Hey guys, Macar here with my first ever regional battle report.

There were many builds among the 40 players but standing out were a multitude of dual falcon lists. 3 notable tie swarms, various mini swarms, new rebel builds, and dangerous imperial builds made this tournament epic in its own right. 6 Rounds swiss and a cut to top 8 (3 more rounds) was the path to victory everyone attempted to take!

I ended up going 9-0 taking the title of Regional Champion, which I was very proud of given a multitude of tough fights and overcoming my enemies by out maneuvering, and out playing my opponents.

To start my squad list consisted of

Soontir Fel, PTL, TC

Carnor Jax, PTL

Tetran Cowall, PTL

Academy Pilot

100 pts

Given my high pilot skill I truly didn't care who had initative for most of the games though I do believe I won the init most of the time (or it was given to me). The squad was a high risk, high reward squad and it payed off. I had tremendous maneuverability against my opponents, a wide threat range of ships including a blocker. Playing a squad that can loose a ship in 1 shot might sound terrifying, however, I have been playing interceptors (different variations) for some time and wanted to put my skills to the ultimate test.

Fel is my main threat for most squads, gaining consistent damage and staying out of firing arcs is his strong suit. Great for range 3 shots then closing in to range 1 the following turn.

Carnor is an aggro ship. Meant to move in during a heavy fire situation, the threat changes from soontir to Carnor, leaving soontir around for later game engagement and making him extremely hard to deal with. Shutting down my opponents evade/focus helped in many matches including TIE swarm lists.

Tetran is my go-to. Originally I had not given tetran a high rating in usefulness. However his cheap cost combined with PS and his "free" ability make him very much worthwhile. Ahead of most ships at PS7, i was getting almost all my shots off before a return fire. His ability to Kturn almost never triggered but would on occasion and was extremely useful to stay in the fights.

Academy is a blocker...what else can I say. Easily ignored and a great follow up to add a damage or 2.

Round 1- TIE Swarm

Opponent Squad

Academy Pilot x7

Dark Curse

100 PTS

A bold build by my opponent and scary for a first round pairing. Not having faced a full swarm with my squad I had no idea how it would go. My opponent starting in two different 2x2 blocks. Thanks to carnor and fel flanking from the side with tetran and the academy as bait in the middle, i was able to slowly pick of ships 1 or 2 at a time. I lost tetran after a bump but that was the only ship I lost that game.

Result: Win

Round 2- Rebel 3 Ship

Wes

Lando, Opportunist

Rookie, r3-a2

100 PTS

This squad was again against me in favor. Being reliant on actions and removing stress this squad did the two things that hurt me most. The combo was dangerously efficient and early good rolls got me into a position i was comfortable. Round 2 put my interceptors in a firing cone targeting wes. Soontir and Carnor together 2 shot wes with unlucky evade dice at range 3. Tetran put damage on the rookie but was 1 shot by lando who rolled 4 crits after using opportunist. The following round lost carnor to lando after I underestimated my 2 forward (should have done a 3 to bump) but not after damage was put on lando and the rookie was taken down to 1 health. The rookie began to take himself out of the fight and soontir began the chase on lando. After landing a crit that took away his only agility and evading every attack with a focus/evade (The TL was very effective) lando went down 3 turns later. He did however take the academy with a lucky range 3 shot. The battle came down to Soontir and a rookie with the stress droid and soontir was able to turn/boost back into firing position. PTL to Target lock and focus causing 3 hits @ range 2 killing the rookie. This opponent took the most points out from me the entire day and what a match it was.

Result: Win

Round 3- Rebel 3 Build

Chewbacca (a few upgrades don't remember what)

Green Squadron, PTL, Homing Missile x2

100 PTS

Another squad that could easily wreck me since I couldn't spend evade tokens on those missiles. Fortunately for me my opponent tried to get me to chase the a-wings leaving chewie at range 1 of soontir, carnor, and cowall. It only took 2 rounds of shooting to kill chewie. The a-wings put up a fight but couldn't overcome Carnor jax and Cowall who survived to the end to mop up everyone else. Jax shut the a-wings down causing the death of one and forcing the direction of the other. Once chewie was dead there wasn't much my opponent can do. Soontir was killed by a homing missile but the other a-wing died before being able to use his.

