Warning! Wall of text incoming.

So the Greek nationals are coming next month, September 25th, and as you can imagine, everyone who actually plays X-Wing at least semi-competitively here in Greece is preparing. We are a pretty small community of players, and so everyone pretty much knows everyone's style of play. However, the meta is pretty diverse but powerful lists like Dengaroo and triple scouts are quite common nevertheless. It may come as a surprise to some, but Palp Aces is not very common.

Anyway, for those of you who have read my previous post about the Athens Regionals will understand what I am saying about the meta diversity. Of course, it could be that stores don't get the new waves as they are released, but 2-3 months later plus that new product orders are sparse so once the stock has been depleted, you can only find T-65 X-Wings, TIE Fighters and TIE Punishers in the stores .

I will be posting my thoughts, as well as battle reports, of the games I play previous to the Nationals. This post will be regularly updated once a week, probably at Saturday or Sunday, since that is when I am able to play some games.

The first part of tournament play is to decide on a list and play it to find out weaknesses and strength, as well as to familiarize yourself with it. That is my first big problem. Like everyone else who plays competitively, I want to win my games and take the tournament. Of course, that is not always possible since no matter how well you fly, if dice are not on your side, there is nothing you can do about it. So, the motto of this road to Nationals will be, Fly Casual .

I have been finding myself unable to create a list worthy of tournament play for any faction, without including either Biggs, Palp or Dengar. All of these add guarantees to the list, it being either forcing split fire, manipulating dice or doing damage through sheer force and dice modification. So, I have narrowed it down to these three list, one for each faction:

Rebels

Wes Janson, VI, R3-A2, IA

Biggs Darklighter, R4-D6, IA

Corran Horn, VI, FCS, R2-D2 or Miranda Doni, TLT, Sabine, EM, Conner Net and drop R3-A2 to R2 Mech or Norra Wexley, PTL, Tail Gunner, EU, R2-D2, Overhaul.

I have alternative choices because it is debated right now whether Wave 9 will be allowed in the tournament or not, If it is allowed, I will definitely run Norra.

Empire

Palpshuttle

Carnor Jax, PTL, Royal Guard TIE, AT, Hull Upgrade

Countess Ryad, Juke, TIE/x7, Stealth Device

Scum

Dengar, Lone Wolf, Plasma Torps, Zuckuss, Overclocked R4, Glitterstim, P1, Counter Measures

Manaroo, PTL, Recon Specialist, R5-P8, Feedback, EU

As you can see, the lists are completely meta-oriented. Regen, focus control and Dengaroo which is pretty much the definition of "meta" right now.

Right now, I am inclined towards the Rebel list because it can deal with many different threats, and if Corran/Miranda/Norra survive to late game, they are gonna be monsters. Time will tell though if I go with that list, since there are other factors to take into consideration. For example, all the games plus the top cuts are probably gonna be in one day, which means tiredness is gonna play a significant factor. I am not saying I will definitely make the top cut, but if I do, Dengaroo is the perfect list since you can pretty much set it on autopilot and let it do its business. Anyway, that is a matter for another time.

So, now that we have the lists settled, it is time to move onto the battle reports. I have played 4 games up to this point, one with Scum, one with Empire and two with Rebels.

NOTE: All games will be described from my perspective.

Scum game 1

Opponent's list:

