Announcement | May 19, 2015
Last night the top two teams in each conference met to battle it out in the league championships. The winner of each match would be crowned Conference Champion and earn the right to bring the Conference trophy to their home bar. Four really strong teams were wrapping up great seasons, but only two would emerge victorious.
In the Lower Playfield Conference, the Pinbabes, champions of the Right Flipper Division, fought the Midnight Vultures, champions of the Left Flipper Division. Each team finished the season at 8-2, but the Vultures scored two more match points overall, and were consequently the top seed and “home” team for the match. The skirmish took place at Two Bits which housed an eclectic array of machines that would prove pivotal in the match.
The Vultures swept the first round of Doubles play and got off to a great 4-0 start, but their all-female opponents would not back down easily. Round two saw the Pinbabes bounce back to 5-3, but the Vultures answered with three points in the following Singles round which brought the score to 8-4, Vultures, entering the final round of doubles. The “home” team chose Star Wars Episode 1 and Dr. Who for the final round, but the Pinbabes were not deterred by these uncommon league titles. Instead, they won the two games and forced the match into a tie-breaker. Again, the Vultures were in the driver’s seat as they would choose the machine and format of the decisive match game. They chose a 3-against-3 game on Funhouse, and, as is often the case, both teams played rather flatly. Nevertheless, the Pinbabes emerged victorious by a score of 1.5 million to 700,000, earning them their first league title.
Last season the Terrorwrists and the Mutants squared off in the Division finals at The Fifth Estate, and the Jackbar team emerged victorious and would go on to win the Conference Championship the following week. This season the two teams played in different divisions, and each finished first and advanced to the Conference finals. This meant that once again they would meet to battle it out in the finals at the Fifth Estate.
Prior to this season only 4 teams have finished undefeated during the regular season, and only once has that team won the championship. In Spring of 2011 — the second season of league play — the Sofa King Suite would finish the regular season 10-0 but go on to be defeated by (a very different) Mutant team who would win the championship that season. A year later, the league now formally split into two distinct conferences, the Damned Refugees would finish 10-0 and lose in the first round of the playoffs to the eventual champs Lost in the Zone. Spring 2013 Factory of Sadness would go on to become the first undefeated team in league history while playing in their first season in the league. That Fall the Compadres would attempt to repeat this feat, but would ultimately lose in the finals to Lost in the Zone. This season the Mutants finished 10-0 and were aiming to become the first team in the Upper Playfield Conference (formerly the “A Division”) to finish the season undefeated.
The Mutants and Terrorwrists feature some shared blood as two former Mutants are now members of the Jackbar squad. Steve Marsh was one of the original Mutants in our inaugural season, but would later wander his way through a few teams before winding up as a Terrorwrists. Also a member of the original Mutant lineup, Mike Pantino would join his former teammate and move to the Terrorwrists at the start of this season. This kinship and the significance of an undefeated season made for an interesting pre-game story for this Championship.
Twice before the Mutants and Terrorwrists have met in the finals. In the Fall 2012 the Mutants would win that match to claim the title. A year later they would fall to the Terrorwrists. As noted above, they met again last year in the Division Finals. This time around the Mutants would fulfill their destiny defeating the Terrorwrists 11-5, thereby reclaiming the league trophy for an unheralded fifth time. In ten seasons of the league, despite many roster changes along the way, The Mutants have appeared in six championships and won five of them. They have certainly earned the right to be called a Dynasty.