The 2016 X Wing Malaysian Nationals Battle Report
The Tournament
The 2016 X Wing Miniatures Malaysian Nationals was held in Petaling Jaya, Selangor on September 10th. Even though FFG have stopped supplying X Wing Miniatures, Armada products and official tournament kits to Asia from late last year (apparently due to some copyright dispute between FFG & Disney), the X Wing & Armada Community in Malaysia worked together and organised this year’s Nationals on our own. Collectively we purchased or provided prizes, obtained sponsorships and rented out an event hall for the tournament.
There was a total of 33 pilots this year, including five from Singapore and two from Thailand. The X Wing and Armada players from countries in South East Asia such as Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia try to maintain a good relationship between us by communicating through the respective national groups or the ASEAN page on Facebook and we often try to compete in each others’ tournaments.
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List Design
For this year’s Malaysian National I didn’t set any targets or expectations for it. I didn’t get to play as much as I’d like after the 2015 Singapore Nationals. I had very little experience in playing against new metas such as the Party Bus, Triple Jumpmasters or Dengaroo. My preparation was limited to one or two days of casual playing and I ended up playing on the online benchmark more. I was deciding between a Decimator + Defender list, some Palp Aces variations or to fall back to the TIE Swarm which is what I’m more familiar with.
Up until the registration time on the tournament day I still was unsure of my list. I knew two good players would fly the Swarm so I was apprehensive to bring the Decimator despite the fact that I have received a first round bye for the Nationals courtesy of my win using a Chiraneau Vessery list at a store tournament a week prior.
Finally I decided to build something around Carnor Jax and the Palp Shuttle - as I felt I did quite well with my Palp Shuttle Vader Jax build in Singapore and I have always liked Jax. I wanted the tankiness and firepower of the Defender so despite not playing with Ryad before I chosed her as she was unpredictable. My 2016 Malaysian National build was:
Omicron Group Pilot + Reinforced Deflectors + Emperor Palpatine
Countess Ryad + Adaptability +TIE/x7 +Twin Ion Engine Mk. II
Carnor Jax + Push The Limit + Royal Guard TIE + Shield Upgrade + Autothrusters
I usually prefer Sensor Jammer for my shuttle as from past tournament play I realised it kept the Shuttle alive longer than it should be. Upon advice of the 2014 Malaysian National champion Nick Wong, I decided to take his suggestion and choose Reinforced Deflectors instead considering the ordinance filled metas these days. While Sensor Jammer would work well against small hits or TLT shots, we figured Reinforced Deflectors would work better against heavy hitting torpedoes and missiles.
I believe the Shield Upgrade on Jax was my masterstroke. I was wary of any TLT or Autoblaster + Accuracy Correctors combo or being Crackshot at on the Interceptor. I had Shield also on Jax in Singapore instead of the usual Stealth Device and the Shield helped Jax survived longer than he should have.
Game One - Bye (The Bye Theory)
There was this unspoken fear among us who had first round byes to the Nationals because historically those who received byes from previous Store Championship and Regionals wins didn’t do well in the following tournaments. (The theory is that by missing the first round meant you weren’t totally ready or was “cold” when playing the second round game.)
Game Two vs Justin Phua (0-100)
Ominously my first game of the tournament was to face the one build that I didn’t want to meet which was the Party Bus. So In the second round I met Justin Phua of Singapore who had:
Dengar + Punishing One + Push The Limit + Unhinged Astromech + Engine Upgrade + K4 Security Droid
Bossk + Mangler Cannon + Adaptability + Zuckuss + 4-Lom + K4 Security Droid
After arranging the asteroids in the middle, we placed our ships on the opposite corner of the mat. I was on my right corner while he started from his right. My initial idea was to camp as long as I could in my corner and have him fly towards me and use the rocks as breakers and obstacles.
I blocked Palpatine with Jax and let Ryad fly away to the left. But Justin was a very good and experienced flyer so he also opted to castle up at his corner. Thinking that he was going to my right side with both Bossk and Dengar I made the first mistake (among many of the game) of letting Ryad fly too far to my left with to flank them while I move Jax and Shuttle straight to the middle. Justin anticipated this and turned his ships to fly towards Ryad instead. I couldn’t K Turn Ryad back in time and she was isolated. Both Bossk and Dengar boxed Ryad in and easily killed her within the following three rounds. Despite a good initial approach with the Shuttle I then made a rookie mistake by landing it on an asteroid when I was trying a 2 Hard Left turn to face Dengar while Jax was chasing Bossk. It was easy pickings for Dengar as he danced around the Shuttle and slowly took it down. Within 20 mins I was only left with Jax. Dengar was with full health and Bossk only down by 5 HP. I wanted to salvage the game by at least getting some half points off Bossk but with Dengar chasing Jax it proved too much. A comprehensive and easy win for Justin. The Bye Theory was proving to be true. The only silver lining from the game was that Reinforced Deflectors did its job twice in the game.
Game Three vs Marcus Tan (100-51)
I was not expecting much for the rest of the day after the loss. I was thinking to myself that as long as I got a decent standing in the Top16 I would be happy. My third game was against a fellow Malaysian, Marcus, who flew:
Miranda Doni + Twin Laser Turret + Recon Specialist
Ello Asty + Veteran Instincts + R2-D2 + Autothrusters
Gold Squadron Pilot + Twin Laster Turret + R2 Astromech
So the Reinforced Deflectors did it’s job twice in the first game but now I’m meeting a list where it would be pretty much useless and Sensor Jammer would be better. A small part of me felt a tinge of regret.
