Hello everyone! Time for some start of the season announcements. First and most important, our first meeting is Tuesday. We will be switching this season to a SEVEN O’CLOCK start time. That’s right, my work schedule has shifted so I have Tuesdays off this semester, so we can start earlier, which I think is going to be better for as long as we’re able to do it. (It will likely change back next season.)
Other announcements:
2. We will be making a change to the Smackdown tournaments. Paying the IFPA fees on those was draining a lot of the league’s money, as I determined by running the numbers at the end of last season. Further, I do not think people were always remembering to pay for their extra tries, and I don’t really want to have to chase people down about that. So we are going to switch to a new fee structure for those tournaments. It will be $1 to enter*, and everyone gets two attempts. Simple, right? I am asking people to be honest about this. Anytime you play a Smackdown designated game, that counts as one of your attempts. You don’t get to count your best two or decide whether a game you played was a real game or a practice game. If you play it, it counts! The $1 will cover the IFPA fees for the tournament for that night. However, *UNRATED PLAYERS PLAY FREE. One reason we hold these is to get inexperienced tournament players “rated” with the IFPA, which benefits the league in general. So, to encourage this, unrated players will get a freebie. (If you don’t know whether you’re rated yet, ask me. I probably know but can check. Everyone who played in the league last season is rated now.)
3. With the new rules for the Smackdown, I anticipate that we may have excess funds at the end of the season after paying for our trophies. If that turns out to be true, I will refund all fully-paid players based on the surplus. If this happens it will likely be around $2 each based on my projections from last season — but it will depend a lot on how many people join this season. (So get some friends on board!)
4. This season we will be meeting the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month, across the board, through May. This is largely what we did in the past, but we used to have some months that were an exception due to the schedule of the GR league. Since recently the only GR league players also playing in Lansing have been Joseph and I, we decided to just regularize the calendar.
I think that’s it for announcements. See you Tuesday at 7 pm!
When the Lansing Pinball League was young, there was Chris, and there was everyone else. Chris’s victory was so certain that everyone focused instead on who would be the runner up. Matt called it “the Battle for Second.” After we switched to having a final playoff tournament instead of just basing standings on the points earned in the regular season, he had to work harder. There were some close calls, including a skill shot plunge on Addams Family that won him a narrow victory over Alex, and the time he had to battle out of the second-chance bracket and defeat Mike S. in two matches to defend his title. Yet for 10 seasons he remained the undefeated champion of the league. As Season 11 dawned, murmurs began: it’s time for a new champion. Who will it be? The strongest contenders were Mike, Tim, and Danny. I think Danny was generally favored, but Chris himself told me he thought it would be Tim.
Tim plays his last ball in the deciding game against Chris.
We did get a new champion, but it didn’t happen the way people pictured, with a tense final match between Chris and the new winner. Instead, Chris got knocked into the second-chance bracket by Danny and had to fight Tim there. It went to a third game on Getaway, Tim’s choice. I wondered if Tim had chosen wisely; he’s very strong on Getaway but so is Chris. In fact, it was an epic game of Getaway in which Chris put up about a billion points that stymied Mike in his near-miss season. I got up on a chair to watch the playfield without distracting the players, because in a previous game there had been a flipper issue reported that I was not able to replicate. In the time it took me to get up on the chair and get situated, Tim had finished Ball 1 at over 200 million. I was stunned. “How did you get that score so fast?” I said. He replied, “Loops.” He had done something crazy like 10 speed loops, maybe more, whereas the most I had ever done in my life was five. I had never seen someone use speed loops as a tournament strategy before. In the last ball, Chris went up needing to make up something close to 300 million points. I thought he might do it as he seems to thrive on this kind of pressure. Sometimes I think he only really starts in Ball 3. But this time it was different. He drained early as spectators gasped, then went over to shake Tim’s hand. Tim had slain the giant. Chris didn’t even take home a third place trophy.
