Woke up in Rockville with
an hour drive ahead of me for day 1 of Baltigeddon. This journey took a few
turns along the way and I was the only one left from the original Ascendance
group who was able to make it out to the event happening in Maryland and
Virginia. I didn't know my other teammates before arrival, but had faith that
things would work out (as they always do) and when I got to XP Lasersport in
Owings Mills I started looking around to see who I recognized and who might be
joining our Ascendance hybrid team.
The first person I saw and
recognized from her online photo was Irina. She was one of the three Russian
Qzar veterans who had flown in to join us from Seattle. She introduced me to
her husband Pavel and friend Eugeniy and the four of us set off to check out
the arena space.
Shortly thereafter we
found Aztec (aka Nathan) and Gary (Perceptor)and finally met our newest players,
Mike and Nikki from Manhattan. It was great to have an alternate player so we
could swap out when necessary. And it was a pleasure to meet everyone and get
day one of the competition underway.
First up we went in for
two back to back games of Qzar. Although this is not a format I am able to
practice outside of these tournament events, I felt like I was doing better at
it this time around. Having played some Photon emulation last week, at least I
had the return shot concept ingrained firmly in my mind and was ready to do my
best to implement that. I enjoyed the Qzar matches much more during this event
and appreciated that we had some experienced players with us.
Next we moved right into
two more back to back games of Storm.
The "remote
control" style phaser feels very odd to me and I am not very comfortable
with this format, although I think I am improving a bit every time I get the
chance. Unfortunately, I only get to play this about twice a year, the same
frequency as I play Qzar. But I did my best and seemed to be faring a little
better than my last experience with it at Snowmageddon.
We went back and forth
alternating Qzar and Storm matches and in the end we had won four games of Qzar
(second place, only one less than the team leading in that format), but we fell
way off with Storm. I was appreciative to have about a half hour break in
between while they switched out the arenas for the next two formats. During
that time we got some Tron tutorial from Aztec who seemed to be the most
experienced with the format.
I believe it was in one of
the early rounds that at the end I heard my pack ding with the indicator
announcing that I was the top score player...in fairness, I'll say I was the
top score player that round just on my team, not the entire game, but it was
still a boost to achieve that in one of my less favorite formats. We had a
couple of back to back successes in both Tron and amazingly also in Tactical.
Now, I had never played tactical like this ever before. Forget about
"tactical" (a real misnomer) in my local Tron arena and forget about
the single experience I had at Armageddon last year playing outdoors on a wet
and muddy field. This was completely different. First, I was handed a phaser
that in my arms felt enormous and unwieldy, but I figured that was just because
it was new to me. I attached the three sensors to my blue headband and prepared
to give this a go.
Then we were instructed to
go to the back of the arena to begin at our respawn station with the objective
to make it to the other side without being shot and press down our team color
on each of three ipads. I had a vague recollection of the concept of tactical,
but playing in this arena was completely different.
Still, by the end we
seemed to be doing much better with it and I was pleased to have contributed a
few decent shots while protecting those ipads. I did much better after
switching to a slightly smaller phaser that I was able to handle more
comfortably and actually use the red dot for targeting.
I want to thank Marc for
hosting us at his facility. I had previously only played at XP Lasersport in
Laurel during Phocon, but would definitely love to return to Owings Mills on my
next trip to Maryland.
After the first day's
competition was complete most of the players went to RNT's house for a BBQ, but
I had other plans for my evening. In fact, I went the polar opposite direction
from BBQ and opted for sushi!
Here are my two favorite
things to come out of Japan, sushi and Photon...
...and this is not the
time to split hairs and say that Photon originated in Dallas. :)
Then I decided to seek out
some redemption at Darklight. I went back to the Shadowland facility in
Frederick and purchased a single game, determined to earn a victory in one try
because I had other places still to visit before the night was over. So I went
into the game and felt quite at ease playing just for fun. There's nothing like
playing in a competition (like earlier) to make you appreciate what it's like
to play casually just for fun and enjoyment. And I wanted to get more Darklight
in before I left because it is yet another system that is not accessible to me
back home. I played with moderate intensity (having already played 24 games of
laser tag this same day) and accomplished the first place achievement before
venturing off to my next stop.
I thoroughly enjoyed day
one of Baltigeddon.
Comments or questions?
Contact:
tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com
Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com
Blog:
tiviachickloveslasertag.blogspot.com
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