In the core rulebook, under setup, the first 2 steps say that players should choose sides, then build their squads in secret. What I'm wondering is, does anybody wait until just before a game to pick their list?

Obviously this is about casual play only, as tournament lists must be pre-built and cannot change between rounds. Also purely academic; I'm genuinely curious about different or favourite approaches to choosing what to fly in any given game.

So what say you all?

Do you pre-craft every list you fly, carefully optimizing all options?

Do you have a favourite ship/list/build that you can't play without?

Do you use casual games to refine skills & combos for the next competition?

Do you sit down to play, look deep into your opponent's eyes, and then whip up a squad based on how many eyelashes you can count in twelve seconds without blinking?

What about randomly generated lists?

Bring your favourite build to game night, then have everyone swap lists with their opponent just before the match?

Does anyone else have that Eve6 song stuck in their head now, or is that just me?

There's no wrong answer here, just wondering...

Whenever I play, I spend some time beforehand, tweaking the lists I'm most excited about playing right now. I'll take pre-built lists with me to the event, and often let the opponent randomly draw one of them - I actually even took two lists to the last tournament and had another player draw the one I'd actually fly

Sometimes I have a build ready that I want to try out, other times I'll just rummage through cards and pick what looks fun just before the game.

Well, for me, I just bring one build to a casual night and play all my games with that one build no matter what I'm facing.

My problem is that I have too many build combinations I'd like to try out and not enough play time to do so.

If I'm going to be demoing the game for new players, or if it's a casual get-together and I don't know exactly what sort of scenarios we'll be playing, I'll bring my whole collection and build squads on the spot.

If I'm going to a tournament or other event where the squad limits are known ahead of time, I'll bring a prepared squad. It's more portable that way.

I have a stack of squads I've made in Voidstate's builder, and I keep them in my game bag. I'll pull one of them out and use it. Some are purely for giggles, some are serious.

Usually I plan in advance. Mostly because I've yet to acquire an easy way to transport my full collection, so unless I'm playing at home building on the spot is kind of impossible.

My problem is that I have too many build combinations I'd like to try out and not enough play time to do so.

I have the same problem. So many options, not enough games!

Well, for me, I just bring one build to a casual night and play all my games with that one build no matter what I'm facing.

An alternate for this would be to bring two teams, preferably ones that have some units in common to reduce the amount of stuff you must carry (e.g. Soontir Fel + Mini-Swarm, Kressis Trellix + Mini-Swarm. TIE Mini-Swarm will be used for both builds). Then, I flip a coin, roll dice, or use some other random method to choose which list will be used first. Then, I will alternate the list I use. So, say, first game is Fel + Mini-Swarm. Second game will be Trellix + Mini-Swarm. Third game will be back to Fel + Mini-Swarm.

That way, I can try out two builds on the same casual night. (I found most games to last about an hour to an hour and a half, so unless you plan to stay 4-5 hours, bringing a third list will probably be unnecessary.)