Champions

"Ugh... what was that? Oh no! The lockbox with our first day's cash! I have to get it back, or the coffee shop is over!"

- Ms. Marvel

Champions
Date available	September 27, 2016
Category	Marvel
Based on	Characters from Champions (2016) created by Mark Waid and Humberto Ramos
Designed by	Zoltan Vari
Plunger mechanism	Straight up a one-way branching ramp
Skill shot type	Plunger strength (regular), flipper-assisted (flipper / secret)
Number of return lanes	4
Number of flippers	3
Outlane protection	2 diverting jump kickbacks
Number of main missions	7
Wizard mode type	Victory multiball
Number of side modes	0
Number of multiball modes	2 (both mandatory)

Champions is one of the two Marvel pinball tables that are part of the Women of Power pack, released in the fall of 2016 and available for Zen Pinball 2, Pinball FX 2 and Pinball FX 3. It is based on the female members of the 2016 superhero team known as the Champions, and follows an original story in which Ms. Marvel, leader of the Champions, must defeat the Bombshells and save the world while thwarting their theft of her first day of work's paycheck.

Table overview

The upper half of the table

The back table wall is the facade and entrance of a bank that the younger Bombshell, Lana Baumgartner, raids before stealing Ms. Marvel's coffee shop funds. Instead of there being a large orbit that wraps around major table lanes, most table lanes are sandwiched between two long lanes spelling LOCK that curve towards the back center of the table, but end at vertical upkickers that pop the ball onto long, slightly undulating exit habitrails running along the nearest table wall to bring the ball to the nearest inlane (the left lane VUK takes the ball to the left inlane and vice versa).

To the right of the left VUK ramp is a third VUK ramp that also spells LOCK, but takes a big loop within the two VUK ramps, cutting across the entrances of two other lanes to bring the ball through the rearmost of two gates lining the left VUK ramp's wall; a strong shot up this third VUK ramp will push the ball past this gate and into a VUK saucer that launches the ball down a very short habitrail that merges with the left VUK's exit habitrail. To the right of the loop VUK ramp is a branching lane and one of two to represent the Kate Bishop version of Hawkeye. Normally, it would take the ball up a question mark-shaped ramp that merges with the left VUK's exit habitrail, but a diverter wall gate can pop up to divert the ball along an alternate pathway that cuts across the other Hawkeye lane, before curving back towards the back to merge with the loop VUK's path, taking the ball backwards through it.

The other Hawkeye ramp, meanwhile, makes a similar reverse question mark-shaped path that brings the ball to the right inlane, merging with the right VUK's exit habitrail. At the reverse D-shaped platform formed by the intersections of the left Hawkeye lane's alternate path, the right Hawkeye lane and the loop VUK pathway, stands a figure of Ms. Marvel, also known as Kamala Khan. Between the two paths of the left Hawkeye lane is a sinkhole, appearing indirectly behind her. There are two paths to this sinkhole: a) a short habitrail that branches off from the plunger ramp and b) the reverse C-shaped crossramp. Both of these paths converge at and share one stretch of habitrail, with one side missing above the sinkhole to allow the ball to fall in if it travels through this habitrail at a slow enough speed.

The other of the two abovementioned gates lining the left wall of the left VUK ramp is the exit gate of a tight hairpin lane dedicated to Tippy-Toe, an ally of Squirrel Girl. There is a target at the apex of the sharp hairpin turn just before the exit gate. In front of the reverse D-shaped platform where Ms. Marvel stands, but also behind the latter half of the loop VUK's path, is a trapezoidal platform that is home to a big sinkhole that is blocked by a target. The corners of the sinkhole also each have a target each lighting a word in the phrase "Inhuman Energy". A drop target track cuts in front of the entrances of the left VUK ramp, the two Hawkeye lanes, the loop VUK lane and the sinkhole. At the right end of this track is the entrance to the aforementioned crossramp, dedicated to Bombshell. It spells BOOM.

The lower half of the table

Further down the table are the entrances of three other lanes: two left lanes that are left of the left VUK ramp and the right VUK ramp itself. The leftmost lane is a left hairpin loop lane which ends by cutting across the left outlane to drop the ball down the left inlane through a gate in between the two return lanes. This left hairpin lane has a magnetic trap at its turn and is dedicated to Spider-Gwen, a super-powered version of Spider-Man's first love interest. To the right of this lane is the entrance to the abovmentioned Tippy-Toe lane, gated by a spinner with an icon of the Wheel of Fortune.

In between this lane and the left VUK ramp is a mini-flipper used to access the Bombshell crosssramp. It may also be helpful in hitting a target bank spelling FIST that lies between the entrances of the crossramp and the right VUK ramp. The latter is gated by a bumper area, with two bumpers on the left side and one on the right. A VUK is installed between the left two bumpers that can pop the ball directly into the bumper area. A small bridge is installed between the two front bumpers. There are four return lanes spelling SPIN, two rebounds and two flippers. The outlanes are guarded by a kickback mechanism called the "fist save". The table walls are lined with buildings of a street in Jersey City, culminating with the aprons containing a crosswalk, with a wrecked car on the left one.