Wedge Antilles, PTL, R2 Mech, IA

Airen Cracken, VI

Rookie X-wing, R2 Mech, IA

Blue Novice X-wing, R2 Mech, IA

My opponent sets up top left with all his ships in a checkerboard formation, with the aces in the back. My Manaroo is opposite to his swarm facing right and Dengar is in the middle, trying to engage in the asteroid/debris field. He opens with 4 forwards on all ships while Manaroo runs away with 4 forward plus boost. Dengar does a 3 forward and barrel rolls right to get into hard turn position next turn. His swarm hard turns towards Dengar next turn but Wedge bumps and has no shots while Manaroo does her thing and Dengar 2-hard turns left. Here I misjudge the distance and Dengar bumps a debris cloud and stresses himself. Not that he cares, but I am unable to use my torps for the rest of the game. I choose not to pop counter-measures as we are at R3 and I get 3 dice anyway. After the combat phase, Dengar was intact and the T-65 has lost 2 shields after the return fire from Dengar. Next turn, all his ships get into position to fire at Dengar, while he inches forward with a 1 speed move, ending in R1 of all his ships. Manaroo is still circling around. I pop counter-measures to get the 3 agility and remove Wedge's TL. Aires fires but does no damage, gives Wedge the TL back. Dengar then attacks the wounded T-65 and takes it off the board with a 4-hit attack and a blank on the T-65's defense roll. After, Wedge and the other x-wing attack Dengar and after I blank out two of my rolls, plus the LW re-roll, Dengar is sitting at two hull and fires back at Wedge, causing him to take 3 damage and use IA to avoid a Direct Hit. Well, that did not go as planned! Anyway, next turn I was in a great position to sloop and Wedge could not fire at me because he was stressed from PLT. Indeed, I sloop with Dengar while the x-wing and Airen k-turn to get shots on me and Wedge flies past me, at R1 with just a focus. I fire at Wedge and take him of the board while the x-wing plus Airen take Dengar down, but not without Dengar taking the shot at the T-70, causing it to lose its shields and use IA to avoid hull damage. Here I chose to fire at the T-70 because I though it was gonna be the greatest danger to Manaroo with its 3 dice primary plus boost. Anyway, his ships were pretty beat up at that point and I had a full health Manaroo with the Painbot so it was clean-up time. Indeed, Manaroo destroys the two remaining ships and Scum take the game.

Well, I think that this game showcases Dengar pretty well, with him being able to take on the entire opposing list on his own and deal enough damage fro Manaroo to clean up after. Since this was the one and only game I played with this list, I can't really say much since the list speaks for itself.

Empire game 1

Opponent's list:

Wedge, Predator, BB-8, IA

2 Dagger B-wings, FCS, HLC

My opponent sets up top-right with all his ships with the two Bs in front of Wedge. I place my shuttle in the right cornet ready to run away while Ryad and Jax take the center. He opens with a 3 forward on everything while the shuttle runs away and Ryad with jax get into position with 5 forwards plus boost on Jax. Next turn, the Bs continue with a 3 forward while Wedged turns in to face Ryad and Jax. Wedged fires to no avail but I do no damage to him either. After that, I decide to be annoying with Jax and joust Wedge with Ryad. Meanwhile, the Bs start turning in, towards the middle. However, Ryad just couldn't roll well enough to damage Wedge, even when he couldn't use his focus. Wedge though rolls 4 hits onto Ryad who, with 4 dice, focus, evade and Palp blanks out on her roll so she takes two, plus she loses the stealth device. Next turn sees Ryad go down to combined fire from Wedge and one B while I am able to destroy a B with Ryad (before she died), Jax and even the shuttle, which now is pointing towards the right of the board, ready to go into the middle. I am in a pretty bad position though, by losing my main hitter of the list. Anyway, I press on with the shuttle and the B bumps me while wedge missed the bump by the slightest and unloads on me, dealing 4 damage. meanwhile, Jax is circling around to get into position and fires a the B, doing 3 damage. Next turn, I am not able to stand still with the shuttle as I am stressed so I must move. I just choose 1 forward to bump Wedge and clear my stress, as there was not better way to move since Wedge and asteroids ware in the way. The B moves forwards to clear my base and Wedge k-turns behind the shuttle. Jax keeps chasing the B and puts 3 more damage into it, while Wedge deals 4 more damage to the shuttle, which is now limping on 2 hull. Now, if this next turn went any different, I could have potentially won the game. I stand still with the shuttle and Wedge has to bump me since he was stressed so no BB-8. The B k-turns while Jax sticks to it. Wedge targets Jax but does nothing but Jax just couldn't roll at least decently during this crucial round. I roll 3 blanks and a focus, so I spend focus and Palp to try and kill the B-wing. He saves one hit, so well, he at least takes the crit. He draws the crit, and it is a get a stress token crit. Oh well, goodbye shuttle, as my opponent rolls 3 hits on his HLC, securing the kill. After hat I am able to easily finish the B off but I am left in a scenario of Jax vs Wedge, were Wedge both out-PS's me, and has BB-8. I try my best to predict his move, but you can't really be sure with BB-8. I manage to destroy his shields, but Jax dies a couple rounds after.

