Hey everyone! I LOVE THIS GAME! I play when i can, but not as much as i want....I have created some space to play in a tournament this saturday and was wondering if anyone had tournament advice for this tourney newb! thanks in advance!

With a whopping 1 short tourney under my belt I don't claim to be an expert but a few basic things I would recommend.

1. Bring a list you enjoy playing and, if possible, that you know pretty well. Mental fatigue can lead to mistakes, forgotten abilities, and other minor annoyances. Also depending on the length of the tourney you could be playing anywhere from 3-8 or more games with it.

2. Bring and drink plenty of water/make sure you eat. Especially when it's hot (which it can be in packed rooms in the summer) you don't want to worry about dehydration. Similarly, wear comfortable clothes and shoes since you will be in them for a good part of the day, and probably on your feet for most of it.

3. Shower, use deodorant, etc before you go. Long days on your feet in a hot room with lots of people are more pleasant for everyone when everyone has decent hygiene.

4. Have fun, be a good sport, and fly casual. Dice go hot or cold, you might face only lists that are terrible match ups for you, or players who fly rings around you, or you might be the epitome of the phrase 'pilot error'. Whatever happens keep in mind it's a game first and the goal is to have fun even in defeat and be a gracious winner or loser and try to enjoy the process and learn from any mistakes.

Tournaments can be a lot of fun and a great way to see lists and people you wouldn't see just playing the same people in the same location. Enjoy it and good luck!

Don't be afraid to lose. You might find yourself against veterans of the game. Ask plenty of questions, especially after the match. See what they think you could do to improve.

Think about food and water. There may not be a break. What are you going to eat if you don't have time to go out for something? Healthy snacks like nuts and fruit are excellent ideas. Make sure you drink plenty of water.

Know your list. Know what it can do.

Take notes of what you flew against and who your opponent was. That way you can refer back to it later. Also, consider writing up a battle report after. It might not be read much, but the act of writing it will help you identify ways to improve.

Fly a list that you know, and that you know you will enjoy playing.

Also, bring only what you need for that list:

I'm used to carrying most of my collection around for casual games, but for a tournament you really want to moderate how much stuff you are carrying with you.

I think SableGryphon covered the other essentials; get a good nights sleep beforehand, make sure you've got food & drink, remember to have fun.

Thanks for the advice! Holy Smokes! SableGryphon commented on one of my posts! I will take these things to heart. I am flying something I have been toying around with all week and i KNOW i will enjoy.

Kanan: FCS, Dorsal, Rec Con, Jan Ors, Title

Kyle: TLT, Title, Rec Con

Zeb: Title

Thanks again!

The best piece of advice I received before my first X-wing tournament was to take a tray! You're going to be moving your ships, dials, tokens, cards, dice, templates and obstacles around between tables - the last thing you want to do is pack everything away and set it all up again.

Otherwise just have fun - don't worry too much about winning or losing, instead look on it as a learning experience (although if you do do well then good for you )

The best piece of advice I received before my first X-wing tournament was to take a tray! You're going to be moving your ships, dials, tokens, cards, dice, templates and obstacles around between tables - the last thing you want to do is pack everything away and set it all up again.

Otherwise just have fun - don't worry too much about winning or losing, instead look on it as a learning experience (although if you do do well then good for you )

This! It would've been incredibly useful to have thought of this beforehand.

On the other hand, having finished at the bottom of the list, ended up not moving around that much

Take a tray.

Have fun.

Don't stress about losing.

MAKE FRIENDS

I'm a cheapskate so I use the lid from one of my cores as my tray. Take out the ship holders (keep the plastic cover!) and taking only what you need you can fit a seven ship list in the core box. The. When you get to the tourney, put the plastic cover from the model tray upside down over the display hole (perfect for throwing your dice, dials and templates in) and the rest of your stuff can be kept in the rest of the lid.

If you take the big tray out of bottom of the box and put the bottom back on it so the tray is now upside down ou can throw that back in your bag without the lid and your remaining components won't fall out. Simple, cheap and effective.

Here's what I put in another recent thread about this same topic .

I just did my first tournament. Here's what I didn't expect and some other tips...

1) You setup everything, but you have to wait until the official says "Go" (or whatever) to start playing. My first game, my opponent had a lower PS and I kept telling him "Go Ahead" and he was just looking at me funny.

2) When the official does say "Go" you shake hands and say "Good Luck"

3) When the last ship is destroyed, an opponent concedes, or time runs out. Say "Good Game" (or something else nice).

4) Then you have to do the points thing, which I had to ask for help on initially. It's actually pretty straightforward, but the large ships half-health rule is the one that isn't obvious.

There were natural moments when it made sense for me to move my opponents ships for them. Sometimes they ask, sometimes you just offer as it's obvious they would have to lean way over or walk around the table. Of course, some people don't like you moving for them, so always ask the first time to get a gauge on this.

Also, I noticed some people handed over the papers with their squad lists on them so you didn't have to walk around and look at their cards or have them tell you about them. I still had to walk around and ask questions though as the title of the card didn't mean much to me. Everyone was cool with that of course.

I brought a laser and used it a few times, but it was definitely a nice to have instead of a necessity. What I wish I'd had was the range 1 and 2 templates. There was some awkward measuring going on when neither me nor my opponent had these.

Also, bring a bottle of water and some painkillers. Some NON-MESSY treats to nibble on is good too. I sip on water quite often (tend to dehydrate when "in the zone") and standing for hours on end is not something my body enjoys. Feel free to offer your opponent some of your NON-MESSY treats.

However, keep in mind that if you go crazy on hydration, what goes in, must come out. When you finish a game early then make sure you utilize that time to go toilet and any other things you need to do (call the wife to say you love her). For all you know you may run out of time for your next 4 games and not get a break. Of course if you REALLY need to go then they just have to wait.

One thing that I was a bit uncomfortable with is that everyone just left their things on the table when they went to watch others or go to the toilet or whatever. I had a tendency to pack everything up and take it with me to the toilet, but didn't do that. Nothing got stolen, but it's up to you to decide that yourself. Largely depends on your level of trust. There were plenty of people I didn't know, but it was more of a "Everyone else is doing it, so I guess I will" thing for me.

Lastly, if you need to borrow something, try asking (if you haven't brought back-ups). I went to setup my ships and one of my peg connectors attached to the ship had broke. I was stressing a bit, but someone was nice enough to let me borrow theirs. I could tell some people had what I needed, but didn't want to let me borrow it. It was the people that knew who I was that were open to it (that's understandable though). I've noticed some ask to borrow things before the tournament day (if they don't own them for example)

Anyway, Best of luck!

P.S. - I got last place and didn't kill a single ship. I learned a lot and it was still loads of fun though (and someone was nice and gave me the promo card I wanted anyway).