# Concord Champ '25: Semis, Game 2/4 on Volley by Gottlieb. Streamed from The Flipper Room.

**Source:** DRI374  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2025-11-18  
**Duration:** 18m 10s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYd-yF5qIns

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## Analysis

Live tournament commentary from Concord Champ '25 semifinals, Game 2 on Volley by Gottlieb, streamed from The Flipper Room. Commentators analyze player strategy, scoring, and mechanics including multi-color bank resets, plunging techniques, and drain management. Players Andre, Dan, Nick, and Jack compete with scores in the 700-1200 range.

### Key Claims

- [MEDIUM] Volley has a strategic practice technique where players can plunge ball one to get a color, let it drain without hitting drops, then plunge ball two to maximize points — _Commentator discussing alternate strategy: 'you plunge ball one, you get a color...and you let it drain without hitting any drops. Then you plunge ball two and then you go to town.'_
- [MEDIUM] If blue is lit on Volley, hitting blue first prevents credit for subsequent shots — _Commentator explaining rule: 'if your blue's lit, you don't want to hit the blue first.'_
- [MEDIUM] Hitting the side banks first on Volley prevents credit for center or yellow lanes — _Commentator rule explanation: 'if you hit the side first, you're not going to get credit for the center or the yellows.'_
- [LOW] Not using bumpers on Volley is more effective than bumping — _Player experience comment: 'when I played it, I wasn't bumping at all...I found that more effective than trying to bump it.'_
- [HIGH] Andre is winning Game 2 with six points after first position from game one — _Final score discussion showing Andre at 6 points, Dan and Jack at 3 each_

### Notable Quotes

> "It looks way too casual and uh, relaxed. I don't know why. I mean, these guys have played it four or five times."
> — **Commentator**, early
> _Observation about player familiarity and pacing with the machine_

> "He really needs a caller here. You don't get a caller, you gotta reset, reset the drops."
> — **Commentator**, mid-game
> _Strategic commentary on Volley's calling mechanics and bank management_

> "Although I have contemplated a volley strat. So, you plunge ball one, you get a color—and you let it drain without hitting any drops. Then you plunge ball two and then you go to town."
> — **Commentator**, late-game
> _Discussion of alternate strategy for maximizing Volley points_

> "The bad part is if you hit the side first, you're not going to get credit for the center or the yellows."
> — **Commentator**, mid-game
> _Rules explanation for Volley playfield mechanics_

> "When I played it, I wasn't bumping at all. And, you know, it could still do whatever it wants to do, but I found that more effective than trying to bump it."
> — **Player (likely Nick)**, late-game
> _Player strategy insight on non-bumping technique for Volley_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Volley | game | Classic Gottlieb pinball machine being played in tournament semifinals |
| Concord Champ '25 | event | Tournament event where this match is taking place |
| The Flipper Room | venue | Streaming location for the tournament |
| Gottlieb | company | Manufacturer of Volley pinball machine |
| Andre | person | Tournament player, winning Game 2 with 6 points after winning Game 1 |
| Dan | person | Tournament player, scored 3 points in Game 2 |
| Nick | person | Tournament player, practicing strategy and attempting plunge techniques |
| Jack | person | Tournament player, scored 3 points in Game 2 |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Tournament competition and gameplay, Volley machine mechanics and rules, Player strategy and technique
- **Secondary:** Live streaming and commentary, Bank resets and multi-ball mechanics

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.75) — Commentators are engaged and enthusiastic about the gameplay and strategy discussion. Appreciative of good shots and player skill. Professional, conversational tone without negative criticism of players.