I really like this variation of an Empire list, since it has the tools necessary to deal with Dengar though Jax and TIE/x7, Juke Ryad but really struggles if Ryad doesn't roll well on her defense, plus you need to be able to fly pretty much perfectly all the time (since the smallest slip can cost you the game) and that is quite tiring, especially seeing this in a one-day tournament setting.

Well, that is it for this post. I will be posting the Rebel games I have already played sometime this week, so stay tuned!

Oh and by the way, feedback on the lists and the style of writing is always appreciated.

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

P.S: I am quite new to these forums, so if this post is in the wrong category and should be in the Battle Reports sub forum, feel free to move it.

We know your opinion mate.

You could have just stayed out of this clearly-labelled thread.

Nice write up, look forward to hearing how the Rebel list gets on.

I know what you mean about brain fatugue Canor Jax is great but you have to concentrate on not making any mistakes( something I always fail to do)

The Dengaroo list is kinda boring but I think the Rebel list looks fun to play and could be competitive.

Two questions though, Will wave 9 be available? Might be tight to get Nora in and What's with all the Wedge action, is he popular in the Greek meta?

We know your opinion mate.

You could have just stayed out of this clearly-labelled thread.

Nice to see constructive and helpful comments for a new poster, especially from one of the " X Wing Vets"

We know your opinion mate.

You could have just stayed out of this clearly-labelled thread.

Just remember that you LOVE STAR WARS ... Always.

Have FUN My Star Brother.

I can't stop being in favour of the Corran/Wes/Biggs list: I'm playing it since June and I got awesome results with it. It's very strong and versatile, but it's also starting to suffer the Imperials switching from squishy aces (Soontir, Inquisitor, Vader) toward the more though x7 Defenders.

Your scum list would probably get better by swapping out Recon Specialist from Manaroo since Dengar has overclocked and doesn't need double focus (unless you expect to face a crazy amount of Wes Jansons). Gonk or K4 are both good crew for her

Hey fok12, I've flown your Rebel list with Miranda, though instead of the bombs I went homing missiles and long range scanners. She'll hit like a freight train that first pass with a 5 red homing missile with full re-roll and focus. Janson cleared the opponent's token first, Miranda struck and if she didn't murder things Biggs would sometimes snag the kill. I'd actually fly her free of Biggs' leash to present my opponent with the choice of chasing her and letting the X-Wings slap him, or allowing Miranda to setup for another attack run.

I much prefer her to Corran late game.

Admittedly, I'm a bit of a K-Wing nut these days...

Nice write up, look forward to hearing how the Rebel list gets on.

I know what you mean about brain fatugue Canor Jax is great but you have to concentrate on not making any mistakes( something I always fail to do)

The Dengaroo list is kinda boring but I think the Rebel list looks fun to play and could be competitive.

Two questions though, Will wave 9 be available? Might be tight to get Nora in and What's with all the Wedge action, is he popular in the Greek meta?

It is not certain yet whether Wave 9 will be available or not. My guess would be no, since it won't have been released officially yet, but everything goes here, so we will see . But if Wave 9 is allowed, I will definitely run Norra. She is durable, has regen and hits like a truck.

Wedge is quite popular in Greece. I don't really know why, but it seems the -1 agility sounds good to most .

Hey fok12, I've flown your Rebel list with Miranda, though instead of the bombs I went homing missiles and long range scanners. She'll hit like a freight train that first pass with a 5 red homing missile with full re-roll and focus. Janson cleared the opponent's token first, Miranda struck and if she didn't murder things Biggs would sometimes snag the kill. I'd actually fly her free of Biggs' leash to present my opponent with the choice of chasing her and letting the X-Wings slap him, or allowing Miranda to setup for another attack run.

I much prefer her to Corran late game.

Admittedly, I'm a bit of a K-Wing nut these days...

