i don't know what to think really...13 out of the top 32 used either super chewie or super han. I feel its turning the game into a list building activity more than dog fighting. with a 360 turret, you can make bad moves and it may not hurt you. Its an easier way to play and requires a following a repetitive system rather than having to think much about movement.

Love the game but feeling discouraged on where it is going...

i don't know what to think really...13 out of the top 32 used either super chewie or super han. I feel its turning the game into a list building activity more than dog fighting. with a 360 turret, you can make bad moves and it may not hurt you. Its an easier way to play and requires a following a repetitive system rather than having to think much about movement.

Love the game but feeling discouraged on where it is going...

I'd like to discourage balance talk in this thread as much as possible. That being said, the final is a good example of a game where you cannot possibly blame balance: please watch the game and tell me where Paul made bad moves which didn't hurt him, tell me which moves you've seen being done again and again in past games and show me a single maneuver he did that wasn't thought through.

Exactly, as much as it seems Falcons were in abundance at the top level, Paul didn't use any of their main attributes to defeat Morgan. The C-3PO+Title tankiness wasn't even a factor. It all came down to top class maneuvers by Paul.

Does anyone think Paul's opening was pre planned out, or did he come up with it on the fly? I watched the asteroid placements again and he placed all the key rocks. I.e. the one the Talas came round and the one he came within millimetres of hitting following that 4 forward. That first rock he placed was also very deliberate.

Having watched (and copied) his opening from last years TC vassal final, where the 2 Daggers and Rookie hard turn into the centre either side of a rock and Biggs tucks in behind it, still at R1 of everyone, I wouldn't be surprised!

I don't know if I'm reading to much into it or not though.

Exactly, as much as it seems Falcons were in abundance at the top level, Paul didn't use any of their main attributes to defeat Morgan. The C-3PO+Title tankiness wasn't even a factor. It all came down to top class maneuvers by Paul.

Yep. I am not a terrible player, but if I had been flying Paul's list I would have been smashed. As would most of the rest of us.

I would probably have tried to hop over the edge of the swarm and taken too much damage on the way through to recover.

So you just made me watch the asteroid placement for the 5th time. The first asteroid Paul placed was initially measured from the edge of the board, his second was relative to the first, so he might have set them up for those specific movements.

I'm 100% sure the opening was pre-planned in general terms, but I don't know if he planned on exactly on that sequence of moves that ended with that 4 forward. He placed each asteroid within range 1 of another asteroid in a pattern that wouldn't allow for many decloaks. Indeed he seemed to make room for that 4 forward, but I'm not sure what would have happened had Morgan chosen his left corner for deployment.

So you just made me watch the asteroid placement for the 5th time.

Lol!

Though that is what a dislike about most Youtube videos of matches, they all seem to start after the rocks have been placed so I'm never sure if I'm missing some pre planned opening or just crazy-skills, on-the-hoof flying!

I'd also be interested to hear from other people who played Paul other there two days if the bait and switch with the Falcon was a common theme or not.

I know Paul, he plays in our group and I can say with certainty those asteroids were planned as was the set up and opening moves. (not because he told me, but because that is always the way he plays.)

You play Paul, you need to be 3 moves ahead of the current one because he certainly is.

His spacial awareness is mad skills as well.

His list was researched and designed for the long game, to lower the odds his opponent could lay down damage fast enough. Other than dice, Paul leaves nothing to chance.

He is, of course, also one of the nicest people around.

He said himself that he had no idea if that 4 forward would fit or not and having to do that because of the phantom.

Some great comments/analysis here and it is always good to see people getting into the depth of the game with detailed breakdowns.

First up - I'll be happy to answer any questions any of you have about why I did what I did or what I was thinking, I have no shame in losing to Paul, or admitting the fact he outflew me - I believe he is legitimately the best player in the world and he dictated the game to me. In fact - it was a pleasure to experience his control of the game first hand as I haven't faced someone of his caliber before. Keith Wilson and Dallas Parker are both exceptional players but for me - Paul Heaver is the Roger Federer of X-Wing and the best I have faced so far!

