For the first team up at Te Matatini - the national kapa haka festival - finding a winning performance was all about using secret weapons.
It was Te Puu Ao from Northland, on their first trip to the national level, who kicked off the action in Tauranga. Manukuratane (male leader) Chey Milne said part of that strategy was making sure that where the team was from was made clear onstage.
"We wanted to stick to our kawa and our tikanga from up north - that was our guiding factor.
"So we've got a few weapons that are unique to Ngapuhi like the taikaha in our entrance.
"It's like a double-tongued taiaha so we're using that.
"We're trying to portray our Ngapuhitanga [culture] and give ourselves a good whack at these Nats."
That strategy started from the get go, the 23-year-old said.
"The mihi for our entrance, for us up home that's a uniquely Ngapuhi thing for men to return the karanga when they're coming on to the marae, so that's why we're doing that, to be representative."
And the crowd seemed to love it.
When the group's women bought out their poi they did something many hadn't seen before - they sat, legs curled to the side of them while they went about their work - which was grace in action.
One of the group's biggest fans, Te Tai Tokerau MP Hone Harawira, said that item above all gave him shivers. "I should be saying I enjoyed their haka, but that poi. It was beautiful, the women just looked so regal. It had a bit of Hawaiian about it."
Thousands of people brought beach chairs and soaked up the atmosphere at Baypark Stadium.
In all 36 teams are vying for one of nine places in Sunday's finals.
