TOURNAMENT REPORT: Tilt Super Series#3, 21st July
59 Participants gathered at Tilt in Birmingham for a fun and competitive day of pinball and summer socialising. It was fantastic to see players from around the country all making the trip and almost all regions were represented well at this one. With Pinfest and the UK League finals rapidly approaching, as well as the UK Open in September it was a great reminder of the growing pinball talent that is present around the country and a good opportunity for everyone to both catch up and size up the competition.
While perhaps the main pinball hub for UK pinball, Pinball Republic, has been out of action for the most part of this year (trailers for the big re-opening coming soon hopefully!) there still has been plenty of competitive pinball being played and the UK pinball scene has been growing and the standard improving. Many new and old faces came head to head at this one at Tilt.
After 12 rounds of 4/3 player matchplay games the top 16 players would qualify for a playoff place.
It was a pleasure to see UK no.4, Jeremy Dorling on UK soil. Having played regularly and done well against some of the best players in the world he was just short of qualifying – finishing 17th overall. He was impressed by the standard of play and particularly that ‘everyone knew the game rules!’ – rule knowledge = KEY.
It was not just Jeremy that would have been dissatisfied with their end result. There was no resting on laurels and past achievements, it was a real battle to get one of those spots and nothing was guaranteed. It was a case of one or two games or even balls going differently that kept regular playoff stalwarts BigDave Fowler, Conrad Chambers and Kev ‘Best drop catches in the game’ Donovan from making the top 16.
In the ‘lesser known local heroes’ section - Jay Bryan put in an excellent performance to finish 21st – just shy himself of a spot. Sian Grant put in her best tournament thus far finishing as the top lady in 28th whilst having the toughest strength of opponent rating. Very proud of both of them!
Meanwhile the Northern Warrior, Ian Walmsley was off form all day - too much pinball, too much Gareth Arnold in the previous days is my analysis buddy, you should have come to witness Mega-naan instead.
While Ian would probably have preferred that I didn’t mention him at all, Ben Leigh is very keen for me to mention the terrible Monster Bash game he had with me and that he finished joint last (he was actually last due to tie breakers). Well done Ben?
PLAYOFFS – ROUND OF 16
The final 16 was fittingly made up from a great cross section of the country
Midlands: Wayne Johns, Kirk Sadler, Gene Aw, Dan Lewell
London/SE: Yuen Aw, Ian Clarricoats
South West: Greg Mott, Josh Iles, Luke Grayson
Bristol/Wales: Michael Addis
North: Steven Kielty, Paul Owen
East Anglia: Dan Pocklington, Nathan Garwood, David Bowery
From Parts Unknown: Richard Barber
(1) Greg Mott vs (16) Richard Barber
No.1 Qualifier was Greg Mott. Funnily enough I’d had a dream that he just absolutely dominated qualifying – somehow getting more points than were available. He almost did that… Qualifying was a breeze for Greg as he rolled out 9 1st places out of 12. Unfortunately, that consistent excellence would come to an end and he would be rudely awakened before that dream could come to a conclusion.
His opponent Richard Barber, playing in just his 2nd official tournament, had been riding a hot streak of 4 wins and a 2nd place to accelerate into the last 16. Richard was more than happy to take advantage of Greg’s unexpected lull, taking the first game on a poor Bond performance by both. Greg would come back on Richard’s choice of Indy 500 – Richard commented that ‘he has this game at home’, he smiled to himself happily not realising that Greg likely also has or as has had it at home too. Greg did the job in game 2. On the decider Richard could be seen putting on quite a display on Foo Fighters to earn with a surprising 1-2 upset to knock out the top seed!
(2) Josh Iles vs (15) Ian Clarricoats
In the 2v15 slot. Josh Iles was coming off an fantastic run in the World Championships and confidently running through qualification himself. He made no mistake in putting away his first round opponent – the ever enthusiastic Ian Clarricoats who put on his usual passionate display even whilst chasing seemingly insurmountable odds. Ian could be seen heroically hammering away on Jurassic Park on his 3rd ball chasing Josh’s 500mil+ despite admittedly ‘not really knowing what he was doing’, managing to get to 180mil before draining. Cactus Canyon was equally strong by both with Ian’s 32mil not being enough to pass Josh’s 36mil. 2-0 to Josh (perhaps glad that it was not best of 7
)
(3) Dan Pocklington vs (14) Michael Addis
DPOCK was playing some great pinball all day with an overall record of 7 wins and 5 2nd places put him in a strong 3rd seed position. Michael had been starting to come into form with 3 wins in his final 4 games.