My squad matches up pretty well against most Falcons but I have always had a lot of trouble against Han with an Engine. The reason I say this, and most of you will know, is that Han will be (should be) moving last and boosting out of most of my arcs unless I can get a block or a careless asteroid bump. Han then cruises around and chips away at my squad until I don't have the firepower left to kill him. Give Han and an Engine to the best player in the world and my squad is in trouble.

It's not all bad though and I can pull off the win at acceptable rates as long as Han isn't toting VI as well - then it is as bad as a match up can get for me.

In a timed game I might go for the support and a points win but in an untimed game Han has to die while I have the guns and health to do it. Paul is too good player to leave his Tala's unsupported for longer than 1 turn so I had to be ready to go for an opportunity if I saw one.

So - enough of that - what was my plan?

1. Deploy a tight asteroid field to either a) force Han around it and make him targetable because he is either going left/right of the asteroid field or b) force a desperate Han error on the rocks because he is running from my Ties that will allow massive damage if he gets it wrong.

2. Setup centrally to try and force one of the above options to occur and be able to react to in time to capitalise. If he splits Han to the side go for the support while Han is away, otherwise:

3. Go all out for Han if an opportunity presents. Now the argument to go after Han or the support always fascinates me and I think it has too many variables to say one is always the right choice over the other. Key to it though is how your squad holds up to consistent shooting and the ability to withstand either the support fire or Han's fire. In my squad's case the support fire of 2 attacks doesn't usually bother me too much but the accurate and consistent Han shooting does.

Noting the above and my record against Engine Han's - I knew I likely had 1 shot (maybe 2) at nailing him down before it was game over. If I was going for Han I needed to go hard. Maybe I play too aggressively but I've tried the long game against Han with my squad and it hasn't paid dividends.

The asteroid setup and opening moves I was relatively happy with and when I saw Han Boost to be just behind the asteroid field early I didn't think Paul could land the 4 fwd on the next turn. To me he had the aggressive hard right 1 option or safe fwd 3 without the ability to Boost (i'll need to watch the replay to confirm but that's my memory of it now). I saw this as my opportunity and bet it all on him not landing the 4 fwd. Simple as that. Once he landed that 4 fwd and boosted out it was all but game for me.

Paul's judgement was excellent and he got Han out of there, if he had turned in or landed on a rock it might have been a close game but he didn't and it wasn't. My subsequent turn of recommitting to the Tala's was poorly executed and probably my sloppiest of the tournament and I am happy to admit that. I also think that highlights the difference between a good player and an exceptional one - the ability to execute consistently and without error every turn. From what I saw - Paul executed consistently well over both days and most importantly - in the final.

Once Han had boosted out I wanted to drop a couple of Tala's before Han could get back into the fight. Unusually good dice might have made up for my poor execution there but they didn't. As we all saw and knew it was a downward spiral from there.

Overall I think this game was a good example of a player being able to dictate the game through superior execution and board control, Paul's moves forced me to take risks and make hard decisions and he flew like the champion he is.

Now there Morgan, there is no need to talk yourself down. I'm sure you played an exceptional tournament, and you also went all out in the final match, you just made one "wrong" guess about a move, which is nothing to be ashamed of. That is exactly what i like about X-Wing the Poker aspect in the planing phase, where you can never be sure if the opponent is bluffing until you go all in and either catch him off guard or get beaten by a superior hand :-)

And BTW as a player from Switzerland i like your comparison to Roger Federer, but since Roger was/is the Master of adapting his playstile and masterling almost all surfaces and conditions, i would like to see Paul participate with an Imperial list next year :-D

But seriously, congratulations on your excellent Worlds performance and on your insights of the final game in your report. Keep your head up high, in the end you life in one of the most beautifull countries in the world with the friendliest people i met so far and it seems like you're one of them too :-)

Cheers Mate

Hi Morgan, thanks for joining in!

It was an interesting plan, but it seems Han will find a way to fit between tight asteroids. This could work against most players, but Paul was so precise in his asteroid placement he probably planned for a way in and out of the asteroids. In my opinion, a 3 forward with a left boost would also have been possible, but I haven't seen anybody agree with me on that so I might be wrong. This would have been disadvantageous for you as well, it's too far for Ties to make a dent into Han's ship.

I personally prefer asteroids sprinkled everywhere so I can always duck behind them against Han, but that's just because I am an Echo player.

