Replay Reborn

The pinball community was back in action at Replay Bar for Replay Reborn, our first gathering since the June break for BPAC — and it was well worth the wait. A strong field of seventeen turned up to warm up the flippers, with qualifying run as Matchplay before the top players split off into A and B Division finals.

We ran the finals a little differently to plan on the night: rather than eliminating two players per round from the start, both divisions dropped just one player per-match, per-round until the field was down to the final four, then moved to two-per-match, before finishing with a head-to-head decider for the title. The games also got tougher as the night wore on, with settings adjusted throughout to keep pace with just how sharp the field has become — a great sign for the club.

Qualifying threw up some of the night's best stories. Wes Keys found himself deep in Mech Suit Multiball on ball one of Deadpool and promptly blew it up — winning the round by a huge margin in the process. He didn't even need the extra points, but ended his ball by tilting during multiball giving away an eye-watering 134 million in bonus, but earned himself the official (and rare) title of Tilt Champion.

Meanwhile Lily McShane, fresh back from overseas and clearly in top form, pulled off a serious comeback in a tough qualifying group, throwing down over half a billion points also on Deadpool to seal the win.

Congratulations to Tom Fonda, taking out the A-Division title, and John O, who topped B-Division on the night.

Thanks as always to our sponsor Stern Army, with a Stern translite courtesy of Stern Army going to each division top-2 — though apparently we were all hungry as both Tom and John opted for the doughnut selection box, a sweet finish for our champions, and 2nd place finishers earning a keepsake for home.

Two door prizes were also handed out on the night, going to Solomon Smith and John O — a nice bit of extra luck for John on top of his B-Division win.

As always, a huge thank you to Replay Bar for hosting us and welcoming the TAPP crew back after the break. Great games, great crowd, and a field that's only getting sharper — roll on the next one!