Galactic Cup Finals

By sozin, in X-Wing

Great write-up, thank you!

Awesome flying, too. I think PalpAces fans would typically rate this a good matchup against your list, but you've definitely proven it's not that simple. How do you think your list fares against PalpAces generally, barring any piloting errors from either side?

Looking forward to your write-up on the tournament in general. Great flying and your insights into the matchup and specific major decisions are very enlightening.

@kelvan & co

as much as I enjoy watching the games (thank you very much for the opportunity!), do you by chance upload them to youtube, too?

because twitch really is a pain to watch, at least for me; I very much suspect bandwidth problems and a lack of bufferning by twitch, but whatever the reason:

youtube works like a charm, twitch is... twitchy ;)

I'm working on a youtube channel for our stuff. I'll try to get it up there.

Another interesting thought I had was to explore the asteroid placement in this match further. Conventional wisdom normally has you set up a dense cluster of asteroids in the middle if you are a Turret and you are facing Arc ships. In this match the center was left open. I did not feel constrained by the asteroids, but my opponent had multiple turns where they took away his best movement options. It was like Han controlled the center, forcing the opponent to fly more on the outside where the asteroids got in the way.

you know I like your thought process. additionally turrets in the middle of the board are more likely to have shots than on the edge right?

@kelvan & co

as much as I enjoy watching the games (thank you very much for the opportunity!), do you by chance upload them to youtube, too?

because twitch really is a pain to watch, at least for me; I very much suspect bandwidth problems and a lack of bufferning by twitch, but whatever the reason:

youtube works like a charm, twitch is... twitchy ;)

I'm working on a youtube channel for our stuff. I'll try to get it up there.

I mentioned this in the comments on the twitch cast, but not sure anyone caught it. While it would likely be tough to get the matches set up this far ahead of time, it would probably get you guys a good number more viewers if you announced these twitch streams on your podcast.

@kelvan & co

as much as I enjoy watching the games (thank you very much for the opportunity!), do you by chance upload them to youtube, too?

because twitch really is a pain to watch, at least for me; I very much suspect bandwidth problems and a lack of bufferning by twitch, but whatever the reason:

youtube works like a charm, twitch is... twitchy ;)

I'm working on a youtube channel for our stuff. I'll try to get it up there.

great news! thanks for your efforts! :)

My one mistake in the match was giving Soontir that Range 1 shot on Jake in one of the early rounds. I mistakenly thought (without thinking much about it...) the forward boost would have taken me out of Soontir's arc, and reduce Soontir's movement options in the following round. Boost left > focus > barrel roll would probably get me out of arc of Soontir and maybe give me a Range 1 shot on Vader, a much better move.

That's what the announcers were saying - and I at first thought that was correct - while you didn't escape arc - I thought it was a brilliant gamble - because the left boost wouldn't have blocked Soontir's 2 hard left turn. As a result of not boosting left, but boosting forward - you really did screw soontir's movement options for the following round, Soontir moving left could've recovered better, with the bank or straight - he was forced into even worse choices.

How does the han list fare against tlt lists? Both 4tlt and stuff like 2tlt agressor?

How does the han list fare against tlt lists? Both 4tlt and stuff like 2tlt agressor?

Both Han and Jake can solo 2 TLTs (Hwk or Y-wing). If you can get the match down to 2 TLTs than you have a good chance of winning. In the group rounds before elimination all my opponents had 2 TLTs + Ace/Stresshog/Filler (I did play Chewie + 3 Talas in that stage though, we were allowed to switch lists before the elimination rounds). Basically the goal is to get into Range 1 behind them and stay there. They are slow and not very maneuverable so once you get into Range 1 they will not be able to shake you. 4 TLT will be a very hard matchup but I feel it is winnable.

Palp + Aces has a much easier job beating TLT. Stealth + Autothrusters + Palp + Tokens makes Fel almost invincible. It's probably why we saw 3 lists out of the top 4 bring Palp + Aces. It's a very solid list versus most matchups. Switching from Chewie + Talas to Han + Jake was influenced by recognizing the rise of Palp + Aces and their domination of TLT and lower PS ships.

Edited by bmf

Are there Vassal logfiles of the matches available anywhere?

Hi BMF,

a quick question. Why Predator on Han?