Result: Win

Round 4-Mirror Match

Soontir, PTL, TC

Royal Guard, PTL

Royal Guard, PTL

Alpha Pilot

100 PTS

This squad I was more neutral about playing, our squads both had our weaknesses against each other. If I rolled poorly he would use his tokens on the return fire. Both our squads could one shot a ship and the tide could turn quickly in either direction. My opponent manoeuvred very well, but rolled less than 5 evades the entire game. I was able to chew through the ships quickly. I lost only the academy pilot to a range 1 from soontir but the damage was done and the battle ended shortly after. It was upsetting because, besides the dice, the battle was very good and our maneuvers were the only things between us and defeat.

Result: Win

Round 5-Dual Falcons

Chewie, Recon Specialist, Flacon Title, DTF, APL

Lando, PTL, Recon Specialist, Nien,

100 PTS

Congrats on you victory. Most impressive, even more so with an Interceptor list. You earned your victory and I wish you luck at Nationals if you make it.

Congrats on you victory. Most impressive, even more so with an Interceptor list. You earned your victory and I wish you luck at Nationals if you make it.

Ditto. Vey impressive to win a 9 game tourney with your list, especially as the theory of some players was that Interceptors would be dead with the release of the new X-wings. We've now seen at least two regionals winning lists that included interceptors and sounds like there was at least another that made the cut in your regional.

Well played Macar! I sure wanted that win against ya in the semi finals after barely squeeking out that swarm vs swarm matchup the round before, but you definitely earned it, my ties couldn't compete with your positioning that game. I too am glad to see interceptors make it to the top! Always a treat to watch and fly against.

Well played Macar! I sure wanted that win against ya in the semi finals, but you definitely earned it, my ties couldn't compete with your positioning that game. I too am glad to see interceptors make it to the top! Always a treat to watch and fly against.

You did a great job at blocking and expecting my moves, it was the times when I was free and i could boost/barrel roll that is what really nabbed ya. It was great flying against you do as you had me sweating for most of the game. Even my friend with me thought I had lost the game early!

Congrats on you victory. Most impressive, even more so with an Interceptor list. You earned your victory and I wish you luck at Nationals if you make it.

Thanks very much Sable, the list was definitely a high risk, high reward build. Knowing I could get one shot was never a fear in my mind though. The amount of flying I had to do was almost more consuming than a tie swarm.

Ditto. Vety impressive to win a 9 game tourney with your list, especially as the theory of some players was that Interceptors would be dead with the release of the new X-wings. We've now seen at least two regionals winning lists that included interceptors and sounds like there was at least another that made the cut in your regional.

Thanks Alex! Officially no, the guy dropped after making top 8 because of how late it was and had a long ride home. It was by chance the guy had placed 9th and was bumped up afterwards. Theory only works if you can get a shot. I was mostly hindered by the new x-wing and stress droid yes, but dead..no. I really had to fly like an imperial ace the entire event with little room for error. The times I did mess up it cost me a ship almost every time. Definitely took pride in this event. Winning with such a challenging squad was more rewarding that winning the event itself.

Congratulations on the win and thanks for the report! Do you know if anyone recorded the Top 16?

Shameless plug:

http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/105107-2014-regionals-results/

Congrats on the win! I had a great time as well, though not as good as your obviously.

Wow that's crazy you never lost, especially with a lot of dual falcons present. I have a pretty good track record against elite interceptors because eventually a bad roll happens and poof there goes a ship.

Congratulations macar! I watched a few of your matches and it was fun to watch.

Are you going to Disney world? That's what all champions do, right?

Congratulations macar! I watched a few of your matches and it was fun to watch.

Are you going to Disney world? That's what all champions do, right?

Only if I win worlds lol but that is a whole teir higher....I like to think it in how they measure earthquakes. A store championship is lvl 1, a regional is lvl 2 or 30x harder than a store championship, nationals is lvl 3 x30 harder than lvl 2 or 900x's harder than a store championship. Worlds would be level 4 and 27,000 times harder than a store championship!