The plunger

The plunger is a spring-loaded mechanism that is also shaped into the cash register of Ms. Marvel's new coffee shop. Its scale model is part of the front end of the right table wall. The plunger strength is gauged by the analog counters of the cash register. The plunger launches the ball up a special ramp that starts straight as it runs along the right table wall, before taking a big left turn in front of the back table wall towards an exit habitrail that merges with that of the left VUK. Near the rearmost apex of this plunger ramp is the abovementioned branching path leading to the sinkhole, with a small spring-loaded gate that the ball must pass through to slowly drop into the hole. The goal of the skill shot is to determine the correct amount of force that will launch the ball such that it will slow down to the gate midway up the ramp, push through it and land into the hole for a reward of a maximum of 999,900 points, depending on the current number displayed on the cash register. If the ball is shot too strong, there is a chance to shoot the right Hawkeye ramp for a flipper skill shot for 100k + 100k per successful flipper skill shot, and then shoot the sinkhole with the right flipper for a secret skill shot that allows the player to choose a reward, alternating between small points and gaining credit for any objective that hasn’t been finished yet. Secret skill shots are only available at the first plunge on any ball.

Main objectives

Bombshell has stolen Ms. Marvel's funds from her first day of work! Help her unite the Champions to thwart Bombshell and recover the stolen money. Could there be more to Bombshell's life of crime than it seems?

Champions is a table designed in the early 90s Williams mold of "easy to learn, hard to master", with several fairly simple objectives that the player can focus on to get the highest score possible. The seven objectives are listed above the flippers, which must be lit solidly by completing them to qualify the wizard mode, Bombshells Reunited. Three of these objectives are missions that can be started by making enough shots to a different area of the playfield, then teleporting Bombshell using the Staff of One - while three more are side modes that can be activated at any time during play. Ms. Marvel is the exception to the rule, as completing one of the three missions is the only way to reach this mode.

All timed modes will have their timers frozen when Squirrel Girl Multiball is activated, but no modes can be started at this time. Every successfully completed mission in the current wizard mode run adds 1 million points to the wizard mode's jackpot value, and missions can be repeated to increase the jackpot value further. The jackpot value resets once Bombshells Reunited has been activated.

Teleporting Bombshell & Missions

All three main missions are linked together by the use of Nico Minoru's Staff of One to teleport Bombshell for a fight. To teleport Bombshell each time one of the Champions has been summoned, the player must shoot the moving target representing the head of the staff. The player must shoot the staff once to lower its ring, then shoot the ball through it twice - once while it is stationary, and again while moving. After these three hits, Bombshell will appear, and the main portion of the mission will begin, where the player must make certain shots described below to defeat her and start the Ms. Marvel mission.

The value for each Staff of One shot starts at 1 million points, and can be doubled or tripled if two or three Champions have been summoned at once, respectively. Every 5 seconds, the Staff of One value will decrease by 250,000 points, to a minimum of 500,000 points. If the Bombshell Frenzy mode is active, the process of activating the Staff of One will be skipped, as Bombshell is already present during the mode.

The three Champions that must be summoned are:

• Spider-Gwen: Shoot the left saucer lane to lock a ball, then shoot the locked ball to free it, summon Spider-Gwen and start a 2-ball multiball. After teleporting Bombshell with both balls in play, the player must shoot the center sinkhole to web up Bombshell for a hurry-up value starting at 3 million points (+1 million points per completion) and decreasing to 100,000 points, then shoot Spider-Gwen's lane again to deliver a powerful blow and win the mission. The value of the final blow is the collected hurry-up value times a multiplier that starts at 30x and decreases by 2x every second. If the multiplier depletes to 1x, the second ball will be kicked back out.
• America Chavez: Hit the bumpers gating the right VUK lane 30 times (+10 hits per completion) to summon America Chavez and light the Staff of One to teleport Bombshell. Once she appears, a hurry-up value starting at 1 million points (+1 million points per completion) and decreasing to 100,000 points will be seen on the display. To collect the hurry-up, the player must hit the bumpers again to knock Bombshell off balance. The player will then be given 10 seconds to shoot the right orbit to attack her and win the mission, scoring the collected hurry-up value with a multiplier determined by how many bumper hits were made before hitting her.
• Hawkeye (Kate Bishop): Shoot the flashing left and right ramps three times each to summon Hawkeye; shooting an already lit ramp shot won't count towards qualifying this mode, so the player must shoot both ramps once to get their inserts flashing again. Once all six inserts are lit, use the Staff of One to teleport Bombshell for a fight. The sinkhole will light for a hurry-up value starting from 1 million points (+1 million points per completion) and decreasing to 100,000 points; shooting the sinkhole will turn the ball into a bomb that moves on its own across the playfield, which must be shot with one of Hawkeye's arrows. Use the new ball plunged into play to hit the bomb ball within 10 seconds to thwart Bombshell's attack for 10x the hurry-up value and win the mission. The value awarded for shooting the bomb ball can be increased by +10x by shooting either ramp during the mode, which will also reset the timer when the bomb is active.

