For this Regional Championship season I decided to go to the “Dark Side” and run a Palp Aces list:

Omicron Group Pilot - Emperor Palpatine

Carnor Jax - Push The Limit, Autothrusters, Royal Guard TIE, Stealth Device

Soontir Fel - Push The Limit, Autothrusters, Royal Guard TIE, Stealth Device

Total: 98

I went with this list to a small tournament the weekend after Wave 8 released and felt it was strong against the triple scouts, and found out quickly how good the list was against most of anything else. I usually do not fly Empire, and lean towards high health Rebel swarms, so this was new to me and knew it would be a steep learning curve, but I was up for the challenge.

The Florida Regional was held at Get Your Fun On in West Melbourne, which is my home store! I was able to convince the shop owner to apply and I was able to attempt to defend my title in my hometown. After registering 67 players, we set up round 1 and got started:

Round 1

Mike Muntain

The Inquisitor - Push The Limit, Autothrusters, TIE/v1

Carnor Jax - Push The Limit, Autothrusters, Royal Guard TIE, Stealth Device

Soontir Fel - Push The Limit, Autothrusters, Royal Guard TIE, Stealth Device

Total: 100

This was almost a mirror match, with the exception of The Inquisitor in place of my shuttle. I had the initiative bid so I passed to him. I had a really strong start, keeping my Interceptors untouched while pegging both Carnor and The Inquisitor for 2 damage each, and Soontir with 1 damage before I lost the shuttle. The turn after setting up a nice block on Soontir with Carnor, I was near the board edge and wanted to stay aggressive, so decided to turn sharp towards the board edge (you know where this is going). Carnor Jax flees the battlefield untouched, and it was Soontir Fel vs 3 ships. I was able to close out his Soontir the following turn, and was now flanked by the other 2. I drew him through the rocks, and the turn when time was called, Mike unfortunately grazed a rock with Carnor, and took damage that destroyed him. This left me with a modified win. 69-63

Round 2

Ed Martinez

Poe Dameron - Veteran Instinces, R5-P9, Autothrusters

Wes Janson - Veteran Instincs, Targeting Astromech, Integrated Astromech

Wedge Antilles - Adaptability, Targeting Astromech, Integrated Astromech

Total 100

Ed brought three PS10s, a very tough counter. I tried to get Soontir in a flanking position and kept my distance with Carnor until I knew which ship they would go for first. They chose the shuttle, and to no surprise burned it very quickly. I was able to put some damage into Wedge, but after 3 or 4 more turns of shooting, I did 0 damage to him, due to token stripping from Wes and just trying to stay out of R1-R2 of the other ships. I lost Carnor, and I finally was able to peg Wedge, but the fight was unwinnable by then. I lost at time. 31-63

Round 3

Ben Shoup

Omicron Group Pilot - Emperor Palpatine

Wampa

Omega Leader - Juke, Comm Relay

The Inquisitor - Push The Limit, Autothrusters, TIE/v1

Total:100

Don’t know how I won this one. I baited his ships towards my shuttle while I sent both of mine to his. His bait and switched worked better, as I left my shuttle all by itself against the Inquisitor, while Wampa and Omega Leader went after my Interceptors. After I took out his shuttle, I had both my interceptors at 1 hull each and the shuttle bleeding as well. I did a full stop and my opponent must have not seen it coming because he bumps The Inquisitor into me. I darted away from the TIE fighters and put Carnor and Soontir into prime position and took out The Inquisitor. We were close to time so I split the Interceptors and forced him to choose one. After maybe 3-4 rounds I won on time, but if he had gotten a natural critical on the 3-4 chances he had with Wampa, he would’ve been able to close out with a win. So I squeak out a lucky win. 60-29

Round 4

Andrew Decker

Contracted Scout - Deadeye, Extra Munitions, Proton Torpedoes, R4 Agromech, Zuckuss, Guidance Chips

Contracted Scout - Deadeye, Proton Torpedoes, Overclocked R4, Guidance Chips

Contracted Scout - Deadeye, Extra Munitions, Plasma Torpedoes, R4 Agromech, Guidance Chips

