So, for as long as I've been participating on this forum, there have been complaints about the meta. For me, being new to this, it really started with Wave 4, but that has more to do with being newer to the game than anything else.

A lot of advice that was made - and certainly advice that I've lived by and articulated - has been to go against the grain/meta. As I've mentioned elsewhere, I have a very non-meta list that I have been flying and I will fly again tomorrow at my local store championship. It remains to be seen how well I'll do, or if I'll be trampled.

But, what about the rest of you? How have your non-meta lists, to the degree that you've been flying them at tournaments, been working out for you?

If I look at the Juggler Data, switching between all data and 'elimination round lists only', it seems like the Whispers and Hans grow in percentage use, whereas my poor bombers disappear entirely. The same goes for other elements. That said, if the complainers were correct, those percentage changes should be a lot bigger than they are, in my mind.

But what of your stories? Have you been vindicated by your non-meta choices, or do you feel you are tilting at windmills?

Well, I have been playing 4 xwings lately. It's a simple list, but I have been doing much better with it than i expected. Astromechs have helped a lot.

Tarn with r7

rookie with R3-A2

rookie with P9

Garvin

not a lot of complexity, not much pilot skill, but killed a whisper list and fought a 3 interceptor list to a (almost draw) as we went to time and I conceeded, but it was a very close game.

So i would say that I have been vindicated by my choice........so far.

I went 2 - 2 in a tourney today with a shuttle, defender, generic phantom build. I probably could have won my two losses if I'd of had more experience playing the list I feel, but then the two losses were both against Han so who knowa

Well, I have been playing 4 xwings lately.

Cool, even though I'm an Imperial player, there's just something nice about 4X builds. It feels like X-Wing the way it's supposed to be.

Regarding the match against the Whisper list, how did you prevent Whisper from arc dodging you? Just playing slow, and then hitting the afterburners (4 or 4k) once Whisper got too close?

I always end up using lists that are not Meta competitive, last competitions I have been to, I have taken two defenders and a tie, before that a defender, shuttle and Interceper.

The competitions I went to also had a mix of unusual combos including a y wing list that won one!

The problem is there are optimal lists that will eventually win through, these are lists that are played by good players not just someone who has copied a list from the net.

So while we will have a random unpredictable outcomes at small local events as we progress through qualifiers and eventually into the worlds these weird list will be weeded out until we have one of the recognisable builds that have won recently.

Saying all that, the introduction of Scum should throw things into a whole new spin and while there are Mavericks out there who want to try new things, the so called " Meta" will never be that easy to call.

My list for the up coming store championship, well it's two A wings and Keyan or Tie Bombers and Tie Fighters, love the way the game is shaping up at the moment.

At a recent Store Championship I found myself in first place after the Swiss rounds and ended up in sixth in the top eight with

Ibtisam with Elusiveness, Sensor Jammer, Jan Ors

Luke Skywalker with Draw Their Fire, R2-D2, Shield Upgrade

Jake Farrell with Veteran Instincts, Chardaan Refit, A-Wing Test Pilot, Outmaneuver.

I was surprised that it turned out so well. Clearly it's very defensive, as I thought it might make a three small rebels build more survivable, but it lacks firepower. On the one hand, I'm not sure how much of my success with it had to do with luck. (On one Whisper's remaining two hull, Jake outmaneuvered her behind an asteroid at range three and landed his single hit through her five defense dice. Then my opponent selected the incorrect direction on his dial and landed Whisper on an asteroid, leaving her uncloaked and open for Jake's kill shot.) On the other hand, I wonder how much better I might have been able to do with more experience and more practice with that list.

Because of the low firepower, I don't know if I should keep flying this squad or try something different, but at least this time I had a lot of fun and some unexpected decent success flying something very different.

I always end up using lists that are not Meta competitive, last competitions I have been to, I have taken two defenders and a tie, before that a defender, shuttle and Interceper.

The competitions I went to also had a mix of unusual combos including a y wing list that won one!

The problem is there are optimal lists that will eventually win through, these are lists that are played by good players not just someone who has copied a list from the net.

So while we will have a random unpredictable outcomes at small local events as we progress through qualifiers and eventually into the worlds these weird list will be weeded out until we have one of the recognisable builds that have won recently.

Saying all that, the introduction of Scum should throw things into a whole new spin and while there are Mavericks out there who want to try new things, the so called " Meta" will never be that easy to call.

My list for the up coming store championship, well it's two A wings and Keyan or Tie Bombers and Tie Fighters, love the way the game is shaping up at the moment.

Once the BTL-A4 card drops I think you will see some winning Y-Wing lists. I have proxied that card and it is really fun to get double attacks out of your Y's. They are no longer just a nuisance.

It's been really dice dependent, which is why I ******* hate turrets (always have a shot --> get ready to roll, motherfucker & didn't kill the thing? still one hull? Well, **** you! 0 tournament points)

In terms of flying, though, they've been surprisingly easy to outplay. You just need barrel-roll. Even low PS barrel-roll makes it really easy to set up some very difficult to dodge arcs.

Tie Fighters have been rad

B-wings (especially with FCS) have been rad

Stress Wes also really helps cut down on the damage they deal, even if you don't always end up making use of R3-A2.

All these ships and the 4+ ship lists you can build around them have no problem tackling turrets (especially not in a hull + shield + red dice race), in theory.

In reality, there's always that stupid game where you roll blanks for days and the turret, apparently blessed by the whims of rngesus himself, makes whatever green dice saves it can get.

