# Concord Open 2026 Classics: Final game 4/4 on Gottlieb Wizard. Streamed from The Flipper Room.

**Source:** DRI374  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2026-05-02  
**Duration:** 16m 45s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t4BjhH743E

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## Analysis

Commentary on the final game (4/4) of the Concord Open 2026 Classics tournament, featuring competitive play on a Gottlieb Wizard machine at The Flipper Room. Multiple players compete, with detailed analysis of game mechanics, strategy (spelling WIZARD, collecting WOW bonuses, drop bank management), and scoring. The match appears to result in a tied score requiring a tiebreaker.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] On Wizard, the Z and A letters are linked—hitting either one awards both. — _Commentator explaining game mechanics during play analysis._
- [HIGH] WOW bonus on Wizard is worth 50,000 points per lit target hit after spelling WIZARD. — _Commentators discussing scoring during active gameplay._
- [HIGH] A tilt on Wizard results in a one-ball penalty (losing current and next ball). — _Commentators explaining house rules/game mechanics during tournament play._
- [HIGH] Dustin and Scott are tied at 9 points each going into tiebreaker. — _Commentators confirming final score and tiebreaker determination near end of match._
- [MEDIUM] Tiebreaker game selection allows replaying games from the round (not restricted to unplayed games). — _Commentators briefly debating tiebreaker rules, some uncertainty expressed about game selection restrictions._

### Notable Quotes

> "So, the nice thing about this game is that the Z and the A are linked. So, when you get the Z, you get the A. And when you get the A, you get the Z, which is nice. So, you don't have to get them all individually cuz they're very hard to hit."
> — **Commentator**, early in commentary
> _Explains a key mechanic that simplifies the WIZARD spelling challenge on Gottlieb Wizard._

> "commentator's curse. You called it. I mean, I saw him shaking the machine. It happened to me during qualifying."
> — **Commentator**, mid-match
> _Reflects on predicting a tilt penalty; shows commentator's own playing experience in the tournament._

> "You just get into this like cursed mode where you can't hit anything because everything is worth a lot of point."
> — **Commentator**, mid-match during high-scoring phase
> _Colorful description of pressure and challenge when playing for high points on lit targets._

> "So, he's at 148800... 148 148. So, let's see an 841 now. That would be a very big game. It rolls at 2 million or something like that, I think."
> — **Commentator**, discussing scoring
> _Notes the game's rollover point is around 2 million; uncertain if any player reached it during qualifying._

> "Dustin is our winner. He may not realize because the light is out."
> — **Commentator**, near end of match
> _Commentator notes Dustin may have won but the 300-point light indicator is not visible/working._

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Concord Open 2026 Classics | event | Tournament event where this final game (4/4) is being played; includes qualifying and finals rounds. |
| The Flipper Room | venue | Location hosting the Concord Open 2026 Classics tournament stream. |
| Gottlieb Wizard | game | Classic pinball machine used as the final game (4/4) in the Concord Open 2026 finals. |
| Tom | person | First player mentioned, described as attempting to spell WIZARD early in the match; has played multiple times over two days. |
| Dan | person | Player who gets Z and A quickly and tilts during their turn; shakes machine aggressively. |
| Scott | person | Tournament competitor; attempts soft plunge strategy to hit R target; ends match tied at 9 points. |
| Dustin | person | Tournament competitor; wins the final game on Wizard by reaching 300 points; ends match tied at 9 points, forcing tiebreaker. |
| Elco | person | Tournament player; mentioned in context of funny scoring numbers and game mechanics discussion. |
| Frontier | game | Pinball machine mentioned as possible tiebreaker game; not played by Dustin during finals so far. |
| Pinfamy | organization | Source of a chat tip about backhand shot on Wizard (backhanding the I target). |