When it come to this matchup however neither party were playing at their best with some dicey games. Dan taking his choice Foo fighters with 80mil, Michael coming back to win on his choice AFM with 2bil. It came down to Jurassic Park… after 3 balls Michael ended with a disappointing 29million, Pocklington’s shots were not falling and he could not pass ending with 27mil himself. 1-2 to Addis.
(4) Yuen Aw vs (13) David Bowery
Yuen Aw, locked in as ever, would perhaps have been disappointed with his qualifying – despite finishing 4th. This however meant that he would be lined up with the flamboyant David Bowery – always an exciting matchup.
Never a question of his skills, David was looking good today after coming quite literally leaping out of the gates with wins in his first 3 games and then holding his poise through some mixed play to secure a playoff spot.
Yuen would amass over 500mil in his first 2 balls on Bond to go 1-0 up with David displaying some excellent consecutive ramp shooting on CFTBL to tie things up 1-1. Aw would make no mistake in game 3 on his choice of Avengers – putting 128mil up after 2 balls while David could not really get anything going. Yuen through 2-1.
(5) Steven Kielty vs (12) Luke Grayson
“We all know about Kielty’s skills, but can he do it in a 60+ field on a cold miserable day at Tilt, my guess is no, doesn’t have the minerals” Someone, not present and running scared.
Ignoring the above questionable pinball and weather analyst, new pride of the North Steven Kielty did indeed display his skills on 21st July. A more than solid 5th seed took him to play one of the Prides of the South West, Luke Grayson who qualified in 12th.
A good game of Jaws saw Luke chasing Steven’s 200mil+ and being unable to force a 3rd ball. On Luke’s choice Monster Bash Kielty would ‘pull it out of the bag’ on the last ball. Trailing 20mil to 50mil, Kielty had obviously been stocking up on his multivitamins getting to both the Bash and mosh pit multiball to finish with 140mil. Luke was not done yet but agonisingly drained from a tough scoop return, one shot away from the Bash himself. Kielty would advance 2-0.
A late but welcome entry to the tournament Luke has so far spent his summer holidays lamenting the moment, ‘I’ve only just got over it’ he sighed whilst I reopened the wounds asking for the breakdown.
(6) Wayne Johns vs (11) Dan Lewell
Great to see WWJ in action. Any general complaints about ‘being slightly hungover’, hot, cramp or general tiredness had to be met with a roll of the eyes on this day as Wayne showed his usual pinball prowess throughout the day in light of his recent health. Wishing you all the best with your continued improvement Wayne!
His opponent would be a Dan Lewell enjoying a fine run through qualifying and ‘new found’ popularity. You could not find a pinball tournament without the presence of Lewell from 2022/2023 but in 2024 it has been a rarer site. Everyone was delighted at this rare appearance and Lewell rode his celebrity status high into the playoffs.
The matchup itself was one to be forgotten. Wayne won his choice of Turtles with 4mil. Dan won his choice of CFTBL with 70mil and Wayne was able to plunge his 3rd ball in victory but disgust at Dan’s 2mil on Cactus. 2-1 Wayne.
(7) Gene Aw vs (9) Nathan Garwood
Eager to avoid a 1000th matchup with co-host Kirk, Gene was instead treated to a 1st round matchup with ‘The Real Deal’ Nathan Garwood. If you don’t know by now, you haven’t been around, this young man is a serious force in UK pinball.
Winner of the 1st Tilt tournament “Monster Meet” and 6 tournaments/leagues in 2024, Nathan recovered from an early 4th place to make his way firmly into qualifying, though perhaps in a lower seed than you would expect.
This matchup would go the distance and be going on long into the next round matches were underway.
Gene’s choice Godzilla would see both players advancing at equal pace 55mil/70mil, 220mil/250mil until Nathan pressed the ignition button to end with just under 1 billion on his final ball. Aw was unable to do the same and would go down 0-1.
Nathan's choice Congo saw Gene putting up a long first ball of 500mil plus. Nathan was playing catchup but with Gene not adding too much to his initial ball the target of 800mil was certainly within reach. In the end Nathan ended not far short on 650mil.
Aw put up a good first ball on the decider again with 120mil on Foo. In the end this was enough as Nathan put up around 140mil by the end of 3 and a final ball was not required. Gene wins 2-1.