Not having played very much in the last 6 months, I used my 5X scimitar, howlrunner with swarm list at last weeks store championships.( I think i actually flew into less asteroids than my oppontents.)

I beat the 2 decimator lists i faced, but got owned by the han/chewy combo and the han /dash combo. I did actually get both han and chewy down to a couple of hit points but got wiped out, killed Dash but only had 1 bomber left when time was called.

I went not expecting to win, so I wasnt disappointed and actually had fun in all 4 games.

My round 4 opponent actually said he was glad we got matched up as he had sat next to me in 2 of my previous games and had been entertained watching my performance, win or lose. That comment made the day for me.

There actually weren't that many "meta" lists at the SC I was at today. I actually had pretty ideal matchups for my list in all 4 games, but only went 2-2, just had a rough day overall.

I went 1-3 today with vader + 5 academy pilots today. Don't feel bad only played the list once before this and got maybe 12-14 matches before today. Im sure I would have done better if I had more practice flying. The top player played farlander, biggs, and jan ors for an amazing damage output. Most of the players were running decimators, 2400s, and a few shuttle lists. I saw only 2 players running phantoms but there could have been more. Was really neat to watch a 6 die attack from farlander just remove cloaked phantoms, and pound down large ships in 2-3 turns of shooting.

How was Keyan pulling off six dice? Opportunist plus Jan? Homemade Death Star cannon upgrade?

I've been destroying the crap out of everything with Tarn w/R7, Hull Upgrade and 6 Bandits. Granted my dice have been good as of late but I can fly them fairly well. Most things keel over when faced with my Rebel Swarm.

Just went 2-2 at a store championship in Washington state playing Soontir and a mini swarm. The final 4 matchups were all YT lists...

While I deeply despise this kind of anecdotal evidence, I've been to 2 store championships and both were won by a fat Han supported by a wings (different players)

It wasn't a store championship, but Atlanta had ANOTHER tournament win for out of meta lists.

Trip x wings. Wedge Wes and Luke.

A 4-5 Rebel swarm also won a pre-scum tourney a few weeks back to win a free copy of most wanted.

Anti meta is atlanta's game, don't bring that fat crap or your ghosts.

Nice.

I love it when against the grain lists win tourneys.

The meta should be discussed and considered, but it should NEVER be the law.

It can be fun... but you need to be clear about it before you dive in.

I won a SC with a Soontir, Whisper, and Doomshuttle list.

Not wholly against the grain, but not exactly with it either.

Went 3-3 yesterday. modified loss to a whisper+chiraneau, modified loss to swarm, loss to whisper mini-swarm (though so nearly a win! Lol) so I guess my losses were to 'meta' lists but there was great variety out there. I don't think there was a single ship currently released that wasn't in play.

At a tournament yesterday

1st - 4 Bees

2nd - Admiral/Echo

3rd - Dash/Corran

4th - Han/Leebo

There were a few lists that did well like ORS with 4 A's, 2 Decimators and a few that had Corran. Someone also took 5 Squints which was interesting with a massive alpha strike if they survive the initial contact. And another player I often play against took an A/B/X and a Hwk, so Roark makes Airen a 12 who then swarms onto the Bee and Wedge shoots at 11 with VI.

People were discussing if R2D2 is too powerful because Corran kept regening shields. There was also a few players who were thinking of getting out of xwing because of the large turreted ship meta.

I came 6th out of 50 yesterday with my swarm. 4 APs, 2 alphas and Dark Curse. I lost my first round in the final 8 by 2 points vs a Whisper Decimator list.

I won my local SC with six A-wings. Second place was a five reb list.

Personally I try to always go against meta. Partly because i just hate the phantom so very much. Also because there are a lot of different options in this game now and it's just not fun to play the same thing over and over again.

I should also admit that my area has a huge XW community and there are five stores with regular games within an easy drive, with many regular tournaments, and five easily reachable SCs with four more not too far off. So there isn't as much pressure to win as there may be in an area with only one location that only runs one event every month or three. Everyone around here that wants it has the Han alt art for example, and we don't see a lot of pure meta play.

At a tournament yesterday

1st - 4 Bees

2nd - Admiral/Echo

3rd - Dash/Corran

4th - Han/Leebo

There were a few lists that did well like ORS with 4 A's, 2 Decimators and a few that had Corran. Someone also took 5 Squints which was interesting with a massive alpha strike if they survive the initial contact. And another player I often play against took an A/B/X and a Hwk, so Roark makes Airen a 12 who then swarms onto the Bee and Wedge shoots at 11 with VI.

People were discussing if R2D2 is too powerful because Corran kept regening shields. There was also a few players who were thinking of getting out of xwing because of the large turreted ship meta.

Took my Howlin' Alphas (Howlrunner, 4x Alpha, and a couple Hull/Shield upgrades) to Top 4 in a 28-player SC. Winner was a Whisper-Echo-2x Academy, and 2nd was Kenkirk/Vessery (the one which knocked me out). An A/B/B/E build with a generic E (!) also made Top 4, and narrowly lost to the Phantoms.

Faced 3 Fat Hans as well as a Chewbacca supported by Concussion Missile Z-95s, and beat three of the four.

My two losses (Fat Han before the cut, and Kirk in the elimination rounds) were mainly due to my mistakes - my opponents flew well, I didn't, and I paid the price.

So I learned that headache + lack of sleep + overconfidence in later rounds is not conducive to flying Interceptors, but I'd say that going against the meta worked pretty well for me.