Total:99

A local league mate, I convinced Andrew to come to his first regional just the week before, and it looks like he had a good time. We were actually matched up round 2, but due to a scoring mix up, pairings were reset and we had different opponents, but here we were again 2 rounds later. I got aggressive early and dove all ships into his scouts. I was able to get my shuttle into range 1 of 2 to nto take the full barrage of torpedoes, but he was still able to burn the shuttle quickly. I got into a furball and bumped Soontir, lucking out and only taking 1 damage. I decided to break off and bring the ships through the rocks. I had started on the Zuckuss ship but he separated his ships and an opportunity came up where the Plasma scout was isolated. I burned him down quickly having not fired a torpedo, which was a huge achievement for me, then I finished off the Zuckuss scout, and finally closed out the last one for the full win, right as time was called (starting to see a theme here?). 100-29

Round 5

Joe LaPorta

IG-88B - Crackshot, Heavy Laser Cannon, Autothrusters, Glitterstim, Fire Control System, IG-2000

IG-88C - Crackshot, Heavy Laser Cannon, Autothrusters, Glitterstim, Fire Control System, IG-2000

Total:100

I was able to get both Interceptors in blind spots early, and took pot shots at IG-88B, but the MVP was the shuttle. In the second round of combat, I had IG-88B in range 1 of the shuttle and I was able to roll 3 hits and a crit (he had 3 shields left). He blanks out, and draws a direct hit, essentially doing 5 damage in one shot. I chased IG-88B with the Interceptors and finished him off while IG-88C went to close out the shuttle. I tried to work IG-88C but just didn’t want to get shot, so I prioritized staying out of arc over destroying him. We ended the match on time, winning again on staying alive. 50-29

Round 6

Cliff Kump

Tel Trevura - Deadeye, Proton Torpedoes, Extra Munitions, R4 Agromech, Boba Fett, Guidance Chips

Dengar - Push The Limit, Recon Specialist, R4 Agromech, Engine Upgrade, Punishing One

Total: 97

This was a Store Championship final rematch. Cliff and I played the final in Belleview and I squeaked out a win against him, so he was looking for some payback. I actually helped him come up with his list, suggesting the recon spec/R4 agro combo on Dengar to really beef up his ability. He had the initiative bid and he passed. I tried to burn Tel as quickly as possible, sacrificing the shuttle in the process. He had him do his zombie thing and then run away as it had only shot one torpedo. Since they split I decided to capitalize on Dengar. After 2-3 turns of blocking him and denying actions with Carnor, and setting up shots with Soontir, I did a grand total of 0 damage to him. Tel was coming back for another pass, so I let Dengar go to close him off. When I went back to Dengar, I predicted his manuever, and decided it would be a good idea to boost Carnor into R1 and then PTL focus. He took a target lock with Dengar, and rolls 3 natural crits and rerolls another hit. I roll 1 evade and 3 blanks, turned one for autothrusters, received another stress so now I was a sitting duck. I lost Carnor the following turn, and chased Dengar for a couple turns with Soontir, knowing that if I got him at half health I would at least get a modified win. I pegged him for the last hull I needed right at time, and got another modified win. 68-63

I excitedly go to check the standings, and quickly find out I placed 10th. 6th-9th place all had 4-1-1 records with 21 tournament points, as they got 4 wins and took an ID. I was at 21 points as well, but due to my low MoV I finished below all of them, even though I went 5-1. I did curse the ID rule initially and apologize if anyone overheard my rant, but after settling down I realized I was in control of my own destiny in round 6 and should have finished with a full win to guarantee myself in.

Congratulations to Jimmy Kelly on going undefeated to win this year’s Regionals! Hopefully he will be able to go to Nationals to represent the state of Florida. Also a big shout out to the shop Get Your Fun On, the Marshals (one of them being my fiancée, I know, I know, how lucky am I?), and the members of the Space Coast X-Wing League who helped put together a very successful event!