I think you had an excellent run and you should be proud of it. To continue the tennis analogies, you did not have "unprovoked errors" in this game, Paul put you in bad situations.

P.S. I had it all wrong! I was looking for a mirrored position, but I am now convinced Paul never intended to setup on his left side, he was going on the right side no matter what! He would have pincered you differently if you were to setup up opposite of him! (Han would do the same maneuvers, Bandits would stall, you would be forced to make the same choice, but Han would be able to do that 1 hard and never be out of the fight)

edit: Bandits, not Talas

Thanks Morgan!

I really enjoy hearing about this side of the game and can't fault any of your reasoning. If Paul had done any other manoeuvre you would have had him in heaps of trouble!

Also from what I saw on Twitch over the weekend I was very impressed with your gameplay and general conduct. Massive props and hope to see more of you in the future.

I echo what others have said about asteroids. I know your plan is to pin him in with them but I think there is at least 1 player who that doesn't work against.

I feel like if I faced Paul with this list a few times over I would eventually resort to running around the asteroids for awhile just so he can't plan the whole opening like that. I don't know if it would work but clearly if you engage him straight out of the gate he's already got himself a place to go.

I could hear C-3P0 telling Han the odds of successfully navigating that asteroid field..

Most excellent game! It was very enjoyable to watch two very high caliber players.

It was a very interesting game to watch for sure, especially since I was able to not only play on the final last year, but got matched up against both Paul and Morgan's exact lists prior.

Morgan:

After the first two asteroids went down, I thought you had the advantage. After playing Paul, he had a near exact spot near the center of the board to put his first asteroid. Since you placed the big rock first, you forced him to alter his initial rock placement. That is a solid advantage. However, I wasn't quite sure with how tight the field was with 6 asteroids. But I totally hear you on trying to nail down Han with asteroids. Do you go for Han first, and pray whisper has 1 hull left to take out 3 Tala's (not a bad situation). Or do you bail, wipe the Talas, and hope your 2ish Ties and Whisper can burn down Han with the defense without missing a critical move with Whisper? The first option does sound the best.

Also, the phrase "can't see the forest due to the trees" kept popping into my head. I'm usually better at the micro maneuver tactics, rather than the macro strategy maneuver tactics. Taking a moment, I would describe the situation in two ways on that critical turn. 'I can bank in the mini-swarm and whisper, missing both asteroids, to get some nice R1-R2 shots on a tank Han and burn off all his shields and some hull'. While also: 'I can bank into the exact a dense 6 asteroid formation, and have to break off everyone in some desperate maneuvers to avoid asteroids while taking sub-optimal shots for couple follow-up rounds'. From an outside, unbiased perspective, the answer is mostly easier to make. However, in game, in so scary and unclear. I had *slightly* similar situation to you from last year. Everything in my body was screaming at myself to turn toward Paul's Bs and Xs to start shooting quick. I thought I might get boo'ed off the stage for flying up and down my side of the rocks, waiting for him to turn in, while he did the same thing to me. Would it have been a horrible choice? Heck yes. Was it an obvious choice to me at the time on the big stage? No. I think I actually started to turn my dials into a bank on the second turn, and I was screaming at myself to turn them back to straight. So I totally hear you on trying to execute a risky move that could give you the upper-hand.

Plus I do have to hand it to you for staying alive for 1.5hrs in that match. You made some really good decloak moves to keep you in the game. Unfortunately you needed some dice luck, and the red dice were just not helping at all for whisper (5 dice attack with a Howl rr and the Tala loses a single shield from what I remember as an example).

Also, welcome to the World finalist club! Glad to have a new member I can talk to

Plus I think there is going to be a new meta build: the Anti-Paul meta. Yep, you're that good Paul

Thanks for the input Dallas - You raise some good points in there that your hard fought experience has taught you and I appreciate the analysis and honesty.

I had to laugh at the last couple of lines in your post and you know what? Whilst it is a bit tongue in cheek humour I think I agree with you! Paul is good enough to warrant a new meta - the Anti-Paul meta! Perhaps you could coin it the 'APM build'?

Now - Get cracking on the winning the TCO Vassal tourney as I backed you all the way on the Challenge bracket!