Qualifying

Friday, March 24th: 11am – 1am and Saturday, March 25th: 9am-5pm.

Players will be required to demonstrate skill across 3 eras of machines, out of twelve (12) different pinball machines: 4 DMD (Dot Matrix Display), 4 SS (Solid State), 4 EM (Electro-Mechanical). A player’s best sore on 8 (out of 12 pins) will be used for ranking, though at least 2 pins from each era must be included the in the player’s ranking. Players may choose to replay individual titles as they desire in order to better their scores, staying within their total 20 play limit and the qualifying time limits. Only their best score on each pin will count in that pin’s ranking table. The top score on each machine is worth up to a maximum of 100 points. Second place is worth 97 points. Third place is worth 95 points. Starting with 4th place, point totals will be reduced by 1 point for each subsequent standing. The minimum points that can be earned by a player up through 97th place is 1 point. Players ranked 98 and below will earn no points. The total points earned on each of a player’s best 8 pins (given the era constraint) will be combined to create a composite score, which will be calculated for all players.

The 16 players ranked highest will advance to the A Division finals. The next 8 highest ranked players, whose rank is 501+ in the IFPA World Pinball Player Rankings, will advance to the B Division Finals. The next 4 highest ranked players, whose rank is 3001+ in the IFPA World Pinball Player Rankings, will comprise the Novice Division Finals. The 4 highest ranked women, who are not competing in another Finals) will compete in the Women’s Division Finals.
Top Qualifier / Era Champions

At the end of the qualification period, players’ scores will be ranked according to era of machine. There are four (4) titles of each era of machine, therefore the top qualifier in each era will be the player whose cumulative points for all 4 titles ranks highest. A trophy and cash prize will be awarded to the top ranking qualifiers in each of the three (3) eras: EM Champion, SS Champion, and DMD Champion.
A Division Finals

All Finals begin on Saturday, March 25th at 6pm.

Finals for A Division are expected to take about 6 hours. Finals will be played using a “PAPA style” format. Finalists will be placed into groups of 4 players. They will play 3 games. At the beginning of each game, the top seed in each group gets to the pick the title (from available pins) for that group, or his/her playing position. Each group must play one pin from each era during their 3-game match. Scoring is 4-2-1-0 for the four finishing positions. After 3 games, the top 2 players from each group advance. More information can be found at: papa.org.
B Division Finals

All Finals begin on Saturday, March 25th at 6pm.

Qualifiers 17-24 in the Texas Wizards Tournament, if not ranked in the top 500 of the IFPA World Pinball Player Rankings*, will compete in the B Division Finals If a player is ranked in the top 500 according to IFPA, he/she will be skipped and the next eligible player will be advanced to the Finals.

Finals format for B Division is identical to A Division, but with 8 players. For each game, B Division pin selections will take place after A Division groups have selected their pins.
Novice Division Finals

The four top qualifiers in the Texas Wizards Tournament who are not ranked in the top 3000 of the IFPA World Pinball Player Rankings* and who are not competing in another division’s final will compete in the Novice Division Finals.

Finals format is identical to A Division, but with 4 players. For each game, Novice Division pin selections will take place after B Division groups have selected their pins. If all 4 Novice Division Finals players agree, they may choose to start their match with the Semifinal round of A Division instead of the initial Quarterfinal round in order to increase the number of available pins.

Women’s Division Finals

The four top female qualifiers in the Texas Wizards Tournament who are not competing in another Division’s Finals. Women who would otherwise qualify for both the Women’s Finals and another Division’s Finals will be given the choice of which Finals to compete in.

Finals format is identical to A Division, but with 4 players. For each game, Women’s Division pin selections will take place after the other Division groups have selected their pins. If all 4 Women’s Division Finals players agree, they may choose to start their match with the Semifinal round of A Division instead of the initial Quarterfinal round in order to increase the number of available pins.

* The cutoff date to determine a players IFPA ranking is the later of the date the player registers for the Texas Wizards Tournament or March 1st, 2017.