading the type off an Infinity Nado spinning tops box
The battle type is usually printed on the box and it is listed on every card on this floor that declares one. Where it is not declared, the shape tells you: teeth at the rim means attack, a smooth heavy ring means defense, a wide flat disc means endurance. The launcher in the box makes no difference to the type — a sword and a rack will both throw any of the four.
Because the Infinity Nado system comes apart, none of this is permanent. Swap the attack ring and the tip between two tops and you have rebuilt both of them — that experimentation is most of the fun once a kid owns three or four.