Last sunday (13th Dec) I took part in a 13 people tournament here in the extreme south of Brazil (Porto Alegre). It was a standalone tournament, organized by players for players, and we converted all entry fees into prizes which were raffled between all participants. We had 3 new people in, so I was extremely glad. One of the new comers won a Phantom by raffle, and was overwhelmingly pleased with it. Here is my report.
Before I start, I had a really tough time the previous two weeks deciding what to take. I had been comfortable playing a squad with Xizor, and was enjoying it. I had won most matches with it, having lost only a few - mostly to my own stupid mistakes. Although I had a blast playing each and every time, the list is rather difficult to play, and I felt I really needed more time with it before I took it to a tournament... So I decided to take something else, maybe turrets. I tried out a few squads by myself, and finally settled on Veldrin's old Chewie and Dash list (Chewie with Predator, MF and C3PO, Dash with Predator, Outrider and HLC). So I went to try that list on Vassal, with tips from Veldrin himself (Thanks a lot, Kris!). I liked the list, it was simple to fly, the strategies were there, but I simply didn't feel at home with it. I felt like something was missing...
On the last day before the tournament, I was talking about possible squads and variations with two friends who were going (André and Leo), and then I told them that I was really having doubts about my turrets and said I missed playing Xizor... And they both urged me to take him. I thought about it... I usually play Xizor with autothrusters, but I was lending both of mine to André... So I changed the squad a little and decided to take the Prince after all, along with Veldrin's double turrets. I would decide which I would use on the way to the tournament, but still leaning heavily on Veldrin's duo.
Alas, it was not to be. Shortly before I got to the tournament venue, Xizor did his pheromone stuff on me and I couldn't resist. Luckily, there was a newcomer called Murilo who really liked Veldrin's squad, and so I lent it to him (he had no ships, he had come just to watch). So both my squads ended up flying. I was pretty pleased with how everything was turning out, and I proceeded to explain the squad to him, and pass on Veldrin's valuable counselling on tactics and what to do, and when, on some situations.
The squad.
Xizor and his Troop
Prince Xizor - 31 pts
- Predator - 3 pts
- Advanced Sensors - 3 pts
- Inertial Dampeners - 1 pt
- Virago - 1pt
Syndicate Thug - 18 pts
- Twin Laser Turret - 6 pts
- Unhinged Astromech - 1 pt
Binayre Pirate - 12 pts
Total: 12 pts
Binayre Pirate - 12 pts
Total: 12 pts
Binayre Pirate - 12 pts
Total: 12 pts
List total: 100 pts.
So instead of autothrusters on Xizor I slapped on Inertial Dampeners and put an Unhinged Astromech on the Y. Mind you, I had never tried this variation before, but I liked it. Both Xizor and the thug had more mobility (well, Xizor had less for one turn 
- but this is good).
My take on this Xizor build is the following. I had posted a topic earlier here where I had some valuable inputs from several folks. I tried out quite a few variations of Xizor, and in the end settled for Predator and ADS because:
Predator: I cannot recall a game where Predator was not worth the three points. Sure, VI is close, and can give me the upper hand in an ace match, but at PS7, I am high enough to get on top of a lot of pilots, and the fact that I settled on 3 Z-95s helped me block aces early and gun for them. This happened in a few matches where Xizor was not the first to shoot.
Advanced Sensors: Put simply, for me, this is what makes the Starviper worthwhile. Without ADS, I feel the Starviper is too expensive and does not fit any special role in the squad. ADS gives you so many maneuverability options that the Starviper can become a vicious end game ship. I played a match against Blairbunke where I was left with Xizor against two of his ships (I think ig and a Y tlt), and I won it in the end because of ADS. Plus, it blends in so well with VI or Predator, and also PtL (Do your actions, move green, clear your stress, rinse and repeat). If you have to choose just one thing to leave on Xizor (or Guri, for that matter), I cannot recommend another upgrade.
Autothrusters: This helps, but since smart folks will not waste shots on Xizor at R3 (unless they have many), I did not feel the loss. But I will probably go back to using it because of the turret-filled meta, and, well, TLT. Plus, dorsal turret is coming.
Inertial Dampeners: I only used it once. But it was critical. I would still take AT and leave the Y without the salvaged astro, though.
The tournament.
Thirteen people were in. Since there were 3 rather new players (one of which had only played once before), the tournament rules were 3 swiss (instead of 4) but with a top 4. People were very excited, and some were discussing possible plots for the FA movie which is about to come out. But most were chatting about the tournament, and squads, and what was behind the logic for bringing the squad they brought. It was the happiest tournament that I can remember, the atmosphere was absolutely brimming with midchlorians.
