Deadpool pinball tournament strategy: battle first, multiball second, weapons all the time

Deadpool is a 2018 Stern from George Gomez with two flippers, two ramps, two spinners and a scoop that starts almost everything. It has 554 tracked tournament games in our data and has been in seven rooms.

There is a lot going on, and most of it stacks. The guides and the tournament players who have recorded tutorials agree on the shape of a good game: get a battle running, put a multiball on top of it, and collect weapons the whole time.

The short version

1. Right after the plunge, while the ball save is on, shoot the drop targets and the standup in the center.
2. Shoot the scoop to start a battle. Pick Sabretooth if you are new to the game.
3. Start a multiball once the battle is running. Lil' Deadpool Multiball is the quickest.
4. Make the left ramp over and over, and follow it with whichever shot is lit white.
5. Cash your weapons in at the scoop. At 45 you get Mechsuit Multiball.

Skill shots

The lit lane is fixed when you plunge, so lane change will not help you after the ball is away. Holding the left flipper sends the ball to that flipper instead of the top lanes. The super is the practical choice: the right ramp is where Ninja Multiball locks are, and those are lit at the start of the game by default.

Battles

The scoop starts a battle against one of three villains. Shots do damage, and when the villain's health is gone you have ten seconds to make a final shot at the scoop.

• Sabretooth is fought with the orbits and the pop bumpers. It is the usual first pick, and the guides suggest no team-up for it.
• Juggernaut is the one tournament players call the hardest. Bring Lil' Deadpool Multiball to it.
• Mystique goes best with the Wolverine team-up and a Boom in hand.

Team-ups are lit by shots around the playfield before the battle. Wolverine, at the center spinner, doubles the damage your shots do, and tournament players light it before any battle. Colossus doubles points, Dazzler adds health and time, and Domino boosts one feature.

The multiballs, in the order you will meet them

Lil' Deadpool Multiball has two balls. Hit the standup behind the three center drop targets until it turns green, hit it again to lock a ball, then knock down the drop targets to release it. These targets are close to the flippers and dangerous. Bowen Kerins, in his tutorial, shoots them only while the ball save is on, which is why they are the first thing to shoot on every ball.

Ninja Multiball has three balls. The locks are on the right ramp and are lit from the start of the game by default. The ramp needs a strong, clean shot from the left flipper to count as a lock. A backhand from the right flipper gets credit for modes and weapons and does not lock.

Mechsuit Multiball has four balls and is the big one. It lights at 45 weapons and starts at the scoop when no mode is running.

Disco Multiball comes from 60 spins of the left spinner. The tournament guides leave it alone.

Start the battle before the multiball. Ninja Multiball stacks with battles and with quests. Starting Lil' Deadpool Multiball with nothing running underneath it is a common way to waste it.

Weapons

Weapons are combos. Make a shot, then make the shot that lights white, and you bank a weapon. The left ramp is the easiest shot on the game, either flipper can make it, and it returns to the left flipper, so it is the natural start of every combo.

Weapons are cashed in at the scoop. Reaching 45 lights Mechsuit Multiball, and the later ones need 150, 250 and 350. Weapons cannot be collected during Mechsuit itself, so build them during the other multiballs.

If Mechsuit is lit and you shoot the scoop, the game offers a mode. Holding the Boom button for two and a half seconds cancels that and goes to the multiball.

Boom and the playfield multiplier

Rolling through the inlanes and outlanes spells BOOM, and lane change moves the lit letters. Pressing the button spends a Boom to collect the highest lit shot for you. Save them for battles and for Mechsuit.

The Snikt target sits to the right of the center spinner. A shot from the left flipper that glances off it and up the right ramp starts a timed 2x playfield multiplier, and repeating it raises the level, to a maximum of 5x. It multiplies everything else you do, and it is one of the riskiest shots on the game. Some tournaments turn it off, so ask.

Where the ball drains

• The DEAD and POOL targets beside the flippers, and the Lil' Deadpool targets in the center. Shoot them with the ball save on.
• The right orbit is tight. A weak shot falls into the shooter lane and earns nothing.
• A left ramp shot that hits the entrance can drain.
• The scoop kicks the ball out and you need to catch it.

Cradling is hard on this game. In multiball, keep the balls moving.

The default is two tilt warnings. Tilting costs more than the ball here: your bonus counts carry from ball to ball and can grow large, and a tilt with the final shot of a battle lit throws away the battle.

What the tracked games say

Numbers are from late September 2026. The Deadpool machine page has the live ones.

The upset rate is how often the lower-rated player in a pairing finishes ahead. At 31.7%, Deadpool is a favorite's game. Knowing what stacks with what is worth a great deal, and the players who know it win. The full ranking is in upset rates by machine.

A typical game takes close to 21 minutes. In a timed round, a group on Deadpool may not finish.

Among players with at least 20 games on it, Nathan Reardon has the best record, finishing ahead of 78% of the opponents he has faced across 32 games. Luke Nahorniak and Daniel Hammond are next, both above 70%. Angie DonCarlos and Keith Hanson follow. The scouting report shows how you compare with your own group.

Where to play it

• 56 Brewing in Minneapolis has it on the floor, with 49 tracked games. See the 56 Brewing guide.
• Stray Dog in Minneapolis has it on the floor, with 36 tracked games. See the Stray Dog guide.
• Blainbrook in Blaine lists one.
• Northstar Pinball Collective has the most history, 238 tracked games, the latest in September 2026.
• Full Tilt Tavern used one in tournaments in September 2026.

On a Premium or LE the DEAD and POOL targets are drop targets, and Disco Multiball is replaced by a single-ball mode.

Before your next game

The Deadpool playbook has player tips, videos and rulesheet links, and the scores tab includes Insider Connected scores from local venues. For the full rules we leaned on the Pinball Rulesheets wiki, System-J's tactics page and Bowen Kerins's video tutorial.

George Gomez also designed James Bond 007, which asks for the same stack of a mode and a multiball. The whole series is in the machine strategy guides.