(8) Kirk Sadler vs (9) Paul Owen
Winner of Tilt SS#1, a finalist at every other, as well as champion of 3 out of 4 Tilt on Tuesday leagues (spare time on a Tuesday? League and freeplay after 18:00 every Tuesday at Tilt
https://tiltbrum.com/#/pinball-league/) there was never any doubt that the proprietor Kirk would be in the running again. After a mixed qualifying it was time for Sadler to start applying the NOS.
His opponent Paul Owen had avoided last place all day with some overall solid play to get him to the dance. Unfortunately for him, just being ‘solid’ would not be enough to beat Kirk and Kirk comfortably won the two games on Creature and Bond. 2-0 Kirk.
ROUND OF 8
Kirk Sadler vs Richard Barber
Having dispatched of the no.1 seed, Richard next took on Kirk – could his fairytale run continue? Kirk aggressively went about making sure there was no chance for hope on his choice of Godzilla, racking up 750mil+ by the end of 2 balls. On Richard’s choice of Indy500 Kirk again did the business to advance to the final 4.
Well done to Richard – a fantastic performance, hope you enjoyed yourself and hopefully see you soon at something else!
Yuen Aw vs Steven Kielty
It was a tighter battle between Yuen and Steven. Yuen started strong on his choice Bond with over 440mil by ball 2, and Steven ended with 280mil. Then things started to get cagey. A ‘nonsense’ game of Cactus Canyon saw Steven take victory on bonus with scores of 6.1mil to 6mil setting up a final game on Avengers Infinity Quest. Neither player could get anything going. After wasting a reality gem/portal lock stack, Yuen was disappointed to be sitting on 28mil after 2. Steven was unable to do much himself on his 3rd ball leaving Yuen with 8mil to win on his final ball which he was able to do. 2-1 to Yuen Aw. Steven Kielty certainly not one to be overlooked.
Josh Iles vs Gene Aw
Gene’s reward for beating Nathan was a matchup with Josh. Gene but up a good first ball on Jurassic Park, shrugging - not dissatisfied, as he drained on 120mil. He probably should have been a little more upset however as Josh went on to accumulate more than 450mil on his first to which Gene could not get near to by 3.
Aw selected Congo, happy how it had gone in the previous round and feeling the need to ‘change it up a bit’. Josh promptly put up a wrecking ball performance with over 2billion by ball 2 to storm through into the finals. 2-0 Josh.
Wayne Johns vs Michael Addis
Michael informed Wayne that he had never played Jaws upon Wayne’s choice. WWJ then proceeded to show him how with 500mil on his first ball, Michael was not able to mimic what he had seen.
On Michael’s pick Stranger Things Wayne’s 100mil was was nearly caught by a last ball MKV skillshot from Michael but it was not to be. Addios to Addis but well played to him. 2-0 Wayne.
FINAL 4
Josh Iles vs Yuen Aw vs Wayne Johns vs Kirk Sadler
The 4 players remaining would play several 4 player matchplay games to decide the final placings.
As the 2nd highest remaining seed Yuen got to choose the first game. His choice of Foo Fighters proved to be the correct one as he went about putting up a 200mil point lead on the rest of the field by the end of ball 1. Severe cramping began to creep in for Aw by ball 2 but already quite firmly in the lead, sympathy was varied towards his anguish as he called out for bananas whilst intermittently building on that lead. Yuen racked up 660mil by the end of 2 and could rest/electrolyte up as the others tried in vain to catch up.
Josh would finish 2nd, Wayne 3rd and Kirk 4th on Foo Fighters.
Josh’s choice was Jurassic Park. Yuen put up an impressive 208mil first ball but that would prove the baseline standard for this excellent finals game. Josh turned on the jets with an incredible raptor multiball and 115mil super jackpot that got him to over 400million on his 2nd ball. Yuen would end with 370mil, Wayne 325mil and Kirk 280mil – all scores that likely would have easily won any other Jurassic Park game that day. High quality stuff!
This set up a final game between Josh and Yuen chosen at random. Monster Bash would be the game. One should never expect anything but a hard-fought match when facing Yuen who started off with 50mil on his first ball. Once again though, Josh demonstrated the control, shot making and ability to find another gear when needed - making it to the Bash on ball 2 and a score of over 160mil which powered his way to victory!
A deserved winner, Josh had been doing as above all day and showed the world-class level he has been playing at of late – well done to him. When asked for a quote Iles simply instructed me to post a picture of the Naan bread that had powered him to victory and said 'see you at Pinfest'.
It was a pleasure to see everyone and some great pinball being played all round. Hope you can join us again at Super Series #4 which is planned for October 27th to coincide with Tilt’s 9th Birthday.
