So, I'm thinking of entering a tournament next year.

What tip's and advice would you offer to the uninitiated.

Pick a list before the day of - something you know backward and forward, stick to that and don't second guess yourself

Bring a small tray or cheap .50 cent bin to hold stuff in so you can quickly pack up and move tables

Wear comfortable shoes and bring a water bottle (or two) and maybe a snack as down time is limited

Have fun!

Organize your movement templates by length beside the table.

stash the tokens that a ship can use on the ships card or beside so it so you never need to go hunting for what you need from another case.

A tackle box tray can make a great way to move your units like swimmingordy says.

Try to figure out the weak point and best point of an opponents list when they put it down. Take a minute to think through what they can do.

Have fun. Seriously, don't expect to win your first time out.

Remember to issue orders after moving a unit, casual games I see people get sloppy myself included.

Shower before hand, everyone appreciates a clean person.

Ask your opponent for tips after the game, or what they might have done differently, can learn lots just by asking.

Good Luck.

Fly casual.

Be gracious, whether you win or lose, and whether or not your opponent does.

Have fun.

These things are way more important than what your final ranking is or what prizes you do or don't go home with.

Go with a list you're familiar with and have done well with

Be gracious, win or loss

Chat a little, especially with opponents you know from before. Just don't let it distract you from the game too much

Don't get too frustrated if things aren't going your way. It will undermine your decision making, and more importantly make it less fun to play against you. Don't give in to hate, that leads to the dark side.

Have good hygiene and dress. No need to look liked you're going for your dream job interview, but look respectable. Any star wars related clothing is a plus, but not needed.

Make sure you've brought all your models, cards, templates, dials, etc before you leave.

Relax between rounds. Talk to other players. Whether related to X-Wing or not, these conversations will make you more comfortable with other players, and they will be more friendly towards you

Don't be a jerk to your opponents. However, call them on any cheating that takes place.

Try to arrive at least 10 minutes early, as it helps the TO avoid a last second scramble to register everyone.

Enjoy your victories without gloating. Learn from your losses without whining.

Have fun

As swimmingordy said, pick out a build beforehand. Practice with that build against major meta builds, such as Fat Han or Fat Dash or Phantoms. It would be better to practice against the actual meta builds using actual figures and cards but if you are on a strict budget, then you could practice against a proxy.

Try 60 minute and 75 minute timed games, as those tend to be typical tournament time limits.

i have never played a competitive tournament setting in XWing, (that comes 01.03.15) but i am a LV 1 Magic Judge and a competitive Warmachine player, and i can offer you this advice:

be prepared and have what you need handy. Don't expect your opponents to wait on you or to provide something for you. it sucks up the game time and is frustrating to your opponent.

Be deliberate in your actions, and don't expect people to let you take things back, or to change your dial because you got your orientation backwards. Just play the best you can, take your time, and play at an even pace. Don't rush into stupid decisions, but don't sit there and ponder a decision for 20 minutes. Play deliberately. I for one am making a cheat sheet that details the specifics of your turn order on a piece of paper. It seems stupid, but after countless tournaments, I still use a little bit of a cheat sheet in warmachine, especially for lists i might not have practiced as much as i should have (*cough*woldwrathmorvahana2*cough*).

A few people said this earlier, and i couldnt stress it enough, Take a shower. Even low turn out events, like XWing tournamets still can pack a lot of people into an area that normally isnt super huge. Body order is a thing, and its a bad thing...I have often subscribed to the theory that games need three things: a job, a girlfriend, and a shower. I actually dress up a little for tournaments, i always wear a button up shirt, sperry's and nice jeans or khakis to a tournament, and out of self consciousness, normally throw on a little extra 'jeter to make sure I'm not the offensive one in the room.

set adequate expectations for a tournament. I have placed in the top 8 of several 250+ player magic tournaments, but it didnt happen overnight. you have to prepare, get a good nights rest, eat something for breakfast that is light but satisfying (fruit and cereal work wonders here, but YMMV) and set the expectation for what you want to get out of the tournament. if you're walking in and expecting to win the first one you play in, i think your expectations are wrong and you probably wont live up to the expectation, making the day seem like a waste.

