Each first-round episode consists of five matches: two seeding-round matches, two elimination matches (always pitting a seeding-round winner against a seeding-round loser), and the championship relay race. The four standard rounds features three heats, with the captains selecting opponents (men vs. men only), with the women racing against each other. The third heat is worth double points, with an extra race as a tiebreaker in the event of a 2-2 tie, while the relay race takes place on an extended course.
Once the contestant reaches the Dancing Stones, a contestant who fails any of the next obstacles (which alternate) or the Warped Wall (three-attempt rule in play) automatically loses. The player who advanced the furthest wins the heat, with whoever reached the previous obstacle the fastest being the tie-breaker. A ten-second penalty applies for failure to clear obstacles in the relay race, assessed to the next player on the team. In the relay final, the course's additional obstacles are the Salmon Ladder, Tilting Ladder, and conclude with a 30-foot spider climb leading to a 10-foot rope climb.
In contrast to the ANW rules, but like ANW Junior, which state that touching the water is not allowed, competitors are permitted to make contact with the water, but are disqualified if they completely fall or completely lose their grip on the obstacle. For instance, competitors can drag their feet through the pool on the Sonic Swing, but if they fall completely off the rope, they are disqualified. Often competitors will brush the water in an effort to catch up, but their slick feet most commonly hurt them later on obstacles such as the Warped Wall. The newest season in 2018 has 36 teams of three competitors each, with major rule changes to the elimination rounds.
Each race will now be worth one point, again with the only restriction that the women must race each other. A team must will all three heats to win the round. If neither team sweeps the heats, the heats will be settled with a relay. Teams will assign competitors to one of three points, the start, after the second, and after the fourth obstacles. To win the match, the team up 2-1 must win one heat to win. If the team down 1-2 wins the heat, the two teams will conduct one sudden death relay to determine the winner. The winners of the two matches will play in the final, now nine obstacles, using the format except in the relay (used in the fourth and fifth heats if necessary), the exchange points will be after the third and sixth obstacles, respectively.[10] Also, there are no more sudden death matches.[11]
