American Ninja Warrior: USA vs. The World 4 was the fifth installment of American Ninja Warrior's international tournament (after USA vs. Japan and 3 previous USA vs. The World tournaments), which was premiered on March 11th, 2018.
Unlike on the previous tournament, there were 4 teams competing, with only 4 members in each team. For this tournament, Team Japan returned in the form of Team Asia, with 2 competitors from Japan and 1 competitor each from Vietnam and Indonesia. Also, for the first time ever, Team Europe would not be represented by Tim Shieff and Stefano Ghisolfi.
Among the 4 members of Team USA for this tournament, 3 of them were the last 3 men standing on American Ninja Warrior 9.
Due to 4 teams competing on this tournament, there were some major changes for the competition format. In fact, all 4 stages were used in this tournament (with no time limit to complete each stage). In the first 3 stages, the competition worked in almost a similar fashion during SASUKE Ninja Warrior Indonesia: International Competition's Speed Challenge (Challenge Stage and Warrior Stage).
Stage One and Stage Two
There were 2 heats in each stage.
Each heat consisted of 4 competitors (1 competitor from each team).
In each heat, the competitor who completed the course (or made the furthest) in the fastest time would receive 3 points for his team, with 2 points for the second fastest time, 1 point for the third fastest time, and 0 points for the slowest time.
At the end of Stage Two, the points from those 2 stages would be accumulated, and the team who got the lowest points would be eliminated from the competition, while the other 3 teams would advance to Stage Three.
The points would be reset to zero when the competition entered Stage Three.
Stage Three
The competition worked almost similar as in the first 2 stages, with 2 heats and each heat consisting of 3 competitors (1 competitor from each team).
In each heat, the competitor who completed the course (or made the furthest) in the fastest time would receive 2 points for his team, with 1 point for the second fastest time, and 0 points for the slowest time.
The points from each heat would be accumulated, and the team who got the lowest points would be eliminated from the competition, while the other 2 teams would advance to Stage Four.
The points would be reset to zero when the competition entered Stage Four.
Stage Four
Stage Four consisted of a side-by-side Rope Climb, with 2 competitors (1 competitor from each team).
The competitor who reached the top of the tower in the fastest time would earn the tournament championship for his respective team.