Tiviachick Loves Laser Tag: Baltigeddon

Morning came WAY too early for day 2 of Baltigeddon. The second site was about an hour away from my hotel at The Zone (ironically a Force site) in Ashburn, VA.

Upon arrival we had some time to check out the arena, which was themed very similarly to a site I have played up in Canada.

In my opinion, SM5 is a very stressful format to begin with and perhaps that was exacerbated here because of the vast difference in playing experience levels, but what is most important is that we all gave our best as a team and I was pleased that we ended up doing well, winning four out of six of the games we played by a very respectable margin. I played medic every game, which is not my preferred position, but one that I accepted since I was a bit more familiar with Force. I did not feel like this was my best showing, but that role is more about doing what you can to help your team in the moment, so I did the best I could each time out. Pavel played commander (he made a joke that the phaser knew he was Russian as the electronic voice announced "you are red commander" at the start of the game). Irina was ammo so we stayed together. Aztec played heavy and came up with our key strategy of rushing the top and getting those bases, then waiting for a cue to return to the lower level and take out the opposing team's base before returning to hold our position. Gary, Eugeniy, Mike and Nikki played scouts, alternating as needed between games.

I'll say, this was the most stressful format for all of us and tensions were felt, but all in all at the end it was a successful event and I was very pleased that our Ascendance hybrid team pulled third place in the tournament. Congratulations also to the winning team, "Blood, Sweat and Beers".

Shout outs to my team:

Gary - It was great to get to know you better and learn from your experience. I appreciated your mellow attitude and positive energy. Hope to see you at Phocon!

Mike - You and Nikki were awesome and I'm so glad that you came out to this event. I hope to get to visit your family's laser tag business next time I am in the city. I'd love to play with you guys again!

Nikki - Thank you for being our alternate and being up for trying some new things this weekend. It was wonderful to be able to have another player so we could take breaks as needed and you should be really proud of that Force score you achieved!

Aztec - Many thanks for the guidance and tips you offered throughout the event. I appreciate the experience level that you brought to this team.

Eugeniy - It was a pleasure to meet you and I hope to see you again at other events in the future. Thank you for making the cross-country trip to join us.

Pavel - You have a wealth of laser tag experience and it shows. Thank you for joining us and helping to bringing our experience level up.

Irina - Always a pleasure to meet another woman who loves this sport. Thank you for accepting our invitation to join. I hope you had a wonderful time visiting the east coast!

To our MIA teammates Zach, Amber and Joe - Sorry you guys weren't able to make it this time, but I look forward to seeing you at the next one!

And thanks to RNT and all who helped to make this such a great event. I really enjoyed my first Baltigeddon experience.

And after it was all over I still had some energy left so I ventured nine miles down the road to Panther Family Fun Center where they had a really cool Zone arena...and hint, hint...they are tournament ready with a Nexus system. ;)

I enjoyed playing Zone in another arena. However I was surprised by something...my pack was completely silent! I should have inquired whether it was just a malfunction with my pack or if they are all silent, but I can't say I recall hearing any familiar sounds in that arena. I wasn't even totally sure once I got the bases because there were no audio indicators. Still, it was a chance to play with Nexus and more properly with shoulder stuns, so all was good by me.