I just don't know how you remember the ins And outs of each game. LOL. I only remember certain things, and nothing for some games. And overall I remember I need to get better at maneuvering after the first exchange.

I just don't know how you remember the ins And outs of each game. LOL. I only remember certain things, and nothing for some games. And overall I remember I need to get better at maneuvering after the first exchange.

It comes with playing. I actually only keep information that is important. Why did I loose this ship, how did i let myself get blocked here. What was effective that I can do again, can I do it better?

I feel I have become as comfortable with flying as I possibly can be, so without that clogging up my head I can keep my mind free for actions, and positioning for later rounds. It also allows me to respond better to unpredictable moves.

You know, this makes you the bad guy at Nationals, right? You know, the dark villain that the plucky underdog has to overcome? You've won flawlessly against people the protagonist struggles to overcome. You have an attendant flock of minions who place your maneuver templates for you as you sit back in your custom embroidered robe, sipping on a cocktail made from exotic and unattainable ambrosia.

The protagonist struggles, only owning 3 ships, one of which is missing a wing, that he was able to buy with money scraped together from friends and hard work. The first day he ends up losing a couple times in the initial rounds but barely makes the cut to Top 32 after his plucky sidekick exposes the cheating of someone who made the cut, while you sail through unopposed. Maybe you come by the table and pick on your erstwhile rival. This all inevitably leads to the final showdown between you, where you are on the cusp of victory when he pulls a maneuver that is unheard of but legal, stunning everyone with his skill and destroying your last ship. And thus your hopes of victory dashes, you curse him and vow your revenge.

I may have embellished a bit.

I can't stop laughing and I love the read...thank you Sable

Thanks for the info.

The stuff I do remember is tied around things that went right or could have done better, ie target selection and poor maneuver choices.

Very entertaining read, thanks! I'm curious how you like to open up with that list, I love my TIE/IN's as much as the next guy, but the alpha strikes at range usually always cut one or two of mine down with an all blanks evade roll.

Very entertaining read, thanks! I'm curious how you like to open up with that list, I love my TIE/IN's as much as the next guy, but the alpha strikes at range usually always cut one or two of mine down with an all blanks evade roll.

Something I have been messing up lately (but what I did at the tournament) take the range 3 shot then burn in to range 1. Keep your evade/focus tokens for defense. Also if you can, slip carnor jax in behind the enemy negating focus for the first volley. It's very easy to do, a 5+boost bank then again can put you behind your enemy in two turns

How long did this region take to play? What time did you start and end?

I am thinking about going this year.

How long did this region take to play? What time did you start and end?

I am thinking about going this year.

Last year, phild0 and I finished our match at...I want to say 1:30am? And that still left the Top 4/Final 2 matches left to be played.

We started as close to Noon as possible, and had a dinner break as well. 40-something attended, so we were playing 6 rounds of games in the prelims.

I don't recall how long the time limit on the games were, but given how the game is more popular than ever, you have to assume at least 50+ (if not 60+) will attend and it'd be insane to run anything longer than 60 minute matches.

How long did this region take to play? What time did you start and end?

I am thinking about going this year.

Last year, phild0 and I finished our match at...I want to say 1:30am? And that still left the Top 4/Final 2 matches left to be played.

That sounds about right. Rinehart and I were out drinking (water of course.......) in the parking lot till about 2:30 when Phild0 lost the top 4 match.

They should start earlier then, like about 9am

I'm sure they'd love to hear from you.

(937) 436-7305

Edit -- Additional thought: There is one issue to consider, though, and that's the travel time for those that don't live nearby. Should be there consideration for those driving to the event, and the time of day they'd need to leave in order to make it to a 9:00am event? I'm in Kentucky, so that's a three hour drive for me. Many will be driving in from further out.

I called them and they told me noon right now. The managers are not there right now, they are at the convention in Vegas of course. I will call back next week.

Yeah i plan on attending and it will already be a 4 hour drive for me so setting the even at 9am would probably make it nearly impossible for me to attend.