Remember and remind yourself why you play the game. Tournaments can be stressful, and organized play can seem more intimidating, especially when your new, but just remember that you are there to have fun first and foremost. if you loose, congratulate your opponent, and if you win, congratulate them just the same. don't be a jerk, but play to win and don't assume just because your opponent is chatting you up and your having a good time the game will go back to casual. it wont. In most tournaments, even if they're nice, if you forget to re-claok with whisper, your opponent is not likely to let you go back and do it all over again, no matter how nice they are to talk to and play against.

and lastly, go to have fun and make new friends. Be nice to people and enjoy the event. Seek feedback from better players on your list and after the game, if you have time, ask for feedback on things you might have been able to do better in a game and make it a learning experience.

I haven't played in any x-wing tournaments. i have played in a few organized events like release events at my FLGS but nothing official or with prizes, however, i have played in a LOT of WMH tournaments and was a very competitive magic player for a long time, and one thing i have learned is that if it a tournament, the expectations are generally the same.

Oh, and don't be scared to call a judge...i almost forgot...if something feels fishy or dodgy to you, it might be, so don't be afraid to call a judge over to make a ruling or explain something...New tournament players are often scared of doing that because they don't want to piss off their opponents, or seem like the cry baby, but on the other hand, in many games, i have seen veteran players pull **** on their newer opponents because they don't know any better or don't know the interactions as well. I have seen warmachine players get cocky because their opponents are new, and so they over extend, and leave an avenue for their warcaster to get killed (the warcaster is your general, and if he dies, its over. better yet, they normally arent that much tough than a small group of regular infantry) and then when the new player goes to kill their caster, they BS their way out of it, or they make up rules on the spot. a quick calling of the judge over normally fixes this.

not saying all opponents are like that, but many are, for sure.

Pick a list before the day of - something you know backward and forward, stick to that and don't second guess yourself

Bring a small tray or cheap .50 cent bin to hold stuff in so you can quickly pack up and move tables

Wear comfortable shoes and bring a water bottle (or two) and maybe a snack as down time is limited

Have fun!

Depending on the size of your squad you could even fit your squad into cover part of the large ship/aces packaging ( I did this with a Firespray+4 Tie Fighter build), Lay your cards flat, then put the bases on top and then your tokens on top of the bases

I recommend keeping your "set up" the same every game to make it easier, I don't know how many times I would reach for a token/template/damage card with my right hand and look and it would be on my left for some reason

Definitely, seconding the bring snacks/beverages (or be prepared to hit a local vending macine/support the FLGS/fast food place) advice, 5+ hours and you will get hungry and thirsty

Two things to practice that you might not have thought of that greatly improve your odds:

Flying in Asteroids, and the Placement phase.

Master those, and you'll do remarkably well with even a mediocre fleet.

Make sure to read over the Rules and FAQ to understand all the fine details that could come up.

However the most important thing is to just have fun!

1. Don't ***** about the dice. I guarantee you, Dashes-to-donuts, when you do, you're next roll will be great and/or your opponent's will be terrible. You'll look the chump.

2. If you forget something don't ask for a take-back. It puts your opponent in an awkward position they don't deserve, it teaches you to play with a crutch, and (much more rarely) it might remind your opponent NOT to make the same mistake. If you make a mistake, swallow it quietly and move on.

3. Puns. Make them. Celebrate them.

Not a rule, but do have fun. If you don't, you've successfully wasted a day not having fun with a game you normally enjoy. Whatever it is that you love about this game, hold onto it.

Cheers for the advice, the common themes seem to be have fun and take a shower .

Don't think i'll have any trouble with the shower thing, but i may take something to mask others BO....

As for having fun, that's my goal, i don't mind losing it's just when you get fully thrashed time after time it can get frustrating.... there is good in me, i can turn back to the light side. I by no means expect to win first time out but as long as i give em a run for their money i'll be happy.

Ultimately i guess i would like to come away from a tournament with some points to improve on, and if the tournament scene is anything like the forums i imagine i will meet some friendly people who share a love of Star Wars and are willing to offer a few pointers to help improve my game.

I would like to hope that i would continue to show good sportsmanship when playing (like reminding a competitor to take his action, although when I'm losing they don't really need my help - do they?) and would hate to think that a competitive bug would take hold of me.

I haven't timed any games, never occurred to me, so i may keep an eye on the time next game. I also like the idea of playing against the current meta to see how the list holds up.

When the time comes i'll have to post my list online for feedback. Cheers for the tips, keep em coming.