Round 1:
I was drawn against Murilo, which had taken Veldrin's Chewie and Dash squad. A mirror match between my squads! I knew it could be a tough match, but I was happy. Thus he flew:
Dash Rendar
Predator
Outrider
HLC
Chewie
Predator
C3PO
Asteroid placement was quite spread out, and irregular. Even though Murilo is a beginner, he had certainly listened to what I told him and so he knew how to place asteroids in order to take maximum advantage of Dash's ability. I placed the goons on a corner, and he placed Chewie close to Dash, on the other corner. I put Xizor in on the outside, next to his goons.
Murilo made a terrible mistake in the start, though. He flew Chewie straight up the side and turned with Dash. Knowing that I could not bear to take many hits from Dash, I sped up to catch him almost head on, while Chewie had to take 2 turns to get into the fight. This by itself cost Murilo the match because when Chewie finally started pounding, Dash had one or two hull left. Dash did manage to get two Zs to 1 hull, and Chewie blew one up before getting blown too, in the end.
1-0
100-12
Round 2:
I was drawn against Cainã, a really nice and easy going guy... Very pleasant to play with. He had the other scum list in the tournament, and had won the first match against Chewie and two Bs 100-0. His squad consisted of:
Latts
K4 Security Droid
Outlaw Tech
Weapons Engineer
Palob
Opportunist
Blaster Turret
Rec Spec
Moldy Crow
Syndicate Thug
TLT
Unhinged
It was more or less the same squad that I faced last tournament, and I barely won. But then I was flying Dash, a y with tlt and 2 zs, if I remember correctly.
Asteroid placement was rather spread out, which suited Cainã a bit more than me... But there was a huge venue that I could go through. I set up my Zs in the corner and it actually surprised me that he set up on the same corner. I thought he would draw me in through the asteroids, but if that happened, there was that diagonal venue that I could have taken... So I was not too worried about them being too spread out.
I started off speeding up because he did not have room to turn, and he went slow at first. On turn two, I sped up again and Xizor was on Range 1 of Palob, with Zs right there at R2 and the TLT not far behind. So Palob became stardust reallly quickly.
Now I have to say that Cainã had, probably, the worst green dice I have ever seen. Seriously, I felt bad for him. Reds were hot all around, my greens were ok, but his greens might as well have been blue. This was certainly a factor in this match.
At the end, Latts was left with most of my squad untouched. Before I got behind him, Latts managed to take out a Z and finish the job on my Y.
2-0
100-38
Round 3:
I drew Juliano Vargas, the guy who beat me in the final in the last tournament (I had dash, he had the quad scum Y tlts then). There were three people with 2-0, I was second in MoV and Juliano was first. His squad was interesting, and I was really scared of it:
Poe Dameron
R5-P9
VI
AT
Warden
TLT
Tactician
Warden
TLT
Tactician
Asteroids were bundled up in two clusters, to the right of the map (my right, Juliano's left). I set up my Zs, and a surprise: Juliano set up the two Ks in front, Poe behind, but straight accross from me. I was pleased, but I needed to get Xizor behind those Ks as fast as possible. I thought, however, he would turn with his squad, so I went really slowly on round one. Another suprise: Juliano went as fast as he could without slamming, straight for my squad. I'll take that! So next turn I was able to block his Ks with my Zs and Xizor, and my Y was just there at R3 to help. Juliano managed to get a stress on Xizor, and this was bad... But at least it wasn't a double stress. I managed to tear down one of the Ks and leave it with 2 or 3 hull on the first exchange, while Juliano had to spread his fire on Xizor and a Z. He got the Z down to 1 hull, while Xizor's ability made sure he was left unscathed and damage was spread to Zs. On the next turn I think Juliano made the mistake that cost him the match. He preferred to try and take down Xizor with the Ks' primary, even though he was out of arc. Xizor lost his shield and a hull, but he managed to survive and he wasn't stressed anymore. I would have shot the Zs and finished at least one of them. One of the Ks was shot down, the Zs K turned, Xizor made use of his ADS to roll and 1 turn on the other K, and it sped away with Xizor and the Zs behind, letting rip. Poe went for the Y, and I had turned it trying to avoid Poe's arc but couldn't. While the K was getting blasted away, Poe needed to bump my Y not to fly off the table, and Juliano thought I would try to block him... But i didn't, and Poe was left really close to the edge with no means to escape his fate. The Y had one hull left and two crits, but managed to survive. The K went down in flames, the Zs and Xizor all had hits on them, but I suffered no casualties. A very tense but fun match.