### Signals

- **[competitive_signal]** Discussion of alternate strategies for Volley including plunge-drain-plunge technique to maximize scoring versus traditional drop bank resets (confidence: medium) — Multiple commentators discussing strategy variations: 'Although I have contemplated a volley strat. So, you plunge ball one, you get a color—and you let it drain without hitting any drops.'
- **[gameplay_signal]** Multiple rules clarifications about Volley: blue standup behavior, side bank priority, yellow bank mechanics, and non-bumping strategy (confidence: medium) — Repeated rule explanations throughout: 'if your blue's lit, you don't want to hit the blue first' and 'if you hit the side first, you're not going to get credit for the center or the yellows'
- **[competitive_signal]** Players show comfort and familiarity with Volley after multiple plays, affecting pacing and strategic depth (confidence: medium) — Comment: 'these guys have played it four or five times' indicating practice and familiarity in tournament context
- **[event_signal]** Concord Champ '25 semifinals format appears to be multi-game match (Game 2 of 4) with points awarded per game (confidence: high) — Title indicates 'Semis, Game 2/4' and final score tracking shows point accumulation across games: Andre 6, Dan 3, Jack 3
- **[content_signal]** Commentary team managing live score display challenges and audio quality during stream (confidence: medium) — Discussion about score visibility: 'I was looking over at them. I'm like, Oh there it is' and clarification of difficult-to-read backglass numbers