I bought a pill case from Amazon for $5 to handily keep focus, evade, shield, TL, Crit and Ion tokens handy. That helps keep things organized,

Not sure if this was mentioned above - cook up a strategy on asteroid placement depending on your list (do you want them bunched up to draw your opponent through or spread out to suit your own needs) and practice your opening setup and moves. That has LOTS to do with advantage in the game before the dials are ever placed.

Step 3: profit .

Something I try to always do is put my dial once it's set on top of the ship card. I do this for too reasons,1 I have had 2 of my dials mixed up and then had both my ships doing the wrong manouver which put them both on asteroids and cost me the game 2your dials can't get mixed up with your opponents and you don't need to move them out the way of moving ships.

This has a side effect that when I do this I double check that I have the right manouver set for each ship.

I also have all my cards in a card sleave with the corresponding upgrade cards along side it. This makes it easy to move around as I don't need to pack the cards up.

Also I have the side of my tokens ( especially the target locks ) coloured in and the asteroids this makes it easy to determine who's is whos and the asteroids standout more on certain gaming mats so you don't overl them when setting your dial.

As for a tray I use the Xwing core set box as it feels right and is sturdy as well and is a convenient size for the xwing models, funny that hey .

I second the fun part totally, I used to play a lot of 40k tournaments and the xwing players in my area are way more laid back and fun to play. Star Wars one liners lift the mode even when things are going bad. Plus you can always fall back on the fact that you can always improve your game play to the point that list and dice can be the smallest factor in deciding who wins a game, it's can still happen but every loss is a learning game.

As for having fun, that's my goal, i don't mind losing it's just when you get fully thrashed time after time it can get frustrating.... there is good in me, i can turn back to the light side. I by no means expect to win first time out but as long as i give em a run for their money i'll be happy.

Ultimately i guess i would like to come away from a tournament with some points to improve on, and if the tournament scene is anything like the forums i imagine i will meet some friendly people who share a love of Star Wars and are willing to offer a few pointers to help improve my game.

I would like to hope that i would continue to show good sportsmanship when playing (like reminding a competitor to take his action, although when I'm losing they don't really need my help - do they?) and would hate to think that a competitive bug would take hold of me.

Here's the thing;

When you're playing in a competitive format, you're going to be going against people that are playing x-wing at a higher intellectual level than you might be used to in a casual pick-up game, or against your friend. Don't take that as a jab at yourself, just imagine that there are all these little "hacks" to the game that new players don't perceive, but an experienced player knows inside and out.

For instance, did you know that each range band is 2.5 times the length of a small ship base? Did you know that a small ship base is the same length as 1 unit of forward movement? If you know this, your reaction is probably like "yeah, obviously", and this knowledge can help you make clutch decisions and moves in-game. To the uninitiated, trying to keep ships in Range 1 for something like a Howlrunner effect might have you over or underestimating the distance needed because you don't know what Range 1 really is, if you catch my drift; you're just kind of guessing.

There are a lot of things like that to the game. Knowing them will make you a better player, and you can bet that a high performer in your tournament probably knows this.

Honestly, knowing "the game" at that level will help your chances in a tournament better than any top-tier list will. The Worlds champion had a fantastic list, but if you're playing like an amateur you are not going to dominate your local tournament by copying what he brought to the table.

Your own pilot skill will get you there better than your list.

If you feel like you're always losing, it's probably because of something I touched on above, not because you made a sub-optimal list, though that might have a role. Did you have a list in mind for your tournament? Share your thoughts with us. Not just the list, but why you made each decision on it.

If you're worried about the game ending before you can win, to paraphrase Nirvana, take your time but hurry up. What that means is, try not to be in a rush to slap down your dials and make all your activations so fast that you forget to take an action somewhere. On the flip side, do not succumb to analysis paralysis. When you're going to fly a ship somewhere, try to imagine where that is going to take you in another turn or two. What do you think you opponent is doing, etc. With experience you can learn to read your opponent's options based on the ships in question.

Print out a one-sheet of all the maneuver options for each ship, which you can find on boardgamegeek.com's x-wing page in the files section. Use that while you play so you don't get caught with your pants down with things like the Lambda Shuttle's 0-move, or the TIE Defender's white K-Turn. TIE Fighters can't move 1 forward, etc.

Things like that don't need to be memorized ahead of time. Bring notes along, by all means. BUT, respect that this is a timed match, so keep it moving. Refer to these things while your opponent is moving a ship, or you otherwise have a couple of seconds of down time. Don't stand idly by.

