In Zoids New Century Zero, the third installment in the ongoing Zoids animated series, the old Helic/Guylos conflict has been replaced by a new scenario. Across planet Zi, teams of warriors battle each other in their Zoids. These battles are overseen by the Zoid Battle Commission, who sanctions and referees these battles through the use of massive orbiting judge platforms. When a battle is requested through the ZBC, these satellite platforms will send a judge-ship through the atmosphere to cordon off the battle area and referee the battle between teams. Once landed, the robot judges will emerge from their capsules and kick things off with a little spiel...

The area within an 30 mile radius is a designated Zoid Battlefield. This zone is now restricted. Only competitors and personnel have authorized entry. Danger! All others must leave the area at once. Area scanned. Battlefield set up. The Blitz Team versus the Champ Team. Battle Mode 0972. Ready...FIGHT!

And so the battle begins. Most battles will consist of two teams of three members each. Combatants and their Zoids must be registered with the ZBC in order for their team to receive points and prize money, and to maintain/improve their team's class standing with the ZBC. Prize money generally goes to improving the combat capabilities of the teams' Zoids. There are numerous classes, denoted by letters (A, B, C, etc.).

The goal of every team (or, well, MOST every team) is to make it to the prestigious Royal Cup Tournament, held once every 4 years on the Plain of Dagan Peninsula. All Class A Teams are automatically qualified to compete for the Royal Cup. The winner of the cup will then move up to Class S.

There are a number of teams that operate outside of the ZBC, though. Most notable among these is the Backdraft group, who seem to have their own system of judges. The Backdraft group is not recognized by the ZBC as an officially registered fighting team, but they are powerful enough to maintain their own system of orbiting judge platforms to judge their own battles. They seem more nuisance than real threat at first...but as the story wears on...we find they have their own plans on how Zoid battles should be fought.