First, a little back story.
As some of you might know I recently wrote a thread on my Boba/Bossk build that I’ve been flying which I saw success with recently against some of the more popular lists in the meta. The post gained popularity and soon everyone was posting questions about strategies that I use with my list. I took it to my first Store Championship, and to my surprise, my first 3 opponents all had read the thread in full, and came prepared on what my strategy would be. After going 1-2, and terrible MoV, I dropped as a top 4 cut with 38 players meant I was already eliminated from qualifying, but fortunately I had friends in town so I had an excuse to leave.
After the weekend was over I went back to the drawing board, and came to the conclusion that
A) I needed a list that could counter some of the more successful lists in the regional (Florida) meta
B) I needed a list that could finish with a decent MoV in case the top cut was narrow
C) I needed a list in which I could go late rounds and give me a higher chance of winning once fatigue sets in
This resulted in the following list:
Bandit Squadron Pilot
Gold Squadron Pilot: Twin Laser Turret, R4-D6
Gold Squadron Pilot: Twin Laser Turret, R3-A2, BTL-A4 Y Wing
Miranda Doni: Twin Laser Turret, Tactician
This answered the 3 points I mentioned above as
A) The stress control helped as most of the popular lists included high mobility aces
B) With a decent health point count, regen mechanic, and lots of fire power when a target is focused down, I can usually finish with a good MoV
C) Turrets coupled with stress control makes it easier to predict where the opponent is going
I practiced the heck out of this list. From Feb 8th - Mar 3rd I totaled 48 games, playing on league nights, tournaments, and Vassal. Vassal gave me the opportunity to play late night when fatigue was a bigger factor in my decision making.
Now for my Battle Report. It took 24 hours from waking up to when I was back in bed, so I decided to give a full account of my day.
6:30am
Regularly I’m not a morning person, but I got a puppy in October, and she likes to wake me up at to go out nice and early. Luckily, this weekend morning I was preparing for a 2 hour drive to Belleview, FL to compete in a Store Championship, so I didn’t mind it as much this time. I got packed and was ready to go by 7:30 when one of my league mates arrived so we could ride together.
9:55am
After an approximate two hour drive and a quick pit stop, we arrive at our destination. Greeted some friendly faces, and saw some new ones. The excitement was building up as this was going to be a big event. After everyone was registered, we had 52 players in attendance.
12:00pm
Round 1 opponent - Ryan Guy
Corran Horn: Veteran Instincts, R2D2, Fire Control System
Jake Ferrell: Veteran Instincts, Push The Limit, A-Wing Test Pilot, Chardaan Refit, Autothrusters
Grey Squadron Pilot: Twin Laser Turret, R3-A2, BTL-A4 Y wing
Ryan and I faced off Round 5 at last year’s Regional event in St. Petersburg, FL. Our match last year was basically the 1st elimination match for both of us, as the winner was likely to make the top 8 cut. I squeaked out a win against him, and knowing I drew him meant I will be in for a tough first round. My first target was Corran Horn, as he was the major threat on the board. I took him out easily after a couple of rounds of shooting, losing my Bandit and TLT Y in the process. At the end it was Jake vs. Stresshog and Miranda. With some excellent maneuvering he was able to keep Jake out of the Stresshog/Miranda’s R2 arc, and eventually it was a worked down Miranda vs. Jake. On the very final turn after time was called, Jake managed a R1 shot on Miranda that resulted in hit/focus/crit, and with 4 hull remaining, he decided to spend the focus to see if he could get the direct hit for the win. Fortunately it was Structural Damage, so Miranda was left with 1 hull remaining. I shot Jake back and managed to get 3 hits with a target lock, and Jake rolls blank/focus/evade. Having spent the focus on offense, Jake finally takes the last hit remaining and is destroyed. I get a full win instead of a modified win, as there was only a 9 point difference between Jake and Miranda.
Result: Win 100-63
1:45pm
Round 2 opponent - Todd Little
Warden Squadron Pilot: Twin Laser Turret, Tacticianx2
Gold Squadron Pilot - Twin Laser Turret, R3-A2, BTL-A4 Y Wing
Bandit Squadron Pilot
This one was a doozey. Todd was able to blast my TLT Y-Wing on the first pass. In return I took out one of the Warden pilots. I was able to use the stresshog effectively and keep his other ships in check, but it came at a huge cost. I turned over debris 4 times with the stresshog, and took 3 crits, one of them a direct hit! This is what eventually cost me the full win, as on the last turn after time was called, I couldn’t get away from his stresshog, and with 1 hull remaining, he easily took him out.
