So recently I've attended two beginner (there will be a third one later) tournaments with the following rules and restrictions.

The first one was at 60 points and only allowed the player to use whatever cards and pilots that's included in the starter box plus the contents of one small expansion. No large expansions allowed. The idea was to allow beginners to easily start up the game with a small investment.

Second tournament raised the bar to 80 points and allowed players to add another expansion.

The third and upcoming tournament will raise the squadsize to a full 100 points and add yet another expansion.

This has proven to be a fun and interesting experience for both beginners and veterans alike. Players starting out get a good chance to learn the game and be fairly competitive at the same time, while the limited ships, cards and upgrades forces veterans to rethink their game and break old habits.

However, the thing I take away from this has been how the lack of large ships has effected the tournament. Basically it's been a lot of fun for all sides! As an example, the Phantom, while still dangerous, has not been the unbeatable boogie man that it is often made out to be since it cannot take Veteran Instincts. Of course the downside to this format is that some ships are left out of the loop completely, especially the TIE advanced. What do you guys think? Could we be onto something here?

I think it's pretty cool. I've thought about running a tournament I call "X-wing Classic". It's the regular game without Phantoms, Decimators, Falcons, or Outriders.

The first one was at 60 points and only allowed the player to use whatever cards and pilots that's included in the starter box plus the contents of one small expansion.

Wow, that is exactly what I've been working on for our local shop. Yeah, seems like a great way to get new players involved, while also mixing things up for the vets and helping to level the playing field. The "slow-grow" aspect of an additional expansion is interesting, but I think you may start to lose veterans that way. I think the vets would be willing to do a one-off with these restrictions, but may not continue. And with the low price-point of this game compared to other minis games (where the slow-grow league concept really shines), I'm not sure taking it too much further than the initial event would be necessary.

Thanks for sharing!

Seems like a great way to introduce new players to vets without them being creamed but the vets larger collections.

Of course vets still know how to fly better but equallzing out the builds and cards available goes a long way.

For veteran players, you could condense this idea to a single tournament, similar to escalation. Since escalation has 5 stages, you could even do the following:

First round, only Core set + one Wave 1 expansion.

Second round, add one expansion from Wave 2, and so on.

Of course, the first round will be hard for imperials, since they can only choose between 3 Tie Fighters or 2 Tie Fighters and on Tie Advanced. Maybe allow them 4 Tie Fighters? And for here, I dont see a reason to not allow the large ships.

Might be fun once in a while, might be a bad idea.

I think it's pretty cool. I've thought about running a tournament I call "X-wing Classic". It's the regular game without Phantoms, Decimators, Falcons, or Outriders.

I'm not sure you need to remove Phantoms as long as the big ships are not allowed. Though if you do end up doing it, be sure to write about your and the players impressions.

Wow, that is exactly what I've been working on for our local shop. Yeah, seems like a great way to get new players involved, while also mixing things up for the vets and helping to level the playing field. The "slow-grow" aspect of an additional expansion is interesting, but I think you may start to lose veterans that way. I think the vets would be willing to do a one-off with these restrictions, but may not continue. And with the low price-point of this game compared to other minis games (where the slow-grow league concept really shines), I'm not sure taking it too much further than the initial event would be necessary.

Thanks for sharing!

You might have a point about veterans not continuing, but so far from two tournaments none of the veterans in my area seem to have regretted participating.

For veteran players, you could condense this idea to a single tournament, similar to escalation. Since escalation has 5 stages, you could even do the following:

First round, only Core set + one Wave 1 expansion.

Second round, add one expansion from Wave 2, and so on.

Of course, the first round will be hard for imperials, since they can only choose between 3 Tie Fighters or 2 Tie Fighters and on Tie Advanced. Maybe allow them 4 Tie Fighters? And for here, I dont see a reason to not allow the large ships.

Might be fun once in a while, might be a bad idea.

It's certainly worth a try or two. Might be more fun than one might expect. Besides the TIE advanced would probably not show it's high price as much in the wave 1 scenario.