Ms. Marvel

Every time one of the missions described above is completed, Ms. Marvel's mode will start. Chase after Bombshell and score 7 million points by alternating shots between the right VUK and the center sinkhole for 1 million points each. The player has 90 seconds to make the required shots with 10 seconds added to the timer per major shot, and all other shots during the mode will award 100,000 points and add that value to the mode total. If the final shot to finish the mission is the flashing shot, 10 million points will be rewarded; otherwise, only 1 million points will be scored.

If more than one mission has been completed before Ms. Marvel's mode starts, the points scored from this mode will increase accordingly. The values per shot will be multiplied by +1 times the number of missions completed, and the value required to finish the mode will similarly be multiplied.

Balls infused with Inhuman Energy will score double the values per shot, and add double the value to the score total. Score bonus perks introduced in Pinball FX 3 won't affect the values each shot adds to the score total, but will still increase the points regardless.

Side modes

Side modes on this table are listed as such because while they are necessary to complete to reach Bombshells Reunited, they are started separately from the missions and impact starting the missions - or the scoring of the missions - in various ways.

• Bombshell Frenzy: Witness the power of Bombshell by making 4 full-strength shots to the crossramp to spell BOOM, then shooting the crossramp again to start the timed mode. During this mode, the player must score a total of 2 million points in 60 seconds by shooting flashing shots. Shots to the crossramp, whether complete or incomplete, will score the full shot value of 500,000 points, while other major shots will only add 100,000 points to the total. At every 500,000 points scored, Bombshell will stomp on the table and activate a magnet in the dead space above the flippers, which messes up the physics of the ball. The base value of each shot can be increased by 100,000 points with weak shots to the crossramp during normal play. Balls infused with Inhuman Energy will score and add double the value of each shot, and like with Ms. Marvel, the score bonus perks introduced in Pinball FX 3 don't affect the points added to the total. Starting Bombshell Frenzy disables the Staff of One until the mode ends.
• Sister Grimm: Every fifth shot to the spinner that collects a Tippy-Toe Award will light the video mode at the center sinkhole, if it isn't already lit. Reaching level 1 of the video mode is required to light this objective solidly. In the video mode, the player must use the flippers to steer the constantly forward-moving Staff of One to collect magic charges before they escape into the walls of the scoring display; holding the launch button will speed up the movement of the Staff. There are three different levels to this video mode; the first level completed scores 10 million points, the second level scores 20 million points, and the third level lights an extra ball. Each charge collected also scores 1 million points, meaning the player can score a maximum of 42 million points from the video mode.
• Squirrel Girl Multiball: Every shot to any of the VUKs will collect a letter in LOCK, meaning after four shots to any VUK, the fifth shot will lock a ball - each representing a part of the squirrel army. Each VUK lock can only be used once, but shooting an already occupied lock will allow the player to lock a ball there if they shoot it again. Once all 3 balls are locked, they will be released into play to complete the objective and start a 3-ball multiball, where the player can re-lock the balls at the VUKs for jackpots. The base jackpot value is 5 million points; hitting a jackpot starts a 10-second countdown to hit another VUK for a super jackpot for 10 million, followed by another countdown to hit the last unused VUK for a double super jackpot for 20 million. All other lanes raise the jackpot value by 100,000 points; weak shots to the crossramp, and locking and recapturing the ball at the left saucer lane, will increase it by 1 million points. Strong shots to the crossramp will increase the jackpot multiplier by +1x. The jackpot value resets to 5 million points each time one of the super jackpot phases times out, or if the double super jackpot has been collected. All timers for timed modes will be paused during Squirrel Girl Multiball.

Bombshells Reunited

Bombshell has started robbing once again, and Ms. Marvel is determined to find out why. It turns out that her robberies were a direct result of her mother, Lori Baumgartner; the Champions must unite to defeat the mother-daughter duo.

Bombshells Reunited is qualified after completing all seven objectives described above. Once the wizard mode has been qualified, the player must lock 2 balls at two of the three VUKs, which don't require spelling LOCK to light this time around; then, the player can start the wizard mode by shooting the center sinkhole. This 4-ball multiball depicts the Champions' battle against Lori, represented as a moving target that can be hit to score the jackpot value, worth a minimum of 7 million plus 1 million points per objective completed. Two jackpots can be collected this way before the player must shoot the Staff of One three times to catch her again.