Tim and Chris react to Tim’s victory and the audience’s applause. Sorry for the quality, but it does capture something of the moment.
Tim wasn’t close to finished climbing the hill yet, as he had to go on to play Danny in the semi-finals. He lost that battle, though everyone thought it could have gone either way. Tim got third place this season, but he had two accomplishments that couldn’t be taken away: he had finished the regular season in first place ahead of Chris, something that has been done only once before; and he knocked Chris out of the finals, so far a unique accomplishment (though he certainly had considerable help from Danny). After Tim and Danny finished their match, I wanted to take the “alternate reality” photos. This is a tradition that allows the third place player to go home without waiting for finals. We take two winners’ photos, with the potential first and second place winners switching trophies so we can use the “correct” one after the winner is decided. This time Mike refused. “I’m not touching it,” he said, of the first place trophy, believing that doing so had robbed him of wins in the past.
Chad and Mike working on their B and A division wins, respectively.
Danny and Mike went on to finals, with Mike in the winners’ bracket. They had a very high-scoring game of Star Wars, both around 1.8 billion. Mike tilted away a bonus that would have given him perhaps 100 million in breathing room, which he was quietly cursing himself for as Danny stepped up. Danny seemed sure to win, especially when he started a multiball; but he drained early and ended up about 2 million points short. Danny chose to play Deadpool, and himself had a very unfortunate tilt which may well have cost him the bonus he needed to win. It ended there, with Mike as the league’s new champion and Danny in second.
Third place Tim, second place Danny, and first place Mike. Unusually, this picture was taken when we actually knew who had won!
Joseph wrote up his own account of the night on his Livejournal (don’t laugh) and in it he said, “It tells you of [Chris’s] skill that, ultimately, it took the cooperative work of three people to dethrone him.” Mike said that he had to admit that there was “an asterisk” next to his win in the history books because he had not had to play Chris at all.
Meanwhile, the B division was itself fraught with drama. Most people assumed Jason, a long-time player who was in B only because he joined midseason, would just mow his way through the bracket. I felt sorry for the B players for having such a ringer in their midst. Instead, Jason had a bad night and was knocked out of the second-chance bracket by Ed, Terry’s brother who is a relative novice. It just goes to show one of the charms of pinball: once in a while, the most seasoned player can have a bad night and the greenest player a great one. Karen took third place and the final battle was between Tyler in the winners’ bracket and his father, Chad, in the second chance bracket. In an upset, Chad battled his way out of the swamp to win two matches against Tyler and take home the B division first place trophy.
The B division winners: third place Karen, second place Tyler, and first place Chad.
The Smackdown finalists: Jason, Heather, Derik (the winner), and Dan. Dan wasn’t quite ready with his dukes when Joseph snapped the photo, so it looks like he’s just making a subtle threat.
We also had a Smackdown on Theatre of Magic, though the participation was limited due to some people still being in the main tournament when we held finals for the Smackdown. Derik won, causing Mike to say, “It’s just like you said, your plan was to throw the main tournament so you could win the Smackdown.” Derik replied, “You weren’t supposed to tell anyone that!” Mike said, “You said it right in front of three people!”
I went home without a trophy this time, but with the glory of having played in A division and a big box of karate trophies. Wait, what? You read it right: Danny donated a huge number of old trophies for me to recycle – sorry, “upcycle” – into trophies for my charity tournaments. Joseph noted, “If you’re good at karate, you can just take whatever trophies you want.”
The Undercard winner, Joseph. The other two Undercard players had left before I took the photo.
Tonight is our post-season “Zen” (split flipper) tournament, known as Super-Ball XI. Matt started the tradition way back in Season 1, when he went to the trophy shop and said, “just give me the cheesiest thing you have for trophies.” Since I’ve taken over, I have just told them “we want the same thing again” and they have continued to pick out something great for us. This time they’re a bit wider than usual and a nice sparkly green color, with angels (or maybe they’re Winged Victories) on top. They say “Super-Ball XI Zen Champion” and they can be yours! Anyone can win the Zen tournament since skill is equalized by the unusual play. We will also be randomly giving away two translites courtesy of the Stern Army. I hope to see you tonight at 7:30 for the Super-Ball.