I like that idea. I included the Conner Nets for control and guaranteed damage, but Homing Missiles do sound tempting and with your build, I can keep R3-A2 on Wes. I will have to give it a go and see how it does. Apart from the missiles and LRS, what else would you put on her? There are 2 points leftover, so EMs to maybe get a second pass, or a crew?

I had Miranda with TLT, Homing Missiles, EM, Long Range scanners = 42 points which seemed to be the same as the optimum Corran build with Janson and Biggs.

So, you'd hit with the missile first, losing a shield. Biggs takes the hits instead...

Fly out, using TLT to recharge and harass as you get the range to target lock again...

Come back to release another missile.

Unless your opponent is already crippled and TLT is a huge threat on it's own, then just stick around and hold the missile. I like having options and a variety of tactics against different lists.

Once the payload is expended, Miranda is a harassing unit unless she can pick up range 1 on something to go 4 red primary... I like to float around with a permanent target lock on somebody until I get that chance.

My failing with this list was not Miranda (she actually twice solo'd lists after the X-Wings bought it fast) but with my flying of Biggs and Janson. I found keeping those two together very restrictive, but I'm used to more ships at the same PS so I could better spread firing arcs and change the order I move them to avoid bumps. I flew the list terribly, but remained competitive in the tournaments I took it to.

We know your opinion mate.

You could have just stayed out of this clearly-labelled thread.

Perhaps you could help me understand what threads we are allowed to post in and which ones we aren't? Joe has as much right to post in this thread as anyone else. Even if, especially if, you don't agree with or like his opinion. That's what makes this an actual community instead of a pointless echo chamber.

To the OP, I dig your lists, I think the rebels are by far the most interesting, but I do like your Soontirless Imperial Aces. Best of luck on your road.

We know your opinion mate.

You could have just stayed out of this clearly-labelled thread.

Perhaps you could help me understand what threads we are allowed to post in and which ones we aren't? Joe has as much right to post in this thread as anyone else. Even if, especially if, you don't agree with or like his opinion. That's what makes this an actual community instead of a pointless echo chamber.

To the OP, I dig your lists, I think the rebels are by far the most interesting, but I do like your Soontirless Imperial Aces. Best of luck on your road.

Balance is important. When I saw dude was saying that he is becoming a slave to the meta... that called for a little post from me... you know: Mr. Anti-Meta.

When you do not Meta-Think you often have very few reasons to be mad at FFG and to start a million FIX Topics... in my vast and great experience... anyhow.

We know your opinion mate.

You could have just stayed out of this clearly-labelled thread.

Perhaps you could help me understand what threads we are allowed to post in and which ones we aren't? Joe has as much right to post in this thread as anyone else. Even if, especially if, you don't agree with or like his opinion. That's what makes this an actual community instead of a pointless echo chamber.

To the OP, I dig your lists, I think the rebels are by far the most interesting, but I do like your Soontirless Imperial Aces. Best of luck on your road.

Balance is important. When I saw dude was saying that he is becoming a slave to the meta... that called for a little post from me... you know: Mr. Anti-Meta.

When you do not Meta-Think you often have very few reasons to be mad at FFG and to start a million FIX Topics... in my vast and great experience... anyhow.

And you did well! Like I said on the original post, feedback is always appreciated! But I'll have you know, the only thing I am mad at FFG about is the lack of Gunboat (obvious joke is obvious )

Nice write up, look forward to hearing how the Rebel list gets on.

I know what you mean about brain fatugue Canor Jax is great but you have to concentrate on not making any mistakes( something I always fail to do)

The Dengaroo list is kinda boring but I think the Rebel list looks fun to play and could be competitive.

Two questions though, Will wave 9 be available? Might be tight to get Nora in and What's with all the Wedge action, is he popular in the Greek meta?

It is not certain yet whether Wave 9 will be available or not. My guess would be no, since it won't have been released officially yet, but everything goes here, so we will see . But if Wave 9 is allowed, I will definitely run Norra. She is durable, has regen and hits like a truck.

Wedge is quite popular in Greece. I don't really know why, but it seems the -1 agility sounds good to most .

