Waffles IV Tuesday Daystrikes at Electric Bat Arcade was exactly the kind of beautiful pinball chaos you expect from a fast strikes tournament.
Four rounds in about two hours, headphones everywhere, people camped out in chairs between rounds, players bouncing from machine to machine trying to survive the waffle iron one flip at a time.
Pinball Receipts
Started off on Galaxy against a group of traveling waffle goblins who VERY clearly knew what they were doing. 😅
I managed to get skill shots, spell G-A-L-A-X-Y multiple times, rip the spinners, work the candy cane, and nearly finish the drops before the machine launched a ball screaming over my flipper at warp speed because apparently Galaxy feeds on emotional damage. Ended up clawing back to 206k for 3rd place and only 1 strike.
Then came Black Knight: Sword of Rage, where the primordial “Oh, it’s YOU again, maggot” voice line welcomed me personally to my doom. I managed to start Hell Hand, get a lock going, and scrape together 12.6 million while Amber absolutely detonated the machine for 116 million and a Hydra start. Belles & Chimes power. 💜
World Cup Soccer was my best recovery round of the day. After sitting at 35 million after ball 1, I managed to work my way back with goals, spinner rips, multiplier progress, and a lock, eventually clawing up to 873 million and taking 3rd place for only 1 strike. Meanwhile another player casually put up 1.18 BILLION because World Cup Soccer is a perfectly normal video game and not soccer-themed pinball wizardry.
By round 4, the pinball gods decided:
“Hey Christy, what if we put you on your nemesis game… with the owner of the arcade?”
So naturally I got Foo Fighters Pro with Cale Hernandez and Nick Mesa in a three-player group where my only realistic survival option was first place. No pressure.
To be fair, I actually played better on Foo than I usually do:
– started Roswell three times
– got Area 51 multiball going
– carried Overlord lock progress
– ripped a bunch of spinner shots
– managed a timely action button cash-in before drain
Unfortunately, “better than usual” and “beat the owner on his machine” are two entirely different things. 😂
Ended up finishing tied for 24th out of 38 players at 5 strikes. In a short strikes format, that basically means one extra bounce, one safe catch, or one more multiball could’ve changed the entire night.
Huge shoutout to everyone at Electric Bat Arcade for another fun one.
Also appreciated John Shopple checking to make sure I wasn’t planning to WALK home to the west side from Tempe after the tournament.
Apparently the Starbucks Carrot Method reputation is spreading. Sir, I enjoy walking, but I am not crossing the Valley on foot after a five-strikes bloodbath. 😅
The vibes tonight were immaculate:
– regulars and new faces
– earbuds and focus faces
– pinball war stories between rounds
– stacked competition
– neon lights
– dramatic tilts
– “just one more flip” energy everywhere
I’m done for this tournament, but there’s still a solid chunk of the field battling it out as of 2:06 PM. Final results will be added shortly once the waffle survivors emerge from the battlefield.
Still counts.
Did you enjoy this tournament recap? Read more.
Do you want to join in on pinball?