You could have rerolled your dice either?

Aren't those points you could have better used for something else?

Are there Vassal logfiles of the matches available anywhere?

Currently they are not available for download anywhere. They might be posted at some point.

Hi BMF,

a quick question. Why Predator on Han?

You could have rerolled your dice either?

Predator is there to maximize damage. It opens up some interesting options with the interaction of Han's ability, Predator and Luke crew. Han requires you to reroll ALL dice that you are able to.

Some examples of attack rolls (assume no focus):

H,H,H,Blank - Predator gives you a 50% chance to get 4H and 100% chance to not make the attack worse. If you use Han to reroll all the dice then you have <10% chance to roll better and >60% chance to roll worse. Han reroll here is not very useful.

H,Blank,Blank - In this example you are attacking a 1 Agility target. Pretty terrible roll, that has a good chance of doing 1 damage and negating the Luke secondary attack. Here Predator gives you the option of rerolling the Hit. If you get a blank/focus, you trigger Luke and have a very good chance of getting 3 hits with Predator and Luke working together. If you get a Hit again, you can now use Han to reroll the 2 blanks (the only legal dice to reroll) and have a good chance at extra damage.

With Predator/Han/Luke you should be getting pretty close to perfect rolls most of the time. Han by itself will be very inconsistent, especially if you don't have a focus.

Aren't those points you could have better used for something else?

If you are going to run Han and Jake then there is nothing else to spend the points on. I consider it the perfect build with these 2 pilots. Any tweaks you try and make to this build will only make it worse. Everything in this build has a purpose, including the 3 point initiative bid (even though the bid is more accidental as there is nothing else to put points in). The only slot left open is Han's missile slot.

Edited by bmf

Hey BMF, I ran into this the other day proxying a new card and wasn't sure what the ruling was. I was running Omega Leader, and my opponent was flying Han. Does Han get to use his ability against Omega Leader when Han is TL'd by Omega? Or does Han's re-roll count as a modification?

Also sorry this has turned into the "Ask BMF anything" thread. xD

Edited by Kdubb

Hey BMF, I ran into this the other day proxying a new card and wasn't sure what the ruling was. I was running Omega Leader, and my opponent was flying Han. Does Han get to use his ability against Omega Leader when Han is TL'd by Omega? Or does Han's re-roll count as a modification?

Also sorry this has turned into the "Ask BMF anything" thread. xD

This is what the rules reference (pg13) defines "modifying dice" as:

"MODIFYING DICE

Players can modify dice by spending focus, evade,

and target lock tokens and by resolving card abilities.

Dice can be modified in the following ways:

• Add: To add a die result, place an unused die

displaying the result next to the rolled dice. A die

added in this way is treated as a normal die for

all purposes and can be modified and canceled.

• Change: To change a die result, rotate the die

so that its faceup side displays the new result.

• Reroll: To reroll a die result, pick up the die and

roll it again.

• Dice can be modified by multiple effects, but a die

cannot be rerolled more than once."

Omega Leader would prevent Han from using his ability as it is a "Reroll" from the above definition and from Han's card text.

Edited by bmf

Hey BMF, I ran into this the other day proxying a new card and wasn't sure what the ruling was. I was running Omega Leader, and my opponent was flying Han. Does Han get to use his ability against Omega Leader when Han is TL'd by Omega? Or does Han's re-roll count as a modification?

Also sorry this has turned into the "Ask BMF anything" thread. xD

This is what the rules reference defines modifying dice results as:

"MODIFYING DICE

Players can modify dice by spending focus, evade,

and target lock tokens and by resolving card abilities.

Dice can be modified in the following ways:

• Add: To add a die result, place an unused die

displaying the result next to the rolled dice. A die

added in this way is treated as a normal die for

all purposes and can be modified and canceled.

• Change: To change a die result, rotate the die

so that its faceup side displays the new result.

• Reroll: To reroll a die result, pick up the die and

roll it again.

• Dice can be modified by multiple effects, but a die

cannot be rerolled more than once."

Omega Leader would prevent Han from using his ability as it is a "Reroll" from the above definition and from Han's card text.

Dang it! Good thing the game wasn't serious haha...

I think I need to finally go through and read the rules 1 by 1 of this game I play so much... xD