One of the balls during this mode will always be infused with Inhuman Energy, and score double the values for each shot. The jackpots can also be doubled if the player shoots the center sinkhole while the Lori target is active; this will turn the ball into a bomb ball that detonates after 10 seconds, and must be shot towards Lori to score the doubled jackpot value. All other lanes score 10% of the jackpot value.

Once the wizard mode ends, the player will be able to light all seven objectives again for another chance to start the wizard mode.

Perks

• Ball Saver: At the start of each ball and multiball, a 15-second ball saver will activate. There is no way to manually reactivate the ball saver, but a ball that drains down the right outlane from a late upper flipper shot will be saved, as will any shot to the Staff of One that quickly drains. A ball save will also accompany the activation of the magnet during the Bombshell Frenzy mode.
• Fist Save: Spelling FIST on the target bank beside the right VUK will activate a unique "fist save" at the left, then the right outlane - a magnet near the center drain will hold the ball in place, and Ms. Marvel will slam the table to jump the ball back into the nearby inlane. Up to 3 fist saves can be stacked per outlane, and fist saves carry over across balls.
• Bonus Multiplier: Shooting the left or right ramp when their inserts are solidly lit will activate a diverter towards the winding lane at the left ramp, which sends the ball backwards down the loop VUK lane. Shooting the winding lane within 10 seconds will advance the bonus multiplier by +3x to no known limit, and advancing the bonus multiplier to 10x lights an extra ball. The bonus multiplier can be held as a random Tippy-Toe Award.
• Tippy-Toe Award: Shots to the spinner lane will start a random award roulette, which scores whatever prize it stops on. Every fifth shot to the spinner will always light the video mode, and certain awards are rarer than others, making this an example of a pseudo-random award. Possible awards include points (100,000 + 100,000 points per collection), lighting Bombshell Frenzy at the crossramp, lighting a lock for Squirrel Girl Multiball, activation of either fist save, +1x bonus multiplier, bonus multipliers held, +1x jackpot multiplier for the next Squirrel Girl Multiball, or lighting an extra ball.
• Inhuman Energy: If the player knocks down both Inhuman Energy drop targets flanking the center sinkhole within 5 seconds, then shoots the sinkhole itself, the ball will glow orange with Inhuman energy, which will double all playfield scoring for 30 seconds. Completing this process again while Inhuman Energy is running will score a bonus of 3 million + 100,000 each time this bonus has been collected, and reset the timer.
• Combos: Shooting unique lanes in succession, within 10 seconds of each other, scores combo points worth 1 million points times the number of shots in the combo - starting at 3 million points for a 3-way combo. Making all seven shots in a single combo scores a master combo for 7 million points, lights the extra ball the first time, and multiplies the combo value by +1x.
• Extra Balls: Extra balls can be lit at the center sinkhole by earning a double super jackpot in Squirrel Girl Multiball, raising the bonus multiplier to 10x, beating all 3 levels of the Sister Grimm video mode, scoring a master combo, or as a percentage-based Tippy-Toe Award.

Tips

• Squirrel Girl Multiball is a very high-scoring mode, often scoring more than the wizard mode. Be sure to keep the jackpot value multiplied by shooting the crossramp; Tippy-Toe can also award jackpot multipliers, or instantly light locks for you. If you drain down to 2 balls, lock and release a ball at the left saucer lane to return to 3-ball play for a chance at double super jackpots. Getting Inhuman Energy right before starting this multiball can also drastically increase its scoring.
• If you want to take advantage of the high scoring from stacking the missions together, start Spider-Gwen first, then ignore the objective of the mode and focus solely on summoning the other Champions & completing their missions repeatedly. Spider-Gwen doesn't penalize failure like the two remaining modes do, and progress can also be made towards Squirrel Girl Multiball during this mission.
• Those combos can seriously add up over the course of a long game. If you're going for Squirrel Girl Multiball, you'll often score 3 or 4-way combos completely on accident while you're trying to light the locks. Master combos can lead to relatively easy extra balls, and increase the value scored for each combo by 1 million points - which seems small, but can be pretty decent if you keep going for combos.

References & Easter Eggs

• The magnet that affects the direction of the ball during Bombshell Frenzy has several equivalents on real tables. One of the most famous is the "The Power" magnet on The Addams Family.
• The wheel depicted on the spinner in front of Tippy-Toe's lane resembles the titular wheel of the game show, Wheel of Fortune.
• Right before Ms. Marvel raises her fist after a successful Fist Save, you can hit her fist with the ball. This scores a bonus of 100,000 points + 100,000 per shot.

External links

• Official table trailer (0:36 - 1:10 of the Marvel's Women of Power Pinball Pack trailer)
• Table walkthrough by ShoryukenToTheChin (PDF)