Hey fok12, I've flown your Rebel list with Miranda, though instead of the bombs I went homing missiles and long range scanners. She'll hit like a freight train that first pass with a 5 red homing missile with full re-roll and focus. Janson cleared the opponent's token first, Miranda struck and if she didn't murder things Biggs would sometimes snag the kill. I'd actually fly her free of Biggs' leash to present my opponent with the choice of chasing her and letting the X-Wings slap him, or allowing Miranda to setup for another attack run.

I much prefer her to Corran late game.

Admittedly, I'm a bit of a K-Wing nut these days...

I like that idea. I included the Conner Nets for control and guaranteed damage, but Homing Missiles do sound tempting and with your build, I can keep R3-A2 on Wes. I will have to give it a go and see how it does. Apart from the missiles and LRS, what else would you put on her? There are 2 points leftover, so EMs to maybe get a second pass, or a crew?

You could further optimize your Imperial list by swapping Ryad for Vessery with the same loadout, swapping Carnor Jax for a 31 point Inquisitor, and adding FCS to the Palp Shuttle.

We know your opinion mate.

You could have just stayed out of this clearly-labelled thread.

Perhaps you could help me understand what threads we are allowed to post in and which ones we aren't? Joe has as much right to post in this thread as anyone else. Even if, especially if, you don't agree with or like his opinion. That's what makes this an actual community instead of a pointless echo chamber.

To the OP, I dig your lists, I think the rebels are by far the most interesting, but I do like your Soontirless Imperial Aces. Best of luck on your road.

Balance is important. When I saw dude was saying that he is becoming a slave to the meta... that called for a little post from me... you know: Mr. Anti-Meta.

When you do not Meta-Think you often have very few reasons to be mad at FFG and to start a million FIX Topics... in my vast and great experience... anyhow.

And you did well! Like I said on the original post, feedback is always appreciated! But I'll have you know, the only thing I am mad at FFG about is the lack of Gunboat (obvious joke is obvious )

I see that you are not one of the wondering; who may well become lost to The DARK Side.

I was once this way too... in the first year of learning.

We know your opinion mate.

You could have just stayed out of this clearly-labelled thread.

Perhaps you could help me understand what threads we are allowed to post in and which ones we aren't? Joe has as much right to post in this thread as anyone else. Even if, especially if, you don't agree with or like his opinion. That's what makes this an actual community instead of a pointless echo chamber.

To the OP, I dig your lists, I think the rebels are by far the most interesting, but I do like your Soontirless Imperial Aces. Best of luck on your road.

Post wherever you like but if you insist on repeating the same whine day in, day out, even in threads clearly about topics that don't interest you, sooner or later someone might be annoyed enough to suggest you give it a rest occasionally.

We know your opinion mate.

You could have just stayed out of this clearly-labelled thread.

Joe Boss is a bigger broken record than PGS. I suspect he may have a medical condition that makes it impossible for him not to chime in at every opportunity he's got to let people know that they are doing things wrong by playing X-Wing competitively.

At least PGS contributes something other than little spaceship images to discussion threads.

he's got to let people know that they are doing things wrong by playing X-Wing competitively

That's my problem with posts like his. If you don't like something that's fine. But don't pretend for a moment that your way is the right way to do it, or somehow better.

We know your opinion mate.

You could have just stayed out of this clearly-labelled thread.

Joe Boss is a bigger broken record than PGS. I suspect he may have a medical condition that makes it impossible for him not to chime in at every opportunity he's got to let people know that they are doing things wrong by playing X-Wing competitively.

At least PGS contributes something other than little spaceship images to discussion threads.

... that most of us already understand ten minutes after opening our wonderful expansions packs.

Repeating stats and combos all of the time everyday on the forum is not helpful to anyone except perhaps a few rookies who just got into the game.

Just saying... judging what is a good participation here considering how wacky many of the threads get... well it is not worth much either. I mean how many times do we need a palp-blah of a FIX topic?

I at least try to bring some fun to this place. If you do not like pictures of cute STAR WARS SHIPS on The STAR WARS Game Forum... there is not much I can do to brighten your day.

If you would like to see bland text postings from me telling you how to play this game... well that is also just kinda boring. To me it is like talking about things we should all already know. it gets old to people who have a great knowledge base. I get that newbies need help, but as a long time vet... i am over it.