Don’t forget that although we are taking July off of league play, we have two July events to tide you over: the Rocket Robin charity tournament (supporting the Capital Area Humane Society) tomorrow, Tuesday 7/10, at 6:30 pm; and the Battle of the Bands/Iron Maiden Launch Party, Tuesday 7/14, at 4 pm (qualifying open until 8 pm).
What says American summer more than NASCAR, roller coasters, and, uh, ghosts?
The format of Rocket Robin necessitates that I can’t allow any late starters, so make sure you are there by 6:20 to get registered before the 6:30 start time! Everyone will be entered in a random drawing for the pictured translites. The top four contestants will receive custom thematic trophies.
Since we’re using a unified Google doc for all the league night results this season, you can always use this link to find the most up to date results and standings! We usually get them posted by the next day. Use the tabs to navigate to a specific league night or to the overall standings.
Season 9 of the Lansing Pinball League came to a close on November 7 with the final playoffs in which Chris retained his undefeated status. He has won every season in the league’s existence.
Third, first, and second place: Joseph, Chris, Mike. I try to tell Joseph not to bug his eyes like that in photos but he insists he’ll look asleep if he doesn’t.
Due to low attendance, this time we had a single division playoff with a ten person bracket. The semifinals were between Joseph and Mike, culminating in a low-scoring game of Monster Bash in which Mike edged Joseph out by about 20K in bonus.
Mike walks away happy from a ToM game in which he put two billion plus on ball 1. (EDITED: my mistake, this appears to be from a different game.)
Mike went on to play Chris in the finals once again, winning the first round and knocking Chris into the loser second chance bracket. Chris thrives on pressure and I sometimes think he doesn’t really start playing until he’s got his back to the wall. So, once again, he came back with a vengeance and won the second round and the season championship. It should be noted, though, that at one point during their matches, Mike had a ball 1 of Theatre of Magic that was so high – over two billion – that Chris decided to walk away and concede the game.
Also worth noting was my third game against Matt in the loser lower bracket. Matt was player 1 and his first ball of Indiana Jones went on for what felt like forever and finished at about 1.3 billion. He didn’t do much after that but it hardly mattered. I can say I never gave up (even when Matt, not realizing I had an extra ball to play, mistakenly went to shake my hand after I drained ball 3 I defiantly said, “it ain’t over yet!”) so I got myself 200-300M for the sake of my pride and walked away at least not humiliated.
I got quite a few good photos of the night, so make sure you check out the photo gallery as well as the final standings.
Matt, Mike, and Joseph, after the end of the playoffs.
The ever-popular Super-Ball IX split-flipper tournament, AKA the Zen Tournament, is tonight at 7:30. I always think it’s the most fun night of the season because everyone gets really into it but no one gets in bad spirits when it doesn’t go well. Pinball so rarely allows for cooperative play that it’s a rare treat when it happens. I hope you will come!
In addition to the general tournament rules for Avenue tournaments, the following specific rules will be in effect for March Hare Madness.
March Hare Madness is an “Amazing Race” style tournament. This means that players will race around a course of games, with the lowest player or players at each station dropping out of the race. As soon as a player has passed the necessary minimum score to not be in danger, he or she will drain the remaining balls and move on to the next station. The current score needed to “pass” a machine will be written on an index card and posted on the game’s lockdown bar.
The number of players who fall by the wayside in each round will be determined by the number of people still in the race at the start of that round.
14 or fewer racers: 1 person per round
15-24 racers: 2 people per round
25 or more racers: 3 people per round
This continues until only 4 people remain. Those 4 will then do a playoff round on 3 randomly-chosen games, with 4, 2, 1, 0 scoring. The highest total score wins the tournament. If a tiebreaking game is needed, this will also be done on a randomly-chosen game.
