A Tuesday challenge for you guys.

You have the ability to ban up to five upgrade cards. These cards are banned completely: no ship can equip them under any circumstances.

Your goal is to diversify the game's builds as much as possible by targeting cards that choke out other options via excessive synergy or power or which counter other builds too strongly.

Your selection of cards to ban has to be very careful, as you have to consider which cards will be used in place of the ones you remove; how will the meta adapt to their absence? Likewise, which builds do you inhibit by removing a card, and which opposing builds can now flourish in its absence?

Post your five cards, why you chose each and how you think the game will change without them.

In a not so serious mindset......

Adv. Cloaking Device = WORST CARD IN THE GAME

R3-A2 = Is a "must have" for Rebels. Shouldn't have any of those.

Soontir Fel = tired of seeing him EVERYWHERE

TLT's = just to see. I don't think they are broken.

Can't think of the last one.

Push the Limit, Veteran Instincts and Engine Upgrade. I can barely remember the last time I saw a squad without at least one of these cards. Possibly Twin Laser Turret if it becomes too powerful without those three keeping it in check.

Would agree with PTL (it's so fun, though ), V.I and EU

maybe toss on predator to have people really scramble their heads for how to use that ept

probably just crackshot, but it's something!

R2-D2 droid & crew

Advanced Sensors

C-3PO

Engine Upgrade

I don't think anything needs a ban but if the goal is up expand the variety of what you see I would go with:

PTL

Predator

VI

Engine Upgrade

and either the stress-bot or R2

Oh, Engine Upgrade is a good one. That will be my final.

I was thinking VI wasn't too bad, because you can bump some of the "not quite PS 9" guys up there.

-Engine upgrade, which means we should have no problem getting rid of...

-Autothrusters, but maybe certain fatties are still too strong, so lets get rid of...

-C3P0, and while we are at it,

-Ysanne Issard, and lastly,

-TLT... because why not

All you need to ban is VI to open up a huge swath of possible lists. Almost all of the other upgrades listed are directly improved by having a high ps. ACD. Engine. Even push (as most pilots running push have 1+ repositioning actions). All of a sudden ps 8 becomes what it should be: elite. At the moment its only mediocre. Even ps 5-7 suddenly become viable.

If you looking for cards to ban with the principle intention of widening the meta this is the only card that needs to go.

Edit: stressbot just needs an errata changing the card text to once per round.

Autoblaster cannon

Fel's Wrath

Elusiveness

Advanced Proton Torpedoes

Tactical Jammer

....no but really,

PtL

R3A2

VI (also nerfs Adv. Cloak if you think about it)

Engine upgrade (for large ships if i have a choice)

And possibly TLT

R2D2 - would remove Regen from fat Han and corran

TLT - they are everywhere and almost impossible to avoid

R3A2 - the stress one(?) this would remove stress hog from the table, an OP combo

Authothrusters - gives too much defence to aces like soontir

Push the limit - reduce action economy and make people thing carefully about what to do

My gut reaction is Advanced Cloaking Device, but I actually think VI is the one problem card whose removal would improve the rest of the game. ACD is an impossibly stupid design, but imagine how much less stupid it would have been if Whisper wasn't PS9.

Isn't there an official tournament set up thing coming that does the opposite of this? Makes people vote for a ship that must be fielded?

TLT

Crackshot

Veteran Instincts

Accuracy Corrector

Heavy Laser Cannon

"Heavy Scyk" interceptor x 5

I think Push the Limit is behind a lot of the hidden problems in this game.

-The ability to boost and barrel roll in the same turn, or do one and still focus, allows for ships that can consistently and easily move out of arc with their actions provided they move last (i.e. have higher pilot skill). This causes the pilot skill war that pushes out mid skill pilots; if you have higher skill you negate their dodging so just a little higher skill is extremely valuable. Their dial isn't very important, because they can move great with just their actions. Easy arc dodging necessitates ships able to fire out of arc at a high power level, which hurts the maneuvering aspect of this game and necessitates Autothrusters as an $10 a copy rules patch, which makes doing damage at range 3 frustrating. When you have 1 action to arc dodge or focus, it's a lot harder to dodge.

-The ability to stack focus + evade or double focus greatly increases ships' durability, making it hard to damage them without extreme firepower. The classic Soontir Fel plus Stealth Device plus Push the Limit almost always wipes away all damage even at range 1. Corran Horn plus R2-D2 plus Push the Limit wipes most damage and regenerates the rest. Super Dash easily barrel rolls and/or boosts to range 3, dodging arc and pounding you with a target lock plus focus Heavy Laser Cannon. Multiactions are dangerous.

Other possible targets (I wouldn't ban anything without careful observation of what happens in its absence):

Advanced Cloaking Device makes cloaking easy and suppresses the more difficult and interesting basic cloaking, but I don't think it's a huge problem with the errata and basic cloaking will make a comeback with Cloaking Device (the upgrade).

Engine Upgrade hurts ship diversity by making boosting universal.

Twin Laser Turrets bears warning signs of an overpowered card, and it's not much fun.

R2-D2 can be very frustrating. It's fine by itself, but as time goes on the game accumulates regeneration upgrades and pilots and too many of those in the same list is awful.

in no particular order:

Outrider: pretty much everyone in my area who flies the 2400 puts this title on it. It's not even OP, I'm just sick of seeing it.

Veteran Instincts: With the addendum that you just can't get PS higher than 9. Because seriously, just grow a gd pair already.

Crackshot: simply because I'm sick of seeing "you just need to take Crack Swarm" everywhere I look.

Uh.... not really sure I can think of any more actually... but I'd just like to say that Accuracy Corrector should be reworked to say that you have to decide to take the correction results before rolling any dice. That way you can still be made to take a gamble... take the risky option where you roll full dice but maybe miss, but maybe get the max damage you can? Or take the safe and easy route. I hate that you can roll, then decide "no that sucked, I'll just change it." Takes the fun out of it for both sides.

Soon tir fel. Too good an ability on a survivable PS 9.

Ptl, tlt, autothrusters, eu. 4 super common upgrades. Their removal rewrites meta effectively.

PTL (or maybe make it unique?) (As said above, too good action economy, and aces do not even need to wonder what action is the best right now)
EU (at least on large ships)

Crackshot (feeling like why even try to field synergy ships like HWKs when crack is around)

C3PO (broken as it is right now)

Stressbot (or nerf it)

Edit one comment on PTL

would be cool to just have some kind of randomizer that you could hit before a game and it would give you a 100 point random squad.

would be cool to just have some kind of randomizer that you could hit before a game and it would give you a 100 point random squad.

I assume you are being sarcastic, because they have that in some list builders.

I agree with most of the priors: TLT, R3A2, etc. I would like to see a generics only tournament (inc. upgrades) so no unique cards at all. Could be fun. Would certainly be a change from seeing either Soontir, Palp, Poe, R3A2 or Miranda every game.

would be cool to just have some kind of randomizer that you could hit before a game and it would give you a 100 point random squad.

Fab's squadron generator is your friend then, has a random button lower left corner.

Voidstate also has it. RSG's however can make some pretty useless combis.

Just for shiggles i'm playing with voidstates now (my favourite xwing list builder http://xwing-builder.co.uk)

I did get a B-wing with ion cannon, extra munitions and.... that's it. also non-x1 advanced.

If i ever do a random's game, i'll add a "common sense may apply, and if totally ineligible reroll" I'd get rid of extra muns and give a free 2 point upgrade.

Edit: I just had backstabber with munitions failsafe...