Just saying... I like other aspects of the game now... and so to me and many others cool and fun pictures are more entertaining than yet another super meta-combo-topic.

Post wherever you like but if you insist on repeating the same whine day in, day out, even in threads clearly about topics that don't interest you, sooner or later someone might be annoyed enough to suggest you give it a rest occasionally.

Threads like this interest him very much. If I see a thread with Meta in the subject line, I expect to see a JBR7 post.

It sounds more like *YOU* are not interested in his opinion. Good news, my man, there is an ignore feature.

We know your opinion mate.

You could have just stayed out of this clearly-labelled thread.

Joe Boss is a bigger broken record than PGS. I suspect he may have a medical condition that makes it impossible for him not to chime in at every opportunity he's got to let people know that they are doing things wrong by playing X-Wing competitively.

At least PGS contributes something other than little spaceship images to discussion threads.

You also don't have to quote him. He's the only poster I have blocked for a reason and quoting circumvents that.

We know your opinion mate.

You could have just stayed out of this clearly-labelled thread.

Joe Boss is a bigger broken record than PGS. I suspect he may have a medical condition that makes it impossible for him not to chime in at every opportunity he's got to let people know that they are doing things wrong by playing X-Wing competitively.

At least PGS contributes something other than little spaceship images to discussion threads.

You also don't have to quote him. He's the only poster I have blocked for a reason and quoting circumvents that.

You can block people?!?! Dear god, how does one do that? You might just have made these forums readable again!

Post wherever you like but if you insist on repeating the same whine day in, day out, even in threads clearly about topics that don't interest you, sooner or later someone might be annoyed enough to suggest you give it a rest occasionally.

Threads like this interest him very much. If I see a thread with Meta in the subject line, I expect to see a JBR7 post.

It sounds more like *YOU* are not interested in his opinion. Good news, my man, there is an ignore feature.

Once in a while somebody will post something about how to do more than fall into the (potential) evil that is meta-think... so I like seeing that.

Hurray someone else is not falling in line with that path.

Nice write up, look forward to hearing how the Rebel list gets on.

I know what you mean about brain fatugue Canor Jax is great but you have to concentrate on not making any mistakes( something I always fail to do)

The Dengaroo list is kinda boring but I think the Rebel list looks fun to play and could be competitive.

Two questions though, Will wave 9 be available? Might be tight to get Nora in and What's with all the Wedge action, is he popular in the Greek meta?

It is not certain yet whether Wave 9 will be available or not. My guess would be no, since it won't have been released officially yet, but everything goes here, so we will see . But if Wave 9 is allowed, I will definitely run Norra. She is durable, has regen and hits like a truck.

Wedge is quite popular in Greece. I don't really know why, but it seems the -1 agility sounds good to most .

Hey fok12, I've flown your Rebel list with Miranda, though instead of the bombs I went homing missiles and long range scanners. She'll hit like a freight train that first pass with a 5 red homing missile with full re-roll and focus. Janson cleared the opponent's token first, Miranda struck and if she didn't murder things Biggs would sometimes snag the kill. I'd actually fly her free of Biggs' leash to present my opponent with the choice of chasing her and letting the X-Wings slap him, or allowing Miranda to setup for another attack run.

I much prefer her to Corran late game.

Admittedly, I'm a bit of a K-Wing nut these days...

I like that idea. I included the Conner Nets for control and guaranteed damage, but Homing Missiles do sound tempting and with your build, I can keep R3-A2 on Wes. I will have to give it a go and see how it does. Apart from the missiles and LRS, what else would you put on her? There are 2 points leftover, so EMs to maybe get a second pass, or a crew?

You could further optimize your Imperial list by swapping Ryad for Vessery with the same loadout, swapping Carnor Jax for a 31 point Inquisitor, and adding FCS to the Palp Shuttle.

Ryad Jax Palp was one of the undefeated lists Day 1 of Gencon.

You can block people?!?! Dear god, how does one do that? You might just have made these forums readable again!

Click on your avatar, select edit my Profile and 'Ignore' Preferences.

I'd advise against it, I prefer the "Director's Cut" of the forums, but to each his own.