Moral of the story is I made 2 critical mistakes that cost me the cut. Flying a full health Carnor Jax off the board in the first round, as I could have had a better chance to clean up 2v3, and the final round taking the boost with Carnor was not the wise choice. Staying at R2 out of arc tokened up would have benefited me more, and keeping both ships against a half health Dengar would have given me the full win.

Another failing was having all my matches go to time, and I realized this was due to having played this list mostly on VASSAL, and as most matches are untimed, I tend to take a more safe approach and take pot shots while I reposition and come for another pass. I will need to keep track of time if I continue to play online so I know how the board state is at approximately 75 minutes.

I am planning on attending the Regional in Durham, NC and hope to be prepared and make better decisions on when to be aggressive, with one goal in mind: end my matches before time is called.

Good luck to all pilots out there and see everyone that is planning on going to NC!

Good breakdown.

Although, I'm a little disappointed that someone had the exact same idea as me with Wes Wedge and Poe at PS10. You get firepower with Wedge, survivability with Poe, and utility with Wes, and all at PS10. I haven't actually flown it yet, but it seems like it would be great in the current meta.

Edit: In my variation, I put R7-T1 on Wedge and a regular R2 on Wes. Boosting into R1 with a TL on Wedge is nasty, and you can use the boost defensively as well. I can also see the benefit of Targeting Astromech, as T65s tend to get into k-turn fests, too.

Very nice write-up. I am learning a bunch in tournament breakdowns like this.

When is the regional in Durham? I'm just down the road....

Again, nicely done!

Very nice write-up. I am learning a bunch in tournament breakdowns like this.

When is the regional in Durham? I'm just down the road....

Again, nicely done!

The tournament is on May 21st at Atomic Empire. They are doing preregistration.

http://www.atomicempire.com/event.aspx?evnt=1005

Hope you can make it out!

See y'all there!

In fact, pre-registration is REQUIRED. If you want to come, the deadline to sign up is the 17th.

Uuummmm... If you went 5-1 you should be on 25 tournament points.

If they went 4-1-1 they should be, as you say, on 21 tournament points.

If I ended up 10th and on more TP than 6th through 9th then the first thing I would do is bring this to the attention of the TO, especially since it meant missing top 8.

Edit: Sorry, noticed you had 2 mod wins, and so were also on 21 points. In the current environment, a mod win is as good as a loss.

Uuummmm... If you went 5-1 you should be on 25 tournament points.

If they went 4-1-1 they should be, as you say, on 21 tournament points.

If I ended up 10th and on more TP than 6th through 9th then the first thing I would do is bring this to the attention of the TO, especially since it meant missing top 8.

3 full wins, 2 mod wins.

5+5+5+3+3 = 21

I'm not very familiar with the scoring system, but it sounds like (ID + win) = (mod win + mod win).

That seems fair to me.

I know a win is a win, but some of those mod win situations are pretty much ties in my eyes. And I'm really glad OP admitted this was more of a case of MoV determining standings, lest we start another rampage against ID.

p.s. Excellent write-up. Really appreciate the effort and I think your reflection on your performance will only make you better.

I had a friend there get bumped out of a top 16 finish due to a modified win. It's the breaks of the game but id rather reward a modified loser than punish a modified winner.

Nice to know they are getting rid of IDs.

That's rough man. I definitely know the pain of flying off the board at a major event, at the Get Your Fun On Store Championship in the first round I misjudged my movement by a couple millimeters and flew Poe Dameron off the table while running to regen shields. It sucks for sure. I had a much less impressive day than you ending at 3-3, with one of those wins being a modified by a single squad point(and in the last round I would end up losing in yet another modified win match by a single squad point. Crazy...). I was hoping for another set of regionals dice to complete my set from last year but with my lack of practice, and much less luck in matchups than last year, it wasn't meant to be. On the bright side we're potentially going to get another shot before the year is out thanks to the OP reorganization.

Great report, I was there was well and it was a really great event. I do hope GYFO gets another regional in the next cycle for sure!