Result: Modified Win 62-51
3:00pm
Lunch break, so my biggest opponent was impatience. Having done these long tournaments before, I came prepared with snacks/drinks so a food break didn’t feel necessary. But during the break I ran the swiss numbers and figured that the modified win would not hurt me as long as I finished with a 5-1 record.
4:00pm
Round 3 opponent - Sean Cummings
Rear Admiral Chiraneau: Veteran Instincts, Emperor Palpatine, Gunner, Engine Upgrade
Soontir Fel: Push the Limit, Stealth Device, Royal Guard Pilot, Autothrusters
Sean was not happy to see 3 TLT’s across the board, and with good reason. He faced off against 4 Y TLT Unhinged the previous turn and his Decimator was eaten up in just a couple of turns. This match also didn’t take very long, as the Decimator got burned down quickly, and it was Soontir left against my entire squad. I messed up some maneuvers in the process, and lost the stresshog and Bandit before I was able to take down Soontir, otherwise I could have pushed for the 200-0 win. With a modified win I figured MoV wouldn’t be much of a factor for me anymore.
Result: Win 100-38
6:00pm
Round 4 opponent - Benjamin Shoup
Omicron Group Pilot: Sensor Jammer, Emperor Palpatine
Soontir Fel: Push the Limit, Stealth Device, Royal Guard Pilot, Autothrusters
Carnor Jax: Veteran Instincts, Stealth Device, Royal Guard Pilot, Autothrusters
On the first pass I was able to catch Carnor Jax in all 4 arcs, so I gave him a couple of stress, but was unable to put any damage on him. The following turn I was able to block Soontir Fel, put 2 stress on him, and 2 arcs, and still… no damage. I figured it was going to be just one of those games in which it just wasn’t going to go my way. I got behind the shuttle and was finally able to catch Carnor again, and quickly popped him in 3 shots. Then I made an unexpected maneuver with my TLT Y wing and blocked Soontir, focused him down with stress, then took him out a turn or two later. Then it was just taking pot shots at the shuttle to wear him down to the final turn (again, ending on time) to get the last 2 hull left to get the full points.
Result: Win 100-37
7:15pm
Round 5 opponent - Kenney Fichter
Syndicate Thug: Twin Laser Turret, Unhinged Astromech x4
Kenney is a fellow league mate and friend, and had family in Belleview so was there the night before. We were hoping on not having to go against each other, but being 2 of the 4 undefeated up to that point, it was bound to happen. He only made one critical mistake, which was having 3 firing arcs over my 4 in the initial pass. He took out Miranda first, but by that point I had already worked down 2 of his Y wings. It was a battle of attrition at that point, and he was unable to keep the fire power going with the stress giving him unmodified shots.
Result: Win 100-37
8:40pm
Round 6 opponent - Carlos Cabrera
Syndicate Thug: Twin Laser Turret, Unhinged Astromech x4
At this point, this match was just for bragging rights and 1st overall, as we both would make the cut even with a loss. This made it a fun match, but both of us being competitive, we went all in. The match almost resulted in a draw, when my Bandit shot his only remaining Y-wing, drawing a hit/crit with 3 hull remaining. He draws a major explosion, which doesn’t trigger, then shoots back and kills my Z with 1 hull remaining.
Result: Loss 75-100
11:00pm
Final results announced, and I placed 6th after swiss, with the modified win putting me at the bottom of the 5-1 records. A dinner break was called for the elimination finalists.
11:45pm
Top 8 opponent - Gage Middleton
Omicron Group Pilot : Emperor Palpatine
Darth Vader: Veteran Instincts, Engine Upgrade, TIE/x1, Advanced Targeting Computer
Soontir Fel: Push the Limit, Stealth Device, Royal Guard Pilot, Autothrusters
This is where fatigue was starting to set in on the players. Gage also travelled a couple of hours to get to the venue, so after being up for 17 hours, he forgot Miranda had Tactician, and barrel rolled Soontir into R2 of her arc. Soontir was gone the following turn, and Vader soon followed. Then I mopped up the shuttle and finished the match.
