OK, so I've been to a couple of X-Wing tournaments now, and I've had a lot of fun playing against different people, different ships and different builds.

But one thing irks me slightly. And that's having to use the same list across half a dozen or so games over the course of a day.

X-Wing is a LOT of fun, but some of the fun (for me, at least) comes from changing things around, trying different combinations of ships and upgrades and playing both factions.

So, with that in mind...

Has anyone played in a competitive event where you're required to take two lists - one Imperial, one Rebel - and play three games with each over the course of the event? Would anyone actually be interested in such an event? And how difficult would it be to manage / avoid mirror matches etc?

I'm not a big fan of that idea.

I like the way it is.

I mess around with builds in casual games, and use more serious build for competitive

That would be awesome in a tournament.

I haven't seen any like that though.

I've wanted to try an Escalation tournament for that reason, and because it's not a lot of fun to show up at a tournament with a list and find out after the first round that it's going to be a weak match-up against what everyone else brought.

We had a tournament a few months back. You had to bring two lists, and you couldn't use the same named pilot in each. Before the match, your opponent reviewed your options and chose the list that you had to use. It was interesting, but it was also a real hassle to haul twice as many assembled ships and loose cards around between tables. For entirely theme-related issues, I would like to run a tournament where everyone has a Rebel and Imperial list, and factions are randomly assigned for each game such that there are no mirror matches. These sorts of ideas would be best with really small groups, I think.

Also, Rodrigo brings up a good point. Escalation is a lot of fun. It complicates list building significantly, and adds some variety to the usual format. It may be what you are looking for.

I've been thinking something through: Three players, one list each approx. 125pts (all have to be the same faction would be the caveat), probably a 4'x6'board; One is a captain/strategist, the other two are only allowed to move/use their own ships/lists. Three games, everyone rotates.

Just a thought really. I like the concept, but not easy to play test (out this way anyway).

I was thinking something like this would work better in a league play setting that is ongoing.

We are going to try a Two List format for one of our Kessel Run tournament Stages this fall. Should be a lot of fun.

Details here: http://kesselrun.byethost12.com

Also, I wholeheartedly recommend trying out Escalation, its very fun.

I am very much against this idea. IMO Double or Triple list tournaments are gimmicks used in other games to veil/reduce the inherent balance issues. Allowing this completely deforms the meta.

My opinion is X-Wing is impeccably balanced and thus does not need this crutch. Even lists which have inherent weaknesses can beat their 'worst match ups' through flying well, and taking such lists you should at least be aware of the weakness and be willing to accept the risk.

I mean, at the Madness regional in Plano this season the ultimate winner (who was flying a Whisper list) had to beat a double YT-1300 list in the top 4 to advance. I think we can all agree that the double Falcon player had a significant advantage in that match up, but the underdog pilot won despite that.

I'm a tournament organizer for my local scene, and I plan to run several events this year, each one different from the one before. Once our player base is established and well-known, and have had some time to build up their collections, I'm planning to run a no-mirror-matches event.

I'm thinking that players will show up to the table and announce their faction preference. If both players want to play the same faction, they have a roll-off with one attack die. Critical hit > hit > focus > blank. In the case of a tie, roll again. Winner chooses their faction, loser plays the opposing faction.

On the second and later rounds of play, players announce their faction preferences as usual. If they choose a different faction from the one they played last round, they get to add one attack die to the roll-off, keeping the highest result.

To keep players honest, I'll hand out cards at the end of each round with the player's name and faction played, and by the third round (which will probably be the maximum number of rounds we'll run in any tournament or event), those cards will add up. So in the third round, you may have one player that has played twice as Rebels but would have preferred to play Imperials -- if that player announces that they would like to play Imperials in the third round they would have two Rebel cards that provide them with two additional attack dice for the roll-off. However, if a player reaches the third round having played both previous rounds as Imperials, and announces that they want to play Imperials again, they wouldn't receive any additional dice for the roll-off.

Surprised the Galactic Cup that MrFroggies put together on TC hasn't been mentioned yet. It started with 144 players and each one had to submit two squads. At the beginning of each game the players had to simultaneously reveal which squad they were using and then things continued as normal from there.

I thought it was great, gave you choices, and in a tournament where it lasts up to three months to complete since you're generally doing a game a week online it keeps you from being forced to run the same list that entire time.

Anyway could go on about the details and how good it is for a long format tournament such as this but here's the link to the semi final post (of which a game is being played tonight on vassal). Check it out and there's links to the previous rounds as well, including log files for replays of all the games if you want to take a look. http://teamcovenant.com/mrfroggies/2014/07/30/galactic-cup-semi-finals/

Hearing "suggestions" that X-Wing bring in some kind of "sideboard" mechanic has led me to believe that a "two-list" solution could be the closest thing that would actually work.

The way I believe it should work is that you bring two lists to the game and hand your lists to your opponent while he does the same to you. After looking at your opponent's lists you secretly decide which of YOUR lists you want to play; each player simultaneously reveals their choices and the match is played normally using the revealed lists.

Now I recognize that all kinds of "rules" could be made governing your two lists but my suggestion is pretty simple: each list must be legal. Note that you not only could use the same pilot in each list you could actually use the same list twice although that gives the opponent the advantage of knowing exactly what you will be flying. Of course if you want to add restrictions you could say any unique could only be used in one list, require that each list share X number of ship types, or even require that they be completely different factions. I believe the KISS idea would be any two legal lists which could be just one list used twice; that way someone with a single list isn't unduly penalized for not having the resources required to build two completely different lists.

I am very much against this idea. IMO Double or Triple list tournaments are gimmicks used in other games to veil/reduce the inherent balance issues. Allowing this completely deforms the meta.

Of course it's a gimmick. Nobody wants to see this at competitive events, but it is fun to do something different.

We are starting a league here in the Sacramento area. One of the rules is you submit 2 ready made squads for the duration of the league (6 weeks or so). they are numbered 1 & 2. When u get to the table, you look over your opponents lists and he looks over yours. You then both pick up a dial and choose a 1 maneuver or 2 maneuver and place them face down. When you both are ready, you both reveal them at same time and thats the list for that fight.

I love the idea of two list tournaments! There are so many things that can be done, it would be a blast!

Here's one example: two lists, you play each list twice for a total of four rounds! You can have an overall winner, a Rebel winner and an Imperial winner! Short, simple and fun!

I would love to play in a tournament with either 2 Lists or Sideboards. Very often I am stuck last minute on my way to the FLGS and I can't decide between two(or more) lists so being able to play multiple lists would be fun.

I would also like to see a tournament played with a set number of rounds (lets say 4 for simplicity) You need 4 lists heading into this with say no duplicate unique pilots and some sort of limit on generics. Maybe the same generic cannot be used in more than 2 lists but you can have as many of those generics in those 2 lists as points allowed. (IE I can run Super Han + 3 Bandits for one list, a Etahn+5 Bandit Swarm for another but in my last 2 lists I cannot use a Bandit Squadron Pilot). Then at the first round after seeing your opponent's 4 lists you each select the one you will use. Then Round 2 You and your opponent then do the same thing with the 3 remaining lists, round 3 you repeat again with your last 2 lists, Then round 4 you have your last list.

I think that would certainly open up some interesting strategies (not in-game tactics, actual strategic thinking). Do I use my best list to snag points/MoV early, Do I save it for a potentially harder opponent? Will I get a better match-up against a future opponent? Do I risk a Rock-Paper-Scissors style match up round one or do I play it safe with an All comers? All of those questions I think would be really fun to find out the answer too when the game is on the line