Field Hazards

Each MFL field has its own unique configuration of field hazards designed to make the game more dangerous and gruesome (and thus appealing to the fans).

Buzzsaws
"Well, that's a real buzzkill!"

- Grim Blitzrow

One of the most popular and most lethal, buzzsaw slots are strategically placed across particular yard markers on the field. A few seconds after the ball is snapped, the blades emerge and slide back and forth, indiscriminately cutting up any mutants they cross. Buzzsaws are only active from shortly after the ball is snapped until the play is whistled dead, at which point they withdraw back into their slots and are safe. Even in safe configuration, it's easy to track their position from the glow they make while in their slots.

Guarded Goalposts
A recent addition, the goalposts of some arenas are guarded to make kicks through them more difficult. Field goals and PATs thus require additional timing and skill to pull off in these situations as the kicker also needs to time and aim the kick to make sure the ball misses the guards; otherwise, it will bounce off and be no good.
 * Brawltimore features a large guillotine blade that moves up and down between the goalposts.
 * Sin Fransicko features "golden gates" that open and close between the goalposts.
 * Gnashville's goalposts are trees that swing left to right and back again.
 * Terror Bay features sails that rise and lower at regular intervals between the goalposts.

Guns
Another recent addition is automated guns that fire on the opposing team as they approach their end zone, potentially hurting or killing players.
 * Terror Bay features cannonballs fired from the ships beyond the end zone anytime the opposition possesses the ball.
 * Snuffalo features wooden mascot cutouts that fire actual tommy gun bullets whenever opposition players approach the end zones near the sidelines.

Land Mines
"Talk about someone's career getting blown up!"

- Grim Blitzrow

Land mines are designed to explode when something (a player or the ball) touches them. They then trigger an explosion powerful enough to kill any mutants in the immediate area. Once detonated, the land mine leaves a fiery wake where it exploded which soon cools off. Land mines are always active until they detonate. Once detonated, land mines are not reset.

Lightning
"He's toast."

- Bricks Junior

Some fields have stormy weather, with lightning striking the field on occasion. Rarely, these lightning bolts will actually strike players, injuring the stricken players in the same way as the Thunderclap Dirty Trick.

Mutant Traps
"Holy crap! He runs straight into a Mutant Trap and dies! Kind of reminds me of my breakfast cereal: the ol' Nut Crunch."

- Grim Blitzrow

Basically super-strong super-sized bear traps, if a mutant is careless enough to step on one, it snaps closed, snapping the mutant in two. Mutant traps are always active until they're set off. Mutant traps that have been set off will be reset for the next play to catch the next unwary mutant.

Mutant Worms
"Oh, that worm grabbed him by the head and didn't let go!"

- Grim Blitzrow

Mutant Worms reside in slightly-raised mounds on the field and can rise from the ground to bite a player as he passes...or eat him whole. They can go in any direction at random. Mutant Worms are always active.

Pitfalls
"Oh man, that guy just took a header into the pit!"

- Grim Blitzrow

There are three primary forms of pitfalls: round pits, chasms, and the sidelines. They all achieve the same end; any mutant careless enough to fall into one of these is injured to the brink of death, usually forcing them to the sidelines. Pitfalls are always active.

Round pits can take many forms—fire pits, blood pools, quicksand, piranha pits, thin ice, toxic pits, or simply bottomless pits—but they all are the same size and operate the same way.

Chasms include the Broken Ice in Grim Bay and the Crack Hazards in Los Scandalous. They're larger and more irregular than round pits and are trickier to avoid, but they usually only appear around the sidelines.

As for the sidelines themselves (as well as the areas behind the end zones in some fields), those parts not walled off or bridged will feature their own pitfalls. The play still ends if the ballcarrier falls in, but anyone falling in will get injured just like any other pitfall.

Rocks
Non-lethal obstacles that will trip you up if you try to run straight past them, forcing you to run around them or hurdle over them.

Spikes
"He zigged when he should've zagged and ends up a shishkebab!"

- Grim Blitzrow

Spikes can rise from the ground to skewer and seriously injure a mutant. If a mutant's already injured, the impalement can be enough to kill him. There are two configurations of spikes. One sets them up in clusters along specific areas of the field where they all rise and lower simultaneously. The other lines them up across a particular yard line and makes them rise and fall in sequence, traveling back and forth like the buzzsaw does. Spikes will not start deploying until after the ball is snapped; they immediately withdraw when the play is whistled dead. Spikes only cause damage as they're rising. They're safe to pass once they've fully extended, are lowering, or are reset in their holes.