Running a Mexicano Session
Mexicano keeps every round close by re-pairing players on results. Here's how it works and how to run one in FOM Play.
FOM Play Team · · 4 min read Once your group has a few Americano nights under their belt, someone always asks: can we make it more competitive? That’s Mexicano. Same easygoing vibe, but the standings decide who plays who next — so the games get tighter as the night goes on.
How Mexicano differs from Americano
In Americano, pairings are fixed rotations. In Mexicano, they’re earned. After each round, FOM looks at the current standings and re-pairs everyone: the players near the top get matched against each other, and so do the players near the bottom. Nobody coasts, and nobody gets steamrolled all night.
Points are still personal, so the final ranking reflects individual performance — Mexicano just makes sure the matches themselves stay balanced.
Setting it up
- Start a match and pick Mexicano as the format.
- Add all your players into the pool.
- Set your courts and points per round.
- Generate. FOM seeds the first round, then rebuilds the pairings from the standings after every round.
What it feels like
The first round is a bit of a lottery. By round three, the top court is a genuine battle and the bottom court is its own scrappy contest. Everyone’s playing someone their own level, which usually means closer scores, longer rallies, and a lot more “one more round”.
Mexicano and Toxic Mode
Because the weakest players keep landing on the same court, Mexicano and Toxic Mode are a dangerous combination. The Hall of Shame practically writes itself. Turn it on at Medium and let the group sort out the rest.
If you want the friendliest possible night, stick with Americano. But if your crew is starting to take the scoreboard a little too seriously — in the best way — Mexicano is the one.