This was our last qualifying night for Season 22 and perhaps the biggest thing it decided was who would make it above the cut into the newly truncated A division. In the past we have often had 10 or 12 people play in A, but the league had voted to cap A division at 8 people this season in order to allow finals to retain its current double elimination format while not spilling onto an additional night. We’ll see if that desideratum is obtained. Peter, Devon, and I (Heather) were all on the bubble within a few points of each other going into the night. I have played in A division for many seasons running now, usually around 9th seed, and I really did not want to drop into B. The three Bubble Kids were all snooping around peeking at each others’ games and score sheets through the evening.
The biggest event of the night, though, was a guest appearance by past league member Allen, who was back in town (from his home state, Texas) for Pinball at the Zoo. Derik texted me ahead of the meeting to ask if the Smackdown game could be Deadpool in honor of Allen, and I reluctantly set aside the game the random number generator had come up with – The Beatles – to do that favor. Don’t worry, we’ll play The Beatles for our Smackdown tonight instead. Everyone who knew Allen when played in the league, while he was temporarily living in the area, was delighted to see him. He also got to meet the newer league members who arrived after his departure. It made for a jovial night despite the tension of the end of qualifying.
Peter was streaming the Smackdown as usual, which allowed him to show off the rig to Allen. Allen had already been following some of our streaming on Twitch and I saw him in the chat a few times. Probably unsurprisingly, Allen tore up Deadpool in the Smackdown finals for the win, but there was a dark horse contender in the form of Abi. In her first Smackdown finals, she qualified as third seed, and went on to come in second in the finals. Derik triumphed over the B division on Monster Bash.
After the dust settled, it turned out that Peter had squeaked into A division, leaving Devon and me tied at the top of B. Using my automatic tiebreaker, Devon will get the better seed since he had the highest single night performance between us. If, however, there turns out to be a significant tie (meaning a tie for a bye), we will play an actual tiebreaker on a random game.
I’ll be seeing everyone soon for the dramatic conclusion of Season 22! Make sure you’re there at 7 when I take attendance!