Because I don’t want anyone to come out and not get to play at least 3 games, we will have optional buy-ins for the first 2 stations. Anyone eliminated in one of the first 2 stations may pay an additional $5 (also going to the charity) to buy back in. He or she will then pass the round and move on to the next game. As many people as want to buy in for the first two rounds will be allowed, so it is possible no one will be eliminated until station 3.
We will also have a rule that when multiple players are waiting to play, the highest numbered (lowest ranked) “seed” always plays first. This isn’t really “seeding” but just a way of aiming to have the players who are likely to have the shortest games play first, to keep the tournament moving quickly; for the lack of a better term, I’m calling it a “seed.” The seed will be assigned according to IFPA rank if available. Example: my IFPA rank is currently 1675. Joseph’s is 1122. Let’s say at the tournament he has the 6th highest rank and I have the 10th, so he is seed 6 and I am seed 10. According to the “highest numbered seed always plays first” rule, if we are both waiting at the same station, he would allow me to play first.
Extra balls will be turned on, but must be plunged. See the general tournament rules for more information.
When players finish a game, they should have a scorekeeper verify their score. Scorekeepers for this tournament will be me, Joseph N., Mike S., and Chris T. In the unlikely event of a tie that would affect who will be knocked out, the two tied players will play one ball on the same machine as a tiebreaker.
The official start time for the tournament is 6 pm. I will, however, allow people to start early provided I am present and ready to start taking scores. Players are asked to arrive by 5:45 to register if possible. Registration will end at 6:15 sharp. Anyone not registered by 6:15 cannot play, except those who RSVP’d and advised me of a late arrival. Late arrivers who have contacted me will be permitted to enter until such time as everyone already present and registered has completed the first game station. Once that first station has been completed by everyone present, no one else can enter the race.
All games should be played in one-player mode except during the playoffs. This is due to disadvantages certain games have for multiple player games (such as Theater of Magic and TotAN’s lock-spoiling) and the unfortunately non-trivial possibility of catastrophic failures.
This is a challenging location, because although it’s a great place to play and hang out (and eat delicious fries), the venue does not have keys, and the games can be finicky and unpredictable. As with the Silver Balls tournament, the prevailing ethos will be “roll with it.” This is for charity and for fun! For general information on what happens in the case of a malfunction, please see the generic rules. More specifically, the director (that’s me) has the right to remove games from the “course” at her discretion. I will have a high tolerance for imperfect play, but may need to rotate games out for serious problems. A game currently in progress, if it suffers from a catastrophic failure, will be removed and if anyone has not yet played it, all players will be considered to have “passed” that station and will move on.
We will be using all of the Avenue’s games that are considered reliable enough for tournament play and functioning well as of Wednesday. The exact list won’t be finalized until the day of the tournament.
Sudden Death Rule
To avoid outlasting the venue, we will have a sudden death rule in place if the tournament runs long. If more than 4 people are still playing at 11 p.m., the next game will be declared to be the final game of the race, and the 4 highest scorers on that game will move on to the “Final Four” playoff round.
Tonight is the second meeting of Season 5 of the Lansing Pinball League. The custom is always to play any game that is new to the venue, plus others that are randomly selected. The new game this time is Fish Tales. I have made a couple of visits to the Avenue to practice on it and it seems to be playing pretty well. The fish topper actually works, adding some flash to the festivities.
The games for tonight will be as follows:
Fish Tales. I love the Monster Fish. I don’t just mean for strategy reasons, I mean I get a kick out of him, with the goofy fire breathing sound effect and everything. He’s a cutie.
World Cup Soccer. Has anyone ever actually done a successful Magna-Save? Aaron once told me he only uses Magna-Save “ironically.”
Medieval Madness. Shoot the… what was that thing again? Something in the middle of the playfield, I forget what they call it.
Getaway. Remember, the ball save is carefully calibrated so that it is slightly shorter than the time required for the ball to travel down the playfield.
