I made the trek to Fargo, and though I didn't do well, I did observe what will (I believe) become a truly memorable event in X-Wing history.
And it's all captured on twitch.tv at the 26:30 mark
http://www.twitch.tv/paradoxcnc/b/668805401
Round 5 Prelim Match - Joe Micka vs Ryan Hatzenbeller
Joe is flying Rear Admiral Chiraneau with Fel
Ryan is flying a Patrol Leader with mini Tie Swarm
The battle is fierce and in the end it comes down to the two Decimators.
The Rear Admiral is down to two hits left. The Patrol Leader is still healthy at five health.
The Rear Admiral fires with target lock - and gets two hits and a crit (damaged sensor array). He has Vader. His choices are Vader the Patrol leader and hope to draw the direct hit, or hope that the Patrol Leader flubs his four die attack with focus. What would you do?
Joe (with steel cajones) activates Vader hoping to draw the Direct Hit for a draw.
He does.
Amazing.
Just in case you wanted to know, the odds of rolling 0, 1 or 2 hits on four dice with focus is about 14.3%
The odds of drawing a direct hit (from a complete deck) is 21.2% (and since some critical cards had been revealed that were not direct hits, it may have been higher)
Somebody told him the odds.
Congrats to Joe for an Epic Play (even though he beat me in the prelims). And kudos to Ryan who made top eight with that final draw.
And thanks to Paradox for hosting a great event.