### Signals

- **[competitive_signal]** Final game (4/4) of Concord Open 2026 Classics finals on Gottlieb Wizard; match ends in 9-9 tie requiring tiebreaker. (confidence: high) — Video title and commentary confirm this is final game 4/4; commentators confirm Dustin and Scott both end at 9 points.
- **[gameplay_signal]** High-level tournament play on Wizard emphasizes early WIZARD spelling, soft plunging for letter shots (especially R), and WOW bonus farming via drop bank resets. (confidence: high) — Extensive commentary on plunge strategy, target sequencing, and drop bank mechanics throughout match; multiple players attempt soft plunge for R target.
- **[gameplay_signal]** Wizard has a one-ball tilt penalty (losing current ball and next ball), making aggressive shaking risky; commentators note tilt penalty occurred during qualifying. (confidence: high) — Commentators explicitly explain penalty; Dan tilts mid-match; commentator mentions personal experience with tilt during qualifying.
- **[venue_signal]** The Flipper Room is hosting Concord Open 2026 Classics with live streaming; qualifying concluded before finals; venue has playable Gottlieb Wizard machine. (confidence: high) — Video is streamed from The Flipper Room; commentators reference qualifying period ending; machine is in tournament play condition.
- **[content_signal]** Match features detailed real-time commentary by knowledgeable analysts discussing mechanics, strategy, and scoring; commentators are also tournament players with qualifying experience. (confidence: high) — Commentators provide frame-by-frame analysis; one commentator mentions personal tilt experience during qualifying; detailed strategic discussion of plunge techniques and target priority.
- **[historical_signal]** Gottlieb Wizard (classic machine) is featured as final game in a competitive modern tournament, indicating continued relevance and playability of vintage equipment in organized competition. (confidence: high) — Wizard is selected as game 4/4 in finals; detailed rule discussion and player familiarity suggests active maintenance and tournament support.

