The Uncanny X-Men pinball tournament strategy: start a mission, then raise the Sentinel
The Uncanny X-Men is two years old and its rules are still changing, which means a lot of advice online is out of date. What works on current code, which shot to fall back on, how missions and multiball fit together, and what 427 tracked games say.
·6 min read·Tilt Stats
The Uncanny X-Men is the newest game in this series. It arrived in Minnesota tournaments in September 2024 and has 427 tracked games in our data. This is the 2024 game designed by Jack Danger. Stern's X-Men from 2012 is a different machine.
Two things set it apart. The layout is lopsided, with the main flippers pushed to the right and a small playfield called the Danger Room filling the lower left corner. And the code is still moving. The version out in the summer of 2026 is 0.98, and updates along the way removed several tactics that older videos and forum posts recommend.
The short version
- Plunge all the way. The ball arrives at the right flipper. Shoot the left ramp.
- Shoot a white arrow and then the center ramp to start a mission. Pick one of the corner missions.
- When you do not know what to shoot, shoot the center ramp.
- After the mission, hit six lit Sentinel shots and then leave through the center ramp.
- Get another mission running before you finish off the Sentinel head for multiball.
Advice that has expired
If you learned this game from a video made in its first months, check the list below. The update to version 0.91 and the ones after it changed all of these.
- Looping the center ramp no longer builds combos.
- Staying in the Future to keep scoring no longer pays. Overstaying costs you the perk.
- Multiballs no longer stack with each other.
- Progress toward Save the City no longer counts during multiball.
Skill shots
All four are lit on every plunge.
| Skill shot | Award |
|---|---|
| Short plunge to the lane beside the far right ramp | 200,000 and one bonus multiplier |
| X-Jet, on the far left | Three bonus multipliers, and a super skill shot at the Danger Room exit |
| Left ramp | One step toward lighting Cerebro |
| Downtown loop five times in a row, then the left ramp | 15 more seconds on the opening ball save |
The left ramp is a sound choice for a first ball. A full plunge delivers the ball to the right flipper, and the left ramp is a right flipper shot.
The center ramp
The center ramp is called Midtown. It is a right flipper shot and it returns the ball to the right flipper. The tournament tutorials we read call it the shot to fall back on.
Shoot it forehand. Backhands at it get rejected.
The left ramp, Uptown, is also a right flipper shot and returns the ball to the left flipper. The loop to the right of the Sentinel, called the Subway, is shot from the left flipper and comes back to the right.
Missions and the Future
White shots light a mission: one for the first, more for later ones. Then the center ramp or the Subway starts it, and a post holds the ball at the right inlane while you choose.
The four corner missions are the easy ones. The other four are marked as challenging.
When a mission ends you are sent to the Future. You have 40 seconds to destroy six Sentinels, and then the center ramp or the Subway takes you out and awards that character's perk. Hits on the Sentinel head raise the value of the kills. Stern's own rules designer, on a stream for the 0.91 update, takes his six kills and leaves. If the clock runs out while you are still in there, the perk is lost.
Before a mission, two things can raise its value. Completing level one in the Danger Room doubles the next mission. Three hits on the Gambit pop bumper, on the right, double your next shot.
Sentinel Multiball
Three hits on the Sentinel head raise the giant Sentinel, and more hits destroy it and start the multiball. Later multiballs need more hits.
The major shots pay jackpots. The exit ramp from the Danger Room relights them at double and then triple value.
A mission that is already running carries on during Sentinel Multiball. A mission cannot be started once the multiball is going. So the order is the same as on most modern Sterns: mission first, then the last hit on the head.
The red action button spots the most valuable lit shot. Use it when ball save is running or in the last seconds of a mission.
The Danger Room
The X-Jet shot on the far left crosses over to a ramp that drops the ball into the Danger Room, a small playfield in the lower left with its own mini flipper, a spinner and targets. Its exit ramp feeds the left flipper.
Two of the players whose advice we read do not aim for it on purpose. It takes your eyes off the main playfield, which is a problem during multiball when other balls are in play down there. When the ball arrives from the X-Jet, keep the left flipper down.
Where the ball drains
- The two pop bumpers throw the ball toward the outlanes. One of them sits where the left slingshot would normally be.
- The ball hops as it comes onto the left flipper on many machines, which makes it hard to trap.
- A magnet can drop the ball toward the drain. Be ready to nudge.
- An X-Jet shot has to complete its whole path to count.
The right outlane is also the shooter lane. Four hits on the X-Mansion target, above the right pop bumper, light a save there.
On a Premium or LE, a mechanical hand can break the return wireform and drop the ball. After players lost balls down the middle to it, the default was changed so that it only happens during multiball.
Settings
The factory defaults are three balls, a 12-second ball save and two tilt warnings. A competition install removes extra balls, and competition mode fixes the order of the shots in one of the escape sequences. Operators can also change how many hits the Sentinel needs.
Ask which code version is on the machine if the display does not show it. On anything older than 0.91 the expired advice above may still work.
What the tracked games say
| Tracked tournament games | 427 |
| Tournaments it appeared in | 236 |
| Players with a game on it | 241 |
| Typical game | 20:41 |
| Upset rate | 30.6% |
| Difficulty | 31 out of 100 |
Numbers are from late September 2026. The Uncanny X-Men machine page has the live ones.
The upset rate is how often the lower-rated player in a pairing finishes ahead. At 30.6% this is a favorite's game, in the same range as JAWS and Jurassic Park. A new game with changing rules rewards the players who keep up with it. The full ranking is in upset rates by machine.
Among players with at least 20 games on it, Paul Tvedt has the best record, finishing ahead of 73% of the opponents he has faced across 51 games. Keith Hanson matches that win rate over 24 games. Nathan Reardon, Andy Fleming and Angie DonCarlos follow. The scouting report shows how you compare with your own group.
Where to play it
- LITT Pinball Bar in Minneapolis, 120 tracked games. See the LITT guide.
- Stray Dog in Minneapolis, 40 tracked games since May 2026. See the Stray Dog guide.
- Flahertys Arden Bowl used one in tournaments in the summer of 2026. See the Flahertys guide.
Northstar Pinball Collective ran 161 tracked games on one through March 2026.
Before your next game
The Uncanny X-Men playbook has player tips, videos and rulesheet links, and the scores tab includes Insider Connected scores from local venues. The Pinball Rulesheets wiki is kept up to date with the code and is the best place to check what has changed.
Jack Danger's first game was Foo Fighters. The whole series is in the machine strategy guides.