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## Transcript

I guess we have to be a little More Brewing Company quiet. Mhm. I assume this is the old proverbial practice. Yeah,
it looks way too casual and uh relaxed. I don't know why. I mean, these guys have played it four or five times. I don't know. I'm not I don't think it's changed. No, it hasn't changed. Yeah. Yeah, it's a real kind of pace killer for sure. Look at that. He's got all three The Lanes now. Let's see what happens in the game. see over there. All right, this is for real. See if you can duplicate those plunges during the game now. Okay, yellow's good. Oh, teased him. Okay,
use the yellows effectively. Now you
He really needs a caller here. You don't get a caller, you got to reset reset the drops. Be careful. Yep. That's That's the tough one. The Flip away or try to control it. Oh no. That deserved a The Flip away. That's all right. He's all right. He just needs to reset it, I think. Get a caller or reset it. There it is. Okay, here we go. Nice. That was beautiful. All right. Bailout shot. 80. He's up over eight. Over 90 now. All right. Take a deep breath. If
he can get that blue, he's like points are going to rain down. Mhm. [clears throat]
Where's that plunge for blue? Oh. All right. Go hunting for some greens. Oh. Oh, nice. All right. Okay. Yeah, he just needs a couple of meaty The Flip's here now. There we go. Oh, all right. Yeah, why not? 100 now. 13. Is that 113? Here comes the points raining in. All right, we got one. Is that Is that an eight or a six? Uh, it's a two. One, two, six. Eight. It's an eight. It is an eight. Yeah. Oh, look at that. You know what? Coming off of a win in game one and putting that up. Mhm. I don't know if it's going to hold up. No. as a first, but
I don't think it's going to take a last
Well, these are the folks know how to play this game as well. So, it's [laughter]
it's not over yet. All right, unlucky there. I wonder if this is probably practice. Are you going to put the score on the screen somewhere? Oh, they're not. They're on my screen. Isn't that enough? I know. [laughter] I was looking over at them. I'm like, "Oh, there it is."
Yeah. I I get to like I get like blind on my own what what I'm doing. So, there We Are Pinball. So many things going on. Oh, everybody's nails on that center. They just got to figure out those outside The Lanes. We Are Pinball live. All right. This is the real deal. Uh 128 three. Let's Oh, thank you. Oh my god. Jesus. Oh, is he going to take the third as well? Oh, he wants to go up there. Oh my god. Yeah, good deal. The bad part is if you hit the side first, you're not going to get credit for the center or the the yellows. No. Or or Oh, look at that. Just like that. Just The Flip basically flipped it into it. I've been in this position where I have all three and you just you just lose a couple of balls because or house balls and
Yeah. then you stress a little bit like that. Yeah. Yeah. And then you end up not really taking advantage of it. But let's see what he can do. All right, he needs to reset these banks. Is there a blue stand up or no? Yeah, I think there's two of them. Oh, no. No, not on the blue. Oh, maybe. Maybe there is one. It's hard to tell. No, I think I think they're all down. This is ball five. Yeah, they're fighting us on the score in the chat there, but it was an eight. We verified there's a weird glare in the back glass there. Yeah, it was right behind us. Let's see if he can reset. Oh, that nice alley. Okay. Oh, there we go. Let's see how long he can play for now. Oh, no. Oh, it just t tickled the side of that upper The Bank and it just
Yeah. And that's a nine, believe it or not. It's not a five. Yeah, exactly. 79 780
790
790 All right, Dan and Nick need to kind of
get back into the fray here. No, no colors. Oh, this is this is practice. now the full full is green. Yeah, that's that's the thing where you have to be able to blow up anything. All right, let's see if Dan can duplicate getting the three The Lanes. Oh, that deep breath they took. Nice. All right. Green. Oh, this is nice. Oh, this is so nice. Look at that. Oh. Oh, this is going to turn to Oh, beautiful. Oh. Oh. Oh my god. What a nice little Movement Brewing Company there, but
yeah, definitely was Movement Brewing Company there. Ball one. That's a little scary. Okay. I don't know if I caught it or not. I think I was too late on it. I think you got it right. Oh, that was a big shove there. I know. he didn't get credit for that five. That one either he didn't get credit for. See, if your blue's lit, you don't want to hit the blue first. No. All right, let's see. I'll reset now then. He's got a yellow. I don't know if it's just a yellow. There's one yellow. Yeah. Yeah. The thing is the blue that we think we see. It's not actually us. Yeah. Right. Stand up. Oh, there it is. Okay. The stage is set right here. Reset those banks. Yeah. Oh, so close. It just hung up on the side. You couldn't even get it off that rubber. No. Okay. Ball four. Hit ball and flipper. I hate that. If there was a way you could get it down to your flipper, even those side The Lanes are dangerous. Yeah, they are. They are. Yeah. Got basically a no no The Flip. No. Is he going to get it again? Okay, nice drop catch. All right, survive. All right, now it's chunky. Come on, just get some. All right, he still hasn't passed. Uh, all right. Now he has Okay. 87. He passed Jack. Yeah. [snorts] I mean, these are all respectable scores, right? So,
yeah, they're not Yeah, they're not um So, is Nick going to do a bit of practice here or
'Jinx this plunge' or practice plunges? Yeah, he's practicing. Although I have contemplated a volley strat. So, you plunge ball one,
you get a color
and you let it drain without hitting any drops. Then you plunge color two and then you go to town. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. What do you think? Yeah. I mean the thing is it's uh cuz it's not a bad I mean you need to kind of do the math on that bit and kind of test it out. I'd say right. Your your potential for points is a lot Bob Betor. Yeah. Um because what happens if you try to get it back up top, you end up you end up hitting the left and then the center and then the right and then by the time you get them lit, they're not there for you. So I I'm going to try that sometime. Okay, here's my strat. Only in He didn't let it drain on purpose. All right, get the second color. Nope. Oh. I did that today, too. The only The Place where you're not going to get a drop. Actually, it's okay because Oh, survive this. All right. Points are raining in. See? Yeah. Yeah. The yellow ones we can reset anyway. Oh man. My god. That's so such Okay, this has really good. All right, he survived that one. Don't go down through those 'side line' or 'curves' like that. No. All right, last ball here and 52. Yeah, still got ways to go here. You don't It doesn't even have points on the board for these drops here to catch up. Nice drop. You know, when I played it, I wasn't bumping at all. And, you know, it could still do whatever it wants to do, but I found that More Brewing Company effective than trying to trying to bump it. But um that's too last for uh for Nick. He's got an uphill battle. But if if there is a positive, Andre is taking the three points away from the others. So he's at six. And what the others have three and three or no? Uh what was the points there? I think Dan and Jack reverse. So is it 6330? Oh,
okay. I I accidentally removed it.

_(Acquisition: youtube_auto_sub, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 0d6d1b4b-fbc1-4595-a434-b1a99ef4feef*