I was playing a game of pinball in my head the other day and remembered a conversation I had been having with someone (can I remember who? Of course not) about games that have particularly optimal sets of specific shots to start with at the top of a competitive game that put you in the best possible position.
I believe the specific example we were hashing out was on GotG. For competition play, most folks like to start with Yaka, and the ideal set of shots would look something like:
Plunge to top lanes, pops will award 1+ chits.
Ball falls to playfield, first shot to groot awards 1 chit
Second shot to Yondu awards 1 chit
If youāve done this optimally, ball save will be on and you will drain ball,
Ball save to pops will award 1+ chit
Hit groot for lock, fresh ball to pops will award 1+ chits
Three flips and youāre 5/8 through the mode, or more with lucky bounces, with two shots on either loop being all you need to finish the mode and collect those juicy 10+ million bonus collects for the rest of the game.
AIQ is the best example of a particular opening gambit. Get a portal lock, start Mind Gem quest, stack Thor for more multiball, win Mind Gem and put it on Widow. Collect all the avengers (ideally several with Spot Avenger from the computer grid during the victory laps multiball) to get to the Soul Gem quest, in hard mode for 10x scoring, with Widow at level 1 for 3 uses of the mind gem.
Godzilla (premium): shoot ramps to bring the building into the lock position, start Gigan battle, loop the right ramp 8 times in a row, ideally start and finish Jets during this as well.
Mandalorian: get Scope and Hunter lit, do Scope, start Hunter, start any mission, stack multiball, then complete Hunter and hit Boba Fett for 6x playfield with the mission and the multiball going.
(Iām assuming weāre looking for more specific stuff than āstart mode, stack multiballā which is what you want to do on practically every table besides Venom. Itās not really any particular gambit for the tables that donāt let you choose which mode, which is most of them in the Spike era.)
Jackbot: Short plunge, open visor, lock ball, short plunge, lock ball, profit. You could realistically hit a Super Jackbot in five shots. Casino Run only takes eight!
Then thereās Sopranos, the game so broken that people replace the plunger with an auto-launch in competition play (Seen it done to RBION, too). The reason is you can short-plunge to the flipper, hit the boat target, and drain without even qualifying the playfield. And repeat. And lock balls. I once saw Edan Grossman start Multiball and collect the Super Jackpot with the playfield still unqualified.
Another one I like for Iron Maiden if itās set to Comp. Mode and has a safe feed from the left orbit lock:
Short plunge to left flipper, sweep the drops to light Trooper locks, take the first two locks for EDDIE letters and easy catches, up the middle to start Fear of the Dark, then start Trooper aiming for jackpots and the 2X FotD spinner. If you feel like getting saucy, hit the third Trooper lock with a lit FotD spinner.
If all goes well you drain to single ball play with a Soul Shard, Revive lit, and a decent score. Start chopping away at Mummy and your next mode.
Hereās another for Foo Fighters, especially if youāre trying to race through modes for Austin/DC. Itās not exactly optimal, but it gives you a good base score and progress on the Overlord.
Short plunge to flipper and hit the drops while the Bomb is lit. Start hammering at the Van Mod panel to max-out the Bomb and, ideally, carom into the lock targets to light the Overlord. You should be close to starting your mode and will likely have at least one UFO button. Start Chicago, immediately hit the action button to spot the last mode shot, and then hit the Overlord lock for a big Final Shot with a really good Time Bonus. Shatz the Ray Gun targets before the Final Shot for 2X/4X sauciness.