Armageddon Adventures - Day 4

The final day of Armageddon started with a drive to one of my favorite arenas, Q-Zar Toledo in Sylvania, OH.

We gathered together for our team photos prior to the start of the Zone competition.

I knew exactly which table I wanted to adopt as our “home base”, but spent very little time at is as I was either playing or reffing for all but one game the entire time we were there.

Our team was ready to tackle the final system of the tournament!

First game out I was happy with my individual performance, but Zone (like most) is really best played when the team is working in unison. It took a couple of games, but we found our groove be playing in concentrated squad style, leaving a couple of defenders at the base and having the other six swarm the two base entrances until we could break the defense, get in and rotate taking it.

No place I’d rather be than inside the base, but this is tight quarters for all of us!

Our best showing wasn’t enough to take it, but we were happy that we did as well as we did with the new strategy.

We had some decent games and fought hard, but by this point in the tournament things were pretty well decided already and at the end we were back to being one big family, taking a moment of silence for the member who was no longer there. We all signed her tournament shirt, which will be put on display at her home Ultrazone in Bensalem.

I was actually very happy that the team she would have been on (Legacy) ended up taking first place with her still with them (and all of us) in heart and spirit.

And I was delighted to get to spend this Armageddon with my team, made up of new and old friends, some crazy, awesome people who gave their all and made it a wonderful experience.

Shout outs to my team:

Wil - As always, you rock and it was a blast to play another tournament with you. Thank you for being one of the first people to make me feel like I belonged in this crazy scene!

Scuba - I always feel like you are the perfect balance of mischief and madness! I had a great time and can’t wait to take on a “really modified” Alpha field with you in the near future!

Dave - You troublemaker, lol! So glad we got to break off for some side adventures and see you get your new Blast achievement. Can’t wait to do it again!

Axman - After playing together for so long on one system it was wonderful to have you joining us for a few more! Officially decided…you win the beard contest!

Kassidy - Your enthusiasm right out of the gate reminds me so much of myself when I first realized how big the laser tag world really is. Your spirit is infectious and I’m so glad we got to play together and take LOTS of photos!

Cookie - Wow, mastering whatever format you tried even though you were setting hands on this gear for the very first time! Way to show what a newbie can bring to the party!

Fenrir - I always have a great time tagging with you and was so glad you were able to join us. Last minute roster changes always seem to happen and you are always ready to step up, which is awesome!

Snake Eyes - Where is he now? It’s amazing how well you manage to hide in plain sight (even while wearing a pack of bright flashing lights!), but when we do get to see you we see an amazing player and an awesome friend! It was wonderful getting to know you (as much as you let us know) over the course of this event and I’m so glad that you joined our team!

Shout out of thanks to Ricky for bringing back this event, which in this new world could not have been an easy task.

When the awards ceremony was over and the bus pulled away I had a sting of sadness, already missing the people who make this such a cool experience.

However, we were not done with the experience entirely. The next week the post tournament Armageddon awards were voted on online.

Thank you to everyone who voted for me for the Spirit Award. That’s pretty cool and makes me feel a little like Miss Congeniality.

Following the tournament, I hung back to attend to some items with Logan and Erik. I’m so glad we had a chance to visit while we were all in the same place (which so rarely happens).