I'm hitting a wall of frustration and rock paper scissors. Is this why people play swarm?

It doesn't feel like I'm trying to find a balanced squad. The impression I'm getting is lucky matchup or nothing.

Vets will be worse with the random ion cannon defender ruining 2 agility ships.

Meta is only big for me usually during tourneys, not casual play. Even then, I rarely fly anything that is the up-to-date, "killer" meta list. I just don't normally have fun flying them. Right now it seems like everyone is flying a Palp Aces variation or a U-boat variation, but that's what happens at competitive events. Imp Vets and Wave 9 will change the meta, just like every other expansion has, so your frustration will go away with these lists in a few months. Then you get to be frustrated with an entirely new set of meta lists! Such is X-wing. It is a game of constant changes in what is best, what is new, and what is the flavor of the month.

Honestly, I rarely see the meta kings in our casual games. People are usually trying out new things or flying things they think would be fun.

Heroes of the Aturi Cluster. It re-invented the game for me and my friends.

Games like this will always inevitably drift towards netlisting and power builds. Especially a game like this with so few options and so few models where the effect of point expenditure is magnified.

Personally I've been waiting for the Swarm list to come roaring back! Nothing cooler then a bunch of ties on the table. The new Meta is great to me. I've seen all kinds of list work. Yes some lists may be stronger at times, but things always change. Try epic it's long, but fun.

Come tournament time, the meta lists are more common here. Beyond that, people try all kind of crazy. I ran variations on 4x Advanced lists for months after the Raider dropped, to the amusement of many. I've seen everything from 4x StarViper to Etahn/Zs over the last few months. Heck, I ran a Rage Swarm the other day.

After I got my Gozanti, and had 6 TIES, I soon found that a crack-swarm was a good list. but wanting to fly all my TIES came first.

I'm hitting a wall of frustration and rock paper scissors. Is this why people play swarm?

It doesn't feel like I'm trying to find a balanced squad. The impression I'm getting is lucky matchup or nothing.

Vets will be worse with the random ion cannon defender ruining 2 agility ships.

Did you play this game during the wave 4-5 meta? I will GLADLY bend over for triple U-Boats over having to play fat turret based squads in every match on weekly $5 tournament night.

I recommend that you fly Mindlinked Brobots. B & D, each with Mindlink, FCS, HLC, Feedback Array, Autothrusters, IG-2000. It has answers to both Palp Aces and U-Boats. Only thing that gives it trouble is Super Dash. It's a very fun squad to fly, you don't get screwed by matchups often.

But what truly is the meta these days? Sure, palp is hot, but it's not a soul crushing list, nor is it different from what it's always been. Trip toilets are already being dropped off in favor of more variety, so your complaint is... the jumpmaster gives scum ordinance? Or that two aces and a slow boat is too hard? If anything, I've noticed a boom in variety. Remember, last meta was all tlts all the time, and where's the variety there? I feel like there's alot of flux right now, and it's not a bad thing. 4 hawks have won, rebels are around, despite the death knells, two ship lists can get better, aces are fine (position is still king). What's making you sad, little man?

Did you play this game during the wave 4-5 meta? I will GLADLY bend over for triple U-Boats over having to play fat turret based squads in every match on weekly $5 tournament night.

Nah, Whisper was my bane during that time. Ugh. The amount of time I spent trying to pin her down...

I have been playing since wave 3.

There are enough variations on the current meta pillars that competitive play is still pretty diverse. People always feels this way this time of year because the level of play rises.

A couple points to keep in mind:

If you are trying to design a new list to hang out with the competitive meta and you lose your first 5 games it doesn't really mean anything. That's a tiny sample and you're new at using the list. Give it real time and effort before you decide that the meta, which people have been playing for months, is just beating the list and not your inexperience with the list.

Even among palp aces the variety available is staggering compared to past metas.

Every game is paper rock scissors for me the last month or so. I play 10+ games a week so I can't really narrow it down to one thing.

I'd recommend working REALLY hard to figure out how to make Paper beat Scissors. That might bring some spice to the game for ya!

Just play a bunch of solo games and see how close you can get!

I second that suggestion. You can learn a lot in a small amount of time playing the first 4 or so turns against a problem list about 5 times in a row. That really teaches you how to engage problem lists effectively and turns asteroids into your friends.

play the meta in your local area

it should nothing but palp aces and uboats, but here it's like one uboat a tourney and several palp aces. Conner nets aplenty!

