With Ultrazone Portland now owned by a member and player of the competitive Zone laser tag scene, it is no surprise that their inaugural tournament took place within the first six months of Noah Kim taking over the reigns of this legacy laser tag facility. I was looking forward to my next chance to visit this site again, so the first tournament was a perfect opportunity.
Players from across five states came out for two nights of competition. There was representation of players from Oregon, California, Texas, Ohio and me from New York.
Now, for context, the Zone Nationals were originally scheduled for this same weekend, but when it became apparent that the event would not be taking place this year, the Ultrazone Portland team announced and planned their first tournament in a fairly short window of time. So, while this was a smaller competition in size, it came together to fill a bigger gap and be a starting point for whatever they may build on in the competitive scene going forward. It required some flexibility among the staff and the players to pull this off with some unique circumstances and player counts, but in the end it is all about having fun and playing laser tag and both those boxes were definitely checked! So big kudos on pulling off a first time event!
I ended up playing on the Portland Team along with Noah (Nemesis), Finley (Big Red) and Joseph (Lingster) during team comp.
However, for night one of the tournament there were several events planned to get things rolling. You can call practice on Thursday “night zero”, but the competition really began on Friday with Lord of the Rings (LOR), solos and doubles.
Anyone who knows me knows I typically opt out of LOR, which gave me extra time for a few local tag visits on route. While I was still traveling, the LOR competition played out with placements as follows:
1st - Nawala
2nd - Nemesis
3rd - BlueFlame
I got to the arena just in time for solos and was greeted outside by BlueFlame. It’s always nice to arrive to find friendly, familiar faces and there are plenty in the laser tag community!
Solos were a fun way for me to get started, as it was my first time back in this arena since my initial visit in March. I must say, after about 48 hours of continuous travel and tag to get me to Portland, I was moving a bit slower than a well-rested person might…but as Josef said “you’ll sleep when you’re dead.” Overnight tournaments force you to challenge yourself to play through the “tired”. Tonight was about playing tag and staying upright!
Solos results were as follows:
1st -Nawala
2nd - Nemesis
3rd - Lingster
Nakodah was my partner for doubles, so time to go back in for some partners tag.
Doubles played out accordingly:
1st - Nemesis and Skeletor
2nd - Nawala and Count Chocula
3rd - Blue Flame and Wolverine
Props to the winners of each of these events!
And when the first night of competition was complete I actually did get to go to my hotel and sleep!
Tag 4 A Cause helped kick off the second night with a pre-tourney fundraiser in support of the Alzheimer’s Association. I am delighted to say that with the support of tournament players we were able to exceed our goal and the cumulative fundraising (between Portland and the event held two weeks ago in Syracuse) represents over $1000 raised by laser tag players to benefit this incredibly worthy cause. Thank you, everyone!
We also shared a Laser Tag Museum Collection virtual exhibit via video presentation of the history of the system these players came to play.
Then once the arena had officially closed to public for the night we proceeded with night two and 4 Man Team Comp (aka the main event).
With the numbers at this event, what made sense to everyone was to play two rounds of prelims (six games total) and those scores determined seeding for three games of finals.
In between games we compared notes and socialized, as community is really what these events are about.
Then we began finals. What I am proudest of in the finals was how close our team kept the numbers. Yes, we lost the first round, but with less than 300 points separating us from second, so it still could have gone any number of ways at that point. However, we found ourselves down a player by the start of the second finals game and had no options but to play through while being a player short. And yet, even being a man down, in the last game of finals we were still holding our own. Our team was playing on red (I was playing as Inferno that game) and while we still came in third, the margin of less than 300 points separating us from second place that game for the second time is again something I will hold as a positive from this tournament, even when the chips were down.
4 Man Team Comp placements are as follows:
1st - Team Chino
2nd - Team CaliQuest
3rd - Team Portland
We accepted our medals to commemorate the event.
And I want to commend Noah and the team at Ultrazone Portland for pulling together what was a fun competition for all. I consider this to have been a very worthwhile trip to the west coast and I was delighted to be part of the Ultrazone Portland Inaugural Tournament. Here’s to many more!
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Contact: Tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com
Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com
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