Yeah same here, there's a trick to mine. You have to pull it back and hold the plunger to the left and pull back, so the ball fires to the right side, or it gets hung up and won't fire correctly.
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Your correct yes, that was my build choice. The game flows a lot better and is more fun for me to play. Have you played the build? Did you like the seal positioned there? I'm not a big fan of it.