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## Transcript

So, this one is a oneplayer game. Tom's up first. And he's going to want to get his wizard spelled as early as possible. He's already made some progress. He's got the W, the I, and the D. Yeah, that's great work. That is great work for like only a few seconds into into ball one. Um the R is achievable from the left flipper. Um it's a little bit difficult, but it can happen. And then the Z and the A are down. Okay. I was going to say that was the hardest, but he made it look really easy. Yeah, that almost all there. So, the nice thing about th this game is that the Z and the A are linked. So, when you get the Z, you get the A. And when you get the A, you get the Z, which is nice. So, you don't have to get them all individually cuz they're very hard to hit. Um, and then Tom just has the R up on the right up here. And then his wizard is spelled and he can start collecting wow bonuses. But oh, I would have soft plunged and cheesed. Yeah. Um, but I, you know, it's a little the plunge can be a little bit unpredictable and he's played this a bunch of times already in the last two days, I feel like. So maybe he thought it was going to go somewhere else. I'm not really sure, but yeah, I would be sending that to try to get that R because then once you have that R. So, how much is the WOW bonus? The WOW is 50,000. So, it is every time um when you have the WOW, anytime you hit up here and up there, it's just straight 50,000. So, once you have it, those points collect very quickly. So, is is that also for unlit targets? That's the No, no, no. That's when he has wizard. So when he spells when he gets the R, he'll spelled wizard and then everything. It's only for the lid. A lid, right? Yeah. Um All right. So, he's probably going to want to change his plunge a little bit to try to get that R. Yeah, there we go. Yeah, that's like just let it roll over, right? That's easier said than done. Yeah. Oh, now it means it takes patience, right? Well, I mean, patience and stuff. Yeah, I mean, run out of patience, but no. Oh, he could have bounced that in. Um, you do want to be a little bit careful because a tilt on this game will end your ball and also your next ball. So, you'll you'll it's a penalty. Yeah, you have a one ball penalty on Ooh, nice little dig. that's it. Okay, he's got it. So now, so now you can see everything's lit here. So when he shoots up there, they're going to be 50,000 each. He wants to get control and then just send it up to the drops. Mhm. Yeah. You just get into this like cursed mode where you can't hit anything because everything is worth a lot of point. What's What is He's a one three four. I can't tell if that's a three or an eight. That might be 18 for 900. Yeah, it looks like an eight. Yeah, let's confirm that. Glare. What is it? It's an eight. Yes. It's an eight. I take that. Okay, so Dan has his Z and his A right away. He's shaking it around a lot. I would be a little careful if I were him cuz the tilt kind of sneaks up on you. But you kind of get in motion and then all of a sudden Yeah. Oh, there it was. commentator's curse. You called it. I mean, I saw him shaking the machine. It happened to me during qualifying. I knew it was going to happen. But he does have his wizard spell, so he wants to shoot up to those drops. Mhm. For sure. The wall is lit. And this is last ball or Yeah, it is. There are 5,000, not 50,000. That would have be crazy. No, but when you got lit wow targets. Yeah. So that one that's 50. Yeah, it is. Yeah, because once you got wizard spell like the points are just like they start like like rolling up, right? drops down. Yeah. Every time you clear a bank of drops, you can hit that for the Wow, and then it resets the bank that's down. All right. So, he's at 148800. That one Oh, that's right. He had a tilt, so he had that one ball penalty. What did you Was it Isn't that right? No. Yes. No. I'm saying look how funny the numbers are. Yeah. 148 800 or what? Or Oh, yeah. They're the same. Yeah. The the first 184148. So, let's see an 841 now. That would be a very big game. It rolls at 2 million or something like that, I think. Uh I don't remember what it said. I don't know that anyone got at 2 million during qualifying. Yes, Elco, the numbers are funny. That's what I was trying to say. Yeah. See, Scott's trying to do the soft plunge to the R. Mhm. I would do it. So, how long is qualifying open for Maine? Is it until midnight? So, Oh, yeah. It's done. No new games. Oh, there's the roll. Which is this? his last ball. Looks like it. Yeah, we're getting a little pin tip in the chat from Pinfamy that you can backhand the eye. I don't know. I don't know that I can backhand the eye, but Tim can. Yeah, but it's physically possible. And yes, well, lots of things are physically possible. Probably. So are splits. Doesn't mean I can do it. I'm not saying a word. No. All right. So, we can drop some banks down. Yeah. You want to be kind of strategic getting that 52 cuz if you hit it straight on, you have a good chance of breaking down the center. Yeah. But if you uh but you can still collect it kind of at an angle or at a spin. Oh my god, he's like grazing in a notch. But that's what you need to do. I mean, shoot straight on. It's It's just It's a death sentence. There we go. All right. Nice reset. Yeah, we're at 130. All right. Pulling points, but he still needs that eye. Yeah, this is ball five boots. Yeah, because he needs to pull ahead here, right? And he first he needs to get past that. Oh, that's not going to happen. No. So, did did the 100k light go out? I don't Oh. Uh, that looks like a zero. Yeah. I think that I would it be a 200? I don't think so. It is 200. Yeah. I I wasn't tracking so Oh, all right. Yeah. So, that's uh that's that puts him. Okay. So, so Scott basically have two points now, right? Then if Dustin passes, there will be a tiebreaker for for the win on Frontier probably. Who knows? Um, yeah, I think it would be No, he can pick any game, right? No, I don't think that you can pick a game you've picked in the round, but I'm not 100% sure. Oh, you can repick. Okay. Yeah, I think I don't think I don't think that Dustin would pick Frontier if that's No. Yeah, the case. No, no, no, no. It seems just We haven't seen him pick that once during uh finals. Nice. All right. So, this So, all he has is the ZA, which is the hardest one to kind of get. Oh, look at this. Oh, he was he he wanted it and just gave it a, you know, a bit of a shake, but he knows the penalty. Yeah. He can at least work on all those drops while he tries to get up there. But nice dig. That was beautiful. Dry godly rubber all of a sudden got grip. Nice. gets his Wow, resets his bank of drops. That was ball one. So, he's going to want to strategically plunge this to roll into the ZA Z or the A. And he does it. There we go. No. Yep. There we go. Got it. Oh, wow. This is This is just going to This is where it's about to get big cuz this is only ball two. So, as long as he can just send it up into the drops. You just need two little drops and it's done. Oh, nice stick. Nice save. Oh, it knocks. Oh, that Yeah, that's it. That's it. Dustin is our winner. He may not realize because the light is out. Just get to 300. Yeah, let's do it. Just overdo it. We'll give it is over under. And where is the 300 light then? Oh, maybe it's not showing. Oh, yeah. There was definitely a light coming on there now. Just keep going, Dustin. We have no place to be. We've got this. Thanks. I think it's still a tiebreaker. Can we watch both tiebreers? Yeah, it will be a tiebreaker. Yes, because Dustin will be at nine and Scott will be at nine. All right. Exciting bonus pinball.

_(Acquisition: youtube_auto_sub, Enrichment: v5)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-06-06 | Item ID: c374c2ea-7860-4c8f-aa28-d67611fe3296*