I got worked hard by two JMs and a Bus today. That really sucked. Every round I took off a ship. Normally this happens anyways since well, you know... TIEs. They die easy. And at the end of it, yeah I felt like there was simply nothing I could do but in reality? I'm set tomorrow to try it again. Why? Because I can beat that list. I just have to figure it out. All my life I've been told that I wasn't good enough or that I didn't apply myself, and I feel like I prove those people wrong every day. I'm a big boy now and I can microwave my own burritos and get my own powerade out of the fridge! So you know what? A little meta-gaming isn't going to stop that.

If anything, looking at the lists people are bringing to regional events lately I'd say the U-Boat threat has done more to shake up the variety of lists than anything else has in the past.

But what truly is the meta these days? Sure, palp is hot, but it's not a soul crushing list, nor is it different from what it's always been. Trip toilets are already being dropped off in favor of more variety, so your complaint is... the jumpmaster gives scum ordinance? Or that two aces and a slow boat is too hard? If anything, I've noticed a boom in variety. Remember, last meta was all tlts all the time, and where's the variety there? I feel like there's alot of flux right now, and it's not a bad thing. 4 hawks have won, rebels are around, despite the death knells, two ship lists can get better, aces are fine (position is still king). What's making you sad, little man?

Except it wasn't? Outside Jumpmaster lists and double Ghost lists, virtually all the lists in the current meta were present in the last meta.

Heroes of the Aturi Cluster. It re-invented the game for me and my friends.

Games like this will always inevitably drift towards netlisting and power builds. Especially a game like this with so few options and so few models where the effect of point expenditure is magnified.

I'd say you're wrong 146% on that, because here we have so GODDAMN LOTS OF OPTIONS, it's sometimes a pain

Sometimes the best thing to do is take a break from the game and come back later (Like after a month or two). It's what I did with Magic the Gathering when I was burnt out. You return to the game with a lot more energy and optimism, even if you'll be playing very rusty.

If I am completely honest, this meta is starting to grow on me. I've played Mindlink-Brobots(C and B) almost exclusively for the last month or so and it's a really fun list. It has a solid chance against all the metas demons. I was very suprised when I faced double Jumpmaster lists at Naboo and found out that the matchup was quite favorable for me. Also, just saw the results from the Tatooine system open and Guri is in the top 8! Guri!

I hear ya OP.

uBoats are a Cancer to the game at the moment and I hope that they address that with a balance fix, real soon.

X-wing has always been in a funny place and I think this is a problem for any miniatures game especially one with the restrictiveness of the Star Wars Franchise, although it is still expanding, lets face it is just shrunk a lot after Episode 7.

Some of the newer players, and by newer I mean Wave 6 and beyond may be discouraged by seeing ships they don't recognize on the tables. I mean anyone can point an X-wing and the Imperials but what is this Scum faction and I never even seen all these large ships in the Movies, what happened to the Millennium Falcon? This can also drive off some new players who want to play with the iconic ships from the Movie but struggle as the current Meta doesn't include say Swarms of TIEs and a cadre of elite X-wing pilots.

Then there is the old competitive players who will find if new releases were not added the meta will go stale so they want new ships but not just any ship. I mean you can't add the Viper from Battlestar Galactica without upsetting not only fans of both franchise but the IP owners as well. Each ship has to be Star Wars even if it is from an obscure source like a horrible 80's cartoon that most forgot because it wasn't the worst of the franchise.

So we are going to see a meta that isn't familiar with Star Wars fans from time to time. Now with the release of new movies we might see some new ships (hopefully more than just another X-wing and straight winged TIE Fighter) and these new movies will bring new ship with a distinct Star Wars feel to the meta. Until then, try to think of Star Wars as the history being retold or rewritten by which happens to be the new victors and maybe see some hidden and forgotten histories such as the Moldy Crow or the Prototypes of TIE Fighters.

I hear ya OP.

uBoats are a Cancer to the game at the moment and I hope that they address that with a balance fix, real soon.

Please be /s, please?

I hear ya OP.

uBoats are a Cancer to the game at the moment and I hope that they address that with a balance fix, real soon.

Please be /s, please?

Sorry, I don't "cesspool" - so the reference is lost on me.