Lastly, because you're new to the tournament scene for X-Wing, don't bail after the first couple of rounds if it's going badly. Play the whole thing out and keep trying to seriously win your matches. Maybe you don't win the tournament, maybe you don't even make the Top 8 cut, but track your progress.

Maybe your first time out you going 0-4, but pay attention to your points destroyed each game. At the next tournament, maybe it's still 0-4, but are you coming closer to getting those wins in any given match? If you can see that points destroyed number creeping up, eventually you'll make it to that first match win, and then maybe one day it's 2-2. Now you're just tightening up your game to the point where you're making zero execution errors, and one day you'll find yourself in that Top 8 cut, and maybe even getting a tournament win. Making small, attainable goals when you go out to these events will help motivate you to keep getting better.

Make a New Years' resolution right now and commit to yourself that in 2015, you will make it into the Top 4 of a tournament. Even if it's once, and you go to 10 tournaments, just recognize that you have a goal, and you're striving for it. When you get there, celebrate that success, and aim higher.

I told myself that this coming year I will play in a final table. I aim to do that. Historically in X-Wing I've made a few Top 8's, and won an Imdaar Alpha event. I feel like I'm setting a realistic goal for X-Wing in 2015 that will require me to stay sharp as we start Store Championships with Wave 5 and possibly Scum and Villainy. Eventually that TIE Advanced fix will come out and we'll all have to adapt for that too. Who knows what the end of the summer will bring to shake up the meta. It's exciting to have to keep learning new tactics in a game while still pushing yourself to aim high.

Good luck out there. When in doubt; take the Focus. Also, don't forget to take the action in the first place.

Tips?

Get a good night's sleep and eat before the first game.

Pack water and keep hydrating.

If you do manage to finish a match early, go around and watch other matches still ongoing (don't go backseat pilot though) and laugh along if players on that particular table are laughing as well.

Have fun.

Everything else you learn in practice games and casuals. Treat your tournaments as you would casual games but added attention to not hitting asteroids and not forgetting your actions.

Have fun.

Have fun.

Crush your enemies.

See them driven before you.

Hear the lamentations of their women.

Best tip? Have fun.

Just because it's a "Tournament" doesn't mean you can't have fun, unless its the official tournament circuit (Store/Regional/national/worlds) all it really means is it's more structured and usually has prize/s.

Other than that just a repeat of above, better to pick a list and prepare it and everything you need before hand, make sure you know how to get to the venue, where to park, etc.

Whole lot of really banal advice going your way. If you need to be told to have fun or try hard or whatever you probably wouldn't have been mentally capable of registering for a forum account in the first place.

If you're looking for a tip to perform well at the tournament, here it is: Find a list that placed well at worlds or a regional or a team covenant vassal bonanza that has a big turret ship in it. Fly it a bunch of times the week before against your friends. Then fly it some more. The netlisting will help give you an idea of why some cards are good. The turret will help you maintain shots because you are new, and therefore suck at maneuvering - it will also dumpster a lot of the bad lists that you will see by virtue of it being a big turret ship. Flying it a bunch will help you because you're bound to do dumb stuff with a big ship if you haven't become familiar with it.

If you do that you'll probably place well and you will learn a lot about how to play X-wing from the people that beat you (if they even do)

Whole lot of really banal advice going your way. If you need to be told to have fun or try hard or whatever you probably wouldn't have been mentally capable of registering for a forum account in the first place.

If you're looking for a tip to perform well at the tournament, here it is: Find a list that placed well at worlds or a regional or a team covenant vassal bonanza that has a big turret ship in it. Fly it a bunch of times the week before against your friends. Then fly it some more. The netlisting will help give you an idea of why some cards are good. The turret will help you maintain shots because you are new, and therefore suck at maneuvering - it will also dumpster a lot of the bad lists that you will see by virtue of it being a big turret ship. Flying it a bunch will help you because you're bound to do dumb stuff with a big ship if you haven't become familiar with it.

If you do that you'll probably place well and you will learn a lot about how to play X-wing from the people that beat you (if they even do)

While it may not be relevant strategy-wise, be warned.

Expect to meet at least one guy who is gonna be a complete ass. Maybe more. It happens.
On the bright side, if you expect it and there is no one, then you'll be pleasantly surprised