EDIT: I do need to know though (we never actually got to talk, but I did talk to the TOs some...), who won in your one-off game against "the other TOs" husband?!

Great report, I was there was well and it was a really great event. I do hope GYFO gets another regional in the next cycle for sure!

EDIT: I do need to know though (we never actually got to talk, but I did talk to the TOs some...), who won in your one-off game against "the other TOs" husband?!

I took out his double Falcons with 4 Scum HWK's! They all had TLT though so it was an easy match up. Since the TOs mostly run events, they let us decide on who gets the extra dice set. Tony let me have them, but if I win one at NC I'll give those to him.

Great report, I was there was well and it was a really great event. I do hope GYFO gets another regional in the next cycle for sure!

EDIT: I do need to know though (we never actually got to talk, but I did talk to the TOs some...), who won in your one-off game against "the other TOs" husband?!

I took out his double Falcons with 4 Scum HWK's! They all had TLT though so it was an easy match up. Since the TOs mostly run events, they let us decide on who gets the extra dice set. Tony let me have them, but if I win one at NC I'll give those to him.

Hah, fantastic! So there is some conciliation for sure, sounds like a good agreement! I'll be rooting for you at NC! For reference, I'm the guy who unfortunately....decided Whisper needed to go home early for mother's day.

Great report, I was there was well and it was a really great event. I do hope GYFO gets another regional in the next cycle for sure!

EDIT: I do need to know though (we never actually got to talk, but I did talk to the TOs some...), who won in your one-off game against "the other TOs" husband?!

I took out his double Falcons with 4 Scum HWK's! They all had TLT though so it was an easy match up. Since the TOs mostly run events, they let us decide on who gets the extra dice set. Tony let me have them, but if I win one at NC I'll give those to him.

Hah, fantastic! So there is some conciliation for sure, sounds like a good agreement! I'll be rooting for you at NC! For reference, I'm the guy who unfortunately....decided Whisper needed to go home early for mother's day.

Oh man! Yea they were talking about you on the stream, mentioning you're fairly new to the game? Very impressive run if this was your first regional!

The Durham store is excellent and I think it is an old K-mart, if I'm not mistaken. I know they used to have a bar in it, as well.

Great report, I was there was well and it was a really great event. I do hope GYFO gets another regional in the next cycle for sure!

EDIT: I do need to know though (we never actually got to talk, but I did talk to the TOs some...), who won in your one-off game against "the other TOs" husband?!

I took out his double Falcons with 4 Scum HWK's! They all had TLT though so it was an easy match up. Since the TOs mostly run events, they let us decide on who gets the extra dice set. Tony let me have them, but if I win one at NC I'll give those to him.

Hah, fantastic! So there is some conciliation for sure, sounds like a good agreement! I'll be rooting for you at NC! For reference, I'm the guy who unfortunately....decided Whisper needed to go home early for mother's day.

Oh man! Yea they were talking about you on the stream, mentioning you're fairly new to the game? Very impressive run if this was your first regional!

This was indeed my first regional! Only my second "competitive" tournament as well, my first was the store champ in Tallahassee that I managed to win. Though I won that won flying a rebel list that I was too chicken to bring with the prospect of U-boats staring me in the face, so I was in a similar boat to you in flying imperials as an alternate to my usual lists (probably why I forgot to decloak after the long day Saturday...which led to my 1-hard off the board). I did buy into the game back in 2012, but I really only started putting a lot of time into last fall, been an absolute joy to immerse myself more in this hobby and community for sure, can't wait for the next big event!

Best of luck in NC! I can't wait to see you fly, and maybe even fly against you there! Also an excellent write up.

I too will be at NC and look forward to a possible pairing. Great write up.

I'm not very familiar with the scoring system, but it sounds like (ID + win) = (mod win + mod win).

That seems fair to me.

I know a win is a win, but some of those mod win situations are pretty much ties in my eyes. And I'm really glad OP admitted this was more of a case of MoV determining standings, lest we start another rampage against ID.

p.s. Excellent write-up. Really appreciate the effort and I think your reflection on your performance will only make you better.

