# Concord Champ '25: Qualifying Round 10 on Medusa by Bally. Streamed from The Flipper Room.

**Source:** DRI374  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2025-11-18  
**Duration:** 12m 23s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7q8X1JJTjE

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## Analysis

Tournament commentary from Concord Champ '25 qualifying round 10 featuring competitive play on Medusa (Bally). The commentators discuss the machine's distinctive mechanics including the center kickback post, zipper flippers, upper playfield, and saucer shots while observing tournament bubble group play with player Bobby competing for qualification.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Winner of this Medusa game will have a very high chance of making top 24 — _Commentator explaining tournament stakes for bubble group_
- [HIGH] Medusa has a separate button to shoot the center post upwards — _Commentator describing distinctive game mechanic observed during play_
- [HIGH] The zipper flippers on Medusa can close together and enclose the ball upstairs — _Commentator explaining upper flipper mechanics_
- [MEDIUM] The center post can be activated with timing/nudge if quick enough — _Commentator observing: 'if you're quick on the finger, you can kind of get that, uh, nudge post activated'_
- [HIGH] There's a skill shot in the shooter line on Medusa — _Commentator noting skill shot mechanic during commentary_

### Notable Quotes

> "whoever wins this game will have a very high chance of, uh, making it into the top 24"
> — **Streamer/Commentator**, Opening remarks
> _Establishes tournament stakes for the bubble group qualifying round_

> "Medusa has a really cool little thing in it. It has a separate button where you can, uh, easily shoot that post upwards"
> — **Streamer/Commentator**, Early game analysis
> _Highlighting distinctive mechanical feature of the machine_

> "if you're quick on the finger, you can kind of get that, uh, nudge post activated. But I'm not saying it's easy, but it's doable"
> — **Co-commentator**, Mid-round commentary
> _Explaining skill-based mechanic requiring timing and player control_

> "you definitely want to get your spinner value up because it's a pretty good rift there"
> — **Co-commentator**, Game analysis
> _Identifying spinner as strategic target for scoring progression_

> "I'm also a little bit puzzled what actually closes the flippers"
> — **Co-commentator**, Mechanical observation
> _Indicates some game rules/mechanics may not be immediately clear to commentators_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Medusa | game | 1980-1981 Bally solid-state pinball game featured in tournament qualifying round; discussed for its center kickback mechanic, zipper flippers, upper playfield, and saucer shots |
| Jaws | game | Second game the bubble group will play after Medusa in this qualifying round |
| Bobby | person | Tournament player ('Bobby Tall Boy') competing in bubble group; currently in second place with 23x bonus during observed Medusa game |
| Nick Stein | person | Tournament player mentioned as recently achieving 1 million points on Wizard |
| Concord Champ '25 | event | Pinball tournament with qualifying rounds; this is round 10 from classic game room at The Flipper Room |
| The Flipper Room | organization | Venue hosting Concord Champ '25 tournament with multiple pinball machines and classic game room |
| HGP Porsche | person | Stream viewer who raided the channel |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Tournament competition and bubble group play, Medusa machine mechanics and strategy, Player skill and tournament qualification stakes
- **Secondary:** Stream commentary and audience engagement, Classic pinball machine design (zipper flippers, center post)

### Sentiment

**Neutral** (0.5) — Commentary is focused and analytical with occasional frustration at difficult shots/drains; generally professional tournament streaming tone with casual camaraderie among commentators and players

### Signals

- **[competitive_signal]** Medusa identified as significant tournament game for bubble group qualification; mechanical skill (center post timing, flipper control) emphasized as key to competitive success (confidence: high) — Tournament commentators extensively analyzing game mechanics and their impact on player qualification prospects
- **[event_signal]** Concord Champ '25 qualifying round in progress with bubble group format determining final top 24 qualification (confidence: high) — Commentators stating 'whoever wins this game will have a very high chance of making it into the top 24'; formal tournament structure with defined stakes

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## Transcript

All right. We're approaching last round. Last round.
Uh, two games. This group is going to play Medusa first and then going to play Jaws. I don't think we're going to move out of that little kind of classic room unfortunately because there's just too many people here. Um, but I thought I'd at least get the, uh, the bubble group—the bubble group's first game. Uh, whoever wins this game will have a very high chance of, uh, making it into the top 24.
All right. So Medusa has a really cool little thing in it. It has a separate button where you can, uh, easily shoot that post upwards and get the ball back into action. Oh, so shitty. Uh, other than that, I'm not quite sure what, uh, what the game is about. Uh, it has the kind of like the zip-up flippers, you know. Uh, oops. Uh, these flippers here, they can kind of like zip together and, uh, kind of enclose the ball upstairs, right? Uh, and you can kind of get those drops down and I'm sure there's a lot of points, uh, on the lower playfield as well, but, um, it's very risky. All right, we're closed for business. Got a dribble downstairs. Nice recovery. That saucer was lit. So that was probably something good there because the scores kind of went up a little bit there. If you like the skill shot higher, it gets the spin a little bit. Good. Okay. Oh, there's a skill shot in the shooter line there.
What a shitty drain.
What's up, internet?
I haven't played this yet today.
All right, Bobby Tall Boy is being tall here again.
Yeah, he's got gravel in his eyes like everyone else here. It's been a long day, that's for sure.
Yeah, thanks for the raid there, HGP Porsche. Uh, welcome to the channel. Uh, oh, he did that little tap with the, um, with the center post.
No, it sucks. Yeah, look at look at the center post now. [laughter]
And it has a separate button for it. It's pretty cool. Oh, the thing is if you're quick on the finger, you can kind of get that, uh, nudge post activated. But I'm not saying it's easy, but it's doable.
Yeah, that is one cheeky ball to escape upstairs. I'm also a little bit puzzled what actually closes the flippers.
Yeah, you definitely want to get your spinner value up because it's a pretty good rift there. All right. So now the saucer is lit for the green and stuff there, right? And the saucer we're talking about is the one up upstairs there. Uh, yeah, as you can see in the scores, they're all on 2,029 points, right? And, uh, they definitely want to get out of that domain, uh, to stay above the bubble. All right, the saucer is lit now. So, let's see if—no, it's just—oh, could have worked. Was that a tilt? Yeah, that was a tilt. Oops. It was right there. Oh, what a shitty drain. Look at that. It's still got quite a lot, right? So it might be safe. Yeah, the ball always dribbles down there no matter what you try to do. There's some weird posts that are by the outlanes. I haven't even seen those. I wonder if the center post was involved there or not. No, it wasn't.
All right, let's, uh, let's do it. Nick Stein just put up 1 million on Wizard. All right, Bobby. Let's just, uh, focus on, uh, keeping the, uh—oh, skillfully done. That's what I'm talking about. You use that center post to kind of just keep the ball in play. There we go. Oh, that was so close. All right, Bobby is currently in very good shape here to get another point out of this. Yeah, his bonus is sitting at 23x. So he's definitely in second already. Oh, such [censored]. It's kind of—oh, look at that now. Four. No, that wasn't enough. No. Yeah, but it looked like the ball kind of got jammed on the, on the star there. Look at that. Like, yeah, it was kind of on its way to the right place, but it wasn't. I'm going to try to wrestle out the rig from that room and see how it goes.

_(Acquisition: youtube_auto_sub, Enrichment: v1)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: aaf1e1ed-a374-4ce8-b65a-938445ac71f4*