Metallica Remastered Launch Party Grand Champion!

After a far-too-long hiatus from tournament play, I finally had the chance to play in the Metallica Remastered Launch Party hosted by Hometown Arcade in Norwood, MA, my first IFPA-registered event in nearly five years.

Spoiler alert: I won!

Nine total players registered for the tournament which was a three-strikes format. Players were split into groups of four to play on one machine, with the bottom two players in score receiving a strike. Receive three strikes and the player is eliminated from the tournament.

I played very well across my first seven groups, receiving only one strike for not finishing in the top two of the group. With seven players eliminated, I was placed into a final heads-up competition with the remaining player, Anthony Kret, who had received zero strikes and was a perfect 7-0.

Anthony needed just two more wins in games to eliminate me with three strikes. I needed to avoid getting two more strikes, while attempting to beat Anthony three times to give him three strikes.

I proceeded to go 3-0 and took the Grand Champion award! Woo!

It feels great to get back into tournament competition, even if the tournament had a small turnout. Any pinball is fun pinball, and it was icing on the cake to be able to keep up a high caliber of play to take down the launch party title!

I look forward to picking up momentum on the event circuit, as well as restarting league play, as the 33rd season of the New England Pinball League started just last week. If you see me in league play or at another tournament, be sure to say hello!