Well, if the IDs had had to play, two players would very likely have lost and ended with 20 tourney points, moving the OP into 8th place and the top cut. Two players that didn't actually play a game gained an advantage by not playing their game, which is a serious problem with the rule, so I'm also glad its disappearing as we're seeing a lot of situations that it is causing more problems than it solves.

Also, thing about Mod Wins is they are a double penalty -- you're already getting hurt on tiebreakers because they are, by definition, low MoV wins so the fact that you get fewer tourney points compounds that.

Edited for butchery.

I'm not very familiar with the scoring system, but it sounds like (ID + win) = (mod win + mod win).

That seems fair to me.

I know a win is a win, but some of those mod win situations are pretty much ties in my eyes. And I'm really glad OP admitted this was more of a case of MoV determining standings, lest we start another rampage against ID.

p.s. Excellent write-up. Really appreciate the effort and I think your reflection on your performance will only make you better.

Also, thing about Mod Wins is they are a double penalty -- you're already getting hurt on tiebreakers because they are, by definition, low MoV wins so the fact that you get fewer tourney points compounds that.

Edited for butchery.

Yeah, I don't understand that rule either.

Well, if the IDs had had to play, two players would very likely have lost and ended with 20 tourney points, moving the OP into 8th place and the top cut. Two players that didn't actually play a game gained an advantage by not playing their game, which is a serious problem with the rule, so I'm also glad its disappearing as we're seeing a lot of situations that it is causing more problems than it solves.

Yea that's true. I don't like how ID is being used to side-step competition.

Genuine question though - if Vayn had won his last match, wouldn't one of the ID players have been bumped out of the cut? The bottom ID players were banking on Vayn not getting a full win and risked being eliminated.

The higher-ranked ID players though, they certainly gained an advantage no matter the outcome.

I used to hate IDs, then after both going undefeated I got matched against my friend and enjoyed 75 minutes of free time rather than play a really tough and (almost) pointless match.

I have revised my statement to be:

i dont like IDs when taking one prevents another player from making the cut. However, an early round I might take an ID if I match a friend who I dont want to knock out.

As to your experience, Vayn, it's a shame that the tournament rounds and the one or two draws put you out of the cut! It's great that you're focusing on the play issues rather than a gray rants! Haha.

Also, you should just run Inquisitor + Prockets in place of Jax if you're having issues clearing the opponent's squad. Inquisitor just hits way more consistently than those fickle 1 mod Interceptors.

Well, if the IDs had had to play, two players would very likely have lost and ended with 20 tourney points, moving the OP into 8th place and the top cut. Two players that didn't actually play a game gained an advantage by not playing their game, which is a serious problem with the rule, so I'm also glad its disappearing as we're seeing a lot of situations that it is causing more problems than it solves.

Yea that's true. I don't like how ID is being used to side-step competition.

Genuine question though - if Vayn had won his last match, wouldn't one of the ID players have been bumped out of the cut? The bottom ID players were banking on Vayn not getting a full win and risked being eliminated.

The higher-ranked ID players though, they certainly gained an advantage no matter the outcome.

I'd need to see the standings for sure, but it does appear that would have been the case and that at least, for one of them, it ended up being a risk.

Without getting too far off topic, at the Roseville regional, there was a similar situation where taking an ID was a risk -- a lot of players went into R6 at 4-1, so many that if they all IDed, some would lose out to MoV tiebreakers. If they all played, all the winners would be in and the losers would be in the 4-2 group banking on MoV to get in. As it was, 2 tables drew and took the risk and all four that drew made it in because the rest played. So, it was another situation where not playing was the right gamble.

Also, you should just run Inquisitor + Prockets in place of Jax if you're having issues clearing the opponent's squad. Inquisitor just hits way more consistently than those fickle 1 mod Interceptors.

I'm also losing Palp way too early. If I can keep him long enough, he helps punch those crits through when I can afford an offense mod. This was not the case all day Saturday, and I was almost trading him for free every time.