This Ace (a difference of 0.364%) was recorded in real time on one of pinball’s biggest stages, The Open World Pinball Championship.

Keith Elwin and Escher Lefkoff were tied going into the last game. Escher was trailing by a significant amount going into the last ball. However, this game of Flash Gordon was set to award one extra ball which The Players were allowed to play if they earned it.

See how an ultra-high ranked player handles the way Flash Gordon fights back. Because no made shot is safe, even a shot to the upper playfield, this game fully tests your ability to recover and stay ready at all times. Never mind the fact that this ball is to decide who wins the World Pinball Championship.

While this was happening, I’m in a commentators chair knowing how Flash Gordon game subtly increases the drama by slowing down the way it adds points to your score while you have a playfield X running. I mean it literally racks it up 1,000 at a time as it remembers every switch you hit and stores that into memory. It looks more impressive, and it hides exactly how much you have as you’re playing. This is especially important when a you are chasing down a score to know how much you think you have and you have to make sure you don’t tilt before you are paid the points the game owes you.

Here is how that fateful ball went down:

See the rest of the 2023 Grand Finals, including the entirety of the final game with Zach McCarthy, Jeff Teolis, and myself on commentary below:

See more “Aces” and “Heartbreakers“

See more of the New Pinball Dictionary