We had a pre-National tournament locally last weekend, and it being the last weekend before school started, I figured it would be the best time to let my son enter his first tournament, before he starts first grade .
His list was simple, triple Glaives with crackshot and x7. I'd made the mistake of letting run a fat Chewie at a 60 point 3 round tournament a few weeks prior. Past the first few games, I made sure he almost never had a turret, to learn positioning, so he kept trying to get ships in arc. That's actually a good idea with the Glaives!
I was thinking one win would be good for him. That's not how the story ended!
Meanwhile I was running:
Bossk: VI, 4-LOM, Zuckuss, Dengar, Dampeners
N'Dru: VI, Homing, Glitterstim, Chips
Kavil: VI, Dorsal, proton, chips.
First round
There was an even number of players, so I tried to convince him to sit this tournament out so as not to create a bye. He forcefully declined. He randomly got the first bye (which I thought was wholly appropriate!)
I faced Carnor, Ryad, and a Glaive.
I set up N'Dru in the middle of my side and Bossk and Kavil on the farthest corner from his ships. He rushed N'Dru while I slow played him and turned the other 2 around. When the homing went off, it was on the Glaive, as opposed to the shot I initially wanted on Ryad. With Ryad and Carnor at range 1 and the Glaive at range 2, N'Dru did not die! He actually survived 2 more rounds and killed himself k-turning on a rock. It was a 50/50 chance and if he'd survived he would have kept the ioned Bossk in a better position. Ryad missed a block on Bossk and I used the dampeners, ending any hope she had of making it through.
Second round
My son faced Fenn Rau, railgun Zuckuss, and Manaroo. Since in our one practice match with 2 Glaives and Tomax he made mistakes by trying to keep them together, I suggested he run them like mini-aces. That was a mistake, which is documented here . He managed to down Zuckuss and get Manaroo to half before dying. I told him it was still really well played and he was proud of it.
I faced an Oicunn/Whisper build. Whisper managed to dodge N'Dru's arc perfectly and he died without getting his missile off. Bossk one-shot her the next round at range 1. I then used Kavil to whittle down the decimator while Bossk turned around to finish the job, at which point Kavil was dead.
Third round
My son faced my 2nd round opponent. And I can basically say that he drove him mad. They set up in opposing corners, and my son basically just went full forward, then k-turned and back, forcing the other player to engage. At which point he just pounced on him. Among the melee, one Defender went down, but Oicunn was left at 1 or 2 hull, having chosen to aim for the edge of the map to get one more round of shooting instead of being killed by the Defenders who thought he'd try to stay alive and overshot him. They then k-turned together and wasted Whisper in one round since they both had their crackshot left. It was brutal.
I faced a Moralo party bus and IG-B. I love aggressors. Which is why I knew he had to die, and quickly at that. I rushed him with N'Dru while turning the other two in. They traded shots and N'Dru survived with his TL intact. The next turn, he k-turned behind and the aggressor could not get out of range of the missile. Kavil and Bossk vastly overpowered the other bus and it was over, N'Dru bought the farm though. Very, very brutal game.
Final round
My son faced Vessery, Rexler and Omega. They jousted. I was paying attention to my match a lot more so I missed a lot, but I saw a ton of situations where my son could shoot but not really get shot. After a long while Rexler went down, shortly followed by Vessery. The 3 Defenders then literally hunted Omega Leader across the map. The game ran long, so at that point, there were a lot of people gathered and watching how brutal that was. My son's third round opponent actually burst out when he learned that my son tabled that opponent. Which is how I felt all day, since beating the little bugger is so hard I'd come to believe it was lack of skill on my part. Not being alone in that pain feels good
I faced one of the better players in the region with a Maarek/Chiraneau list. I managed to wipe out Maarek quickly, but the PS10 boosting monster whittled down my list and ended up chasing my bus around. No need to say how that ended! There are 2 things I'd do differently in that match. I'm not sure it would have swung it around, but it would have helped get more than barely half points!
Conclusion
As the ranking was given out, I was second, then my son name didn't come up. Until we realized the TO thought he lost against the Oicunn/Whisper list, as opposed to the other way around! I completely understand how someone could think a kid is simply not going to win. So he edged me out for 2nd place, getting himself a K-wing! Though I just realized the snafu means his last matchup is not the one he should have had!
With school having started, he'll likely not make it out to that many tournament until summer, so I'm really happy he got to have the full experience. And I'm doubly happy to know that beating him is hard because he's good, not because I'm bad! Fly better!