1:00am
Top 4 opponent - Brian Zeno
Dash Rendar: Lone Wolf, Recon Specialist, Outrider, Heavy Laser Cannon
Corran Horn: Veteran Instincts, R2D2, Fire Control Systems, Engine Upgrade
The match up I was dreading was PTL Dash since he can easily boost/barrel roll out of arc, but this was still a tough match with Brian already having a couple of store championships under his belt. I was off to a bad start with Miranda taking a heavy hit from Dash early. I put her in a defensive position away from Dash, and started firing at Corran to regen shields, while he whittled down my stresshog with Dash. I was able to tag Dash with a double stress, then turned the stresshog towards Corran, and forced him to barrel roll to get out of Range 2 and into R1. I was hoping for a lucky break here and have Corran miss or do little damage with an unmodified shot, but he blasted me with 2hits/2crits with 3 hull remaining. I fired at Corran with Miranda and by the end of the turn Corran was at 2 hull and 1 shield remaining. With a double stressed Dash away on the edge of the board, and all other ships in the middle, this was a perfect turn to capitalize on taking out Corran for good. I focused fire with all 3 ships and was able to take him out the following turn. Dash tagged my TLT Y with 4 hits with 4 hull remaining, but I was able to block 2 damage thanks to R4-D6, which became a critical point in the game because I was able to squeeze into R1 since he still had 1 stress the following turn and hit him with my primary with a TL I had from way early in the game (gotta keep those target locks until they’re most effective!) and then blocked him the following turn after he cleared his second stress. This gave me a turn with the Bandit and Miranda to put a few more damage through. Towards the end of the game it was Miranda at almost full health vs. Dash with just a few hull remaining. Though I could have just kept slamming and stayed in the donut hole for another 8 minutes until time was called, I decided I’d stay aggressive and managed to get the last few damage through when I set her up for a tactician shot and shut down his action economy.
2:20am
Final opponent - Cliff Kump
Syndicate Thug: Twin Laser Turret
Syndicate Thug: Twin Laser Turret, R4 Agromech x2
N’dru Suhlak: Veteran Instincts, Cluster Missiles, Glitterstim
Video to come later!
This is one that I am going to enjoy watching later, as I have no idea how I pulled off the win. First round of combat he was able to take out my TLT Y wing with focus fire. The following turn I took a risky maneuver with Miranda and managed to clip a rock, and he focused her down and at the end of the phase had her at 1 hull remaining. This coupled with the fact that I barely did any damage because I couldn’t punch damage through with my shots missing with either no hits, or 1 hits when he was rolling evades, I figured my night was over. I decided to give myself a chance and slammed away with Miranda and see what the Bandit/Stresshog could do on their own before I could bring her back in. I was able to take down a Y wing, then continued to put some heavy damage on the other ships. He split his forces and sent one TLT after Miranda to finish her off, I was able to regen a shield one turn to stay alive, then put her in R1 out of arc of it the next turn for a free shot with my primary with no return fire for another shield, and then took it out next turn before it got to fire again. I got lucky one turn when I had N’dru and the remaining Y wing shoot at me on the same turn, and came out of the turn with all my shields knocked out with that 1 hull remaining keeping me in the game. My bandit was able to close on N’dru. I set up both my ships to go after the remaining Y wing with 5 hull still left. I regened another shield with Miranda, and my opponent decided to shoot the Bandit, which I think was a huge mistake, as with two shots he still had a chance to burn Miranda. The Bandit was taken out. This put me at regening another shield the following turn, and with 3 health remaining, made it difficult for him to kill her since he could only maximize 2 damage per turn. Eventually after a couple of turns she whittled him down and I won the match.
3:45am
Closing ceremonies. I’d like to thank Stuffnpodunk Games for awarding me this badass trophy and $110 in store credit that I’ll be using towards some Wave 8 goodies. It was a grueling day but I came back from many matches so I’m glad I was able to keep my head in the game.
6:30am
I finally arrived back home, just in time to catch a sleepy puppy looking to go out once again. Got some fresh air and reflected on my day before finally getting some well needed shut eye.
Thanks for reading!
Edited by VaynMaanen
Congrats