TOP 4:
So I was 3-0 at the end of swiss, and although my friend Leo had also won his three matches, the last one was a modified win against our four time champion André. So I knew I was in first place, and Leo in second. I was actually scared of flying against Juliano's list again, as he would likely shift his strategy. But Juliano ended up 2-1 in fifth place by 10 points. My friend Caio was placed fourth, and so that's who I would play.
Caio brought the Mangler Brothers:
Dash
PTL
Mangler Cannon
Outrider
Engine Upgrade
Nien Numb
Ten Numb
B-Wing E/2
C3PO
Mangler Cannon
Sensor Jammer
Predator
Asteroids were clustered up, which suited me as long as I kept clear of the asteroid field. Caio placed Ten in the middle, and Dash to the opposite side of my squad.
I was pleased with the matchup, as I believed my squad had a clear advantage over his. With Dash carrying Mangler instead of HLC, I made Ten my top priority. But I needed Caio to think I was going to gun for Dash, so the first two rounds I went for Dash. B-Wings are maneuverable, but slow and bulky. I was hoping to capitalize on that.
And movement went well. Dash came up on the flank, and I turned right at him. Caio turned Dash, ptl'd away to get out of most of my arcs, while Ten was creeping up on the side of my squad... And this was really good. So next turn I turned everyone on Ten. Dash still came up behind, but Ten sped up and bumped my Zs. I managed to get a lot of shots in, but I wasn't counting on getting pounded so much... After the first three exchanges, Xizor had two hull left, and only one Z was unscathed. Ten could not K turn, but he blasted a Z to oblivion and Dash killed the Y. At this point I thought: Ok, if Ten does not die next round, I might be in trouble. Luckily, he did - C3PO was not enough to save him. Still, Dash was very maneuverable with ptl and engine, and manage to elude the Zs for a while, constantly taking off a shied or a hull every turn. When I did manage to kill Dash, it was as time was called and my squad was in tatters. Two Zs survived with Xizor, but all in hulls - and Xizor with one left. A very close match that could have gone either way if Ten had survived for another round or two.
4-0
100-37
Final:
The other match was between Leo and Cainã. Cainã managed to beat Leo, and we were set for a scum final! I was more scared of Cainã's squad than Leo's, and mainly because Cainã knew what to expect as we had played in round 2 of swiss.
Asteroids were spread out. There was one venue that I could possibly take if I had to turn, so I placed my Zs in the right corner. Cainã placed his squad on the opposite corner this time, so I was going to have to venture into the asteroids if I were to try and get Palob's focus factory before he was able to get many focus.
Xizor has to take focus. TL with Predator is a waste, and weakens Xizor's defenses quite a lot - he didn't have AT. So Palob was my first obvious target, and I had to take TLs until I could get him out of the way. And this time Cainã took Palob on a slower route and Latts came in faster, so I had to choose whether to endure Latts to get to Palob or change my strategy. I thought a bit and decided that I would gun for Latts, even though Palob had 2 or three TLs already because Cainã knew I wanted Palob and was using him as bait to draw my squad in front of Latts, with the Y tlt right behind Latts. So I turned into Latts and ignored Palob, focusing away everyone. This was very fortunate as I ended up with 2 Zs and Xizor at range one of Latts, and the other Z at range 2, and the tlt Y at range three. This was perfect, and Latts was left with two hull.
This was the perfect opportunity to make Latts bump my Zs and stay where he was, and use inertial dampeners on xizor I did this by bumping my Y into my R2 Z, then bumping the front Z into Latts and turning with the other two towards Palob and the Y. Then I used inertial dampeners on Xizor, thus making sure he would blast Latts away before he could shoot (which happened easily enough, 4v1 with predator and focus which palob was not able to steal made sure I landed 3 solid hits on his 2 hull). Then it was a matter of hunting down palob, which fell quickly to combined range 1 fire from the Zs and tlt shots from the Y. In the end Cainã managed to land a killing blow on my Y, but Xizor was left with 3 Zs, all except one Z unscathed, against his Y which was already into hull. Another two or three rounds and it was over. Xizor was crowned.
5-0
100-25
Kudos for everyone for organizing this great tournament. All the money was reverted into prizes, all of which were raffled except one (I got a Han Solo promo card). Certainly a tournament to remember, with very nice and varied squads.
Edited by mtrein