My usual training partner, the 2015 Singapore Nationals champion Alex Lee is a monster with Miranda so luckily I am somewhat familiar with her. I realised that when flying against ships with SLAM, castling at the start of the game would make it easier for them to calculate their range and plan their maneuvers. Fortunately unlike Alex’s build, Marcus’ Miranda had no bombs. So I opted to start with the Shuttle from the middle, Ryad on it’s left with Jax on the right and taking one Asteroid as a point so that we will not be able to joust if both of us were to fly straight at each other.
Even though Marcus placed his ships directly opposite from me on the mat, as the game progressed he slowly moved his ships towards his right (my left). I only blocked the Shuttle twice with Jax and timed it so that Jax can cut through their path at an angle and for the Shuttle to join the fight. Meanwhile I turned Ryad to my left and later turned it to face the enemy so it would meet the oncoming ships head on. I was targetting Ello first as I noticed the result from the two games Marcus played Miranda was difficult to kill.
Flying Jax right across Marcus’ formation forced him to pull the Y Wing away. I managed to keep Jax constantly within Range 1 of the Y Wing denying him the TLT shots. At the same time, Ryad was constantly harrassing Miranda that she keep SLAMing away. With Jax in between Ello and Gold, both Jax and the Shuttle managed to hit Ello. I was also partly helped by unlucky evade rolls by Marcus. I shot down Ello after two rounds while it was now obvious that Marcus wanted to go for my Jax. As he was getting peppered by TLT shots, I expected Jax to eventually die but I managed to deal some damage on Miranda and Gold. Jax died from some ferocious TLT by Miranda but Ryad later dispatched Miranda in the following round and both the Shuttle and Ryad took out Gold in the end. My first win of the day.
Game Four vs Ravin Ramday (100-51)
My fourth match was against Ravin, the person I used to train with often and who I introduced the game to. He was oftentimes referred to my padawan and Ravin himself is a solid pilot, often preferring Rebel. To my dismay, Ravin brought:
Sabine Wren + Phantom + Chopper
Kanan Jarrus + Autoblaster Turret + Ghost + Tactical Jammer + Accuracy Corrector + Recon Specialist + Recon Specialist
Biggs Darklighter + R2-D2 + Integrated Astromech
Dismay because I hated the Ghost. It was tanky, had great firepowers and a decent maneuver dial. Add the Phantom title it can shoot twice. Now add the Autoblaster and Accuracy Corrector combo it was just crazy. I was thinking hard on what to do. While Jax can negate Kanan’s ability, getting into Range 1 of the Autoblaster was just suicide. On top of that I had to shoot Biggs first. However I did flew once against almost the same build in a practice game two weeks before and for this match, Ryad’s Adaptability should prove useful against Biggs, Kanan and Sabine’s PS5.
This time I placed my Lambda on my right corner with Jax and Ryad next to it. My plan was to wait and force the Ghost to fly through the obstacles to meet me and perhaps break up its formation with Biggs. I also wanted to be outside of Range 2 of Kanan so it’s ability won’t trigger and also out of the Autoblaster range. To my relief, Ravin placed his Ghost on his right and placed Biggs on the outside (instead of the inside) of the Ghost. This means that if I was in Range 3 of Ghost, I didn’t have to shoot at Biggs until I have done same damage on the Ghost. I was still castled in my corner when Kanan started to arrive within range. I lined up two shots with Ryad and Jax against Kanan but due to the Range 3 and an obstacle bonus the Ghost amazingly evaded both attacks! I didn’t capitalise on having not to shoot Biggs first! Eventually Biggs came into range and I had to shoot at him instead but Ravin were expertly rolling great evade dices with Biggs too. After several rounds my Omicron Group Pilot was now at 5HP while Ryad and Jax were suffering two damage from the Autoblaster + Accuracy combo. Meanwhile Kanan still had 14HP left and Biggs was on full health.
The first decisive move was when I blocked the Ghost with the Lambda thereby blocking Biggs as well who was right behind him. This prevented Biggs taking any action. Despite the extra dice from Tactical Jammer the Lambda pumped in two Crits (one changed by Palpatine) and a hit and Biggs rolled two blanks and two Focus. But it was far from over. Kanan was still as good as healthy and in the next round he made an amazing K Turn to flank the Lambda. I was still trying to chase Kanan while keeping the distance but it wasn’t easy. Kanan damaged the Lambda taking it over half points for Ravin. Then the other game changer. Kanan landed on an asteroid while making a hard turn, he rolled a hit and it stripped one shield. I boosted Jax into Range 1 of the Ghost and was lucky with four natural hits. Kanan was now down to 9HP. Then it was Ryad’s turn to do the damage with one hit and a Palpatine Crit - Damaged Sensor Array and the Ghost down to 7HP. Ryad and Jax were now chasing the Ghost aggressively, keeping out of arc and being at Range 2 while Ravin couldn’t flip down the Damage card for at least another two turns.
However, as we reached a corner, Jax had no more room to play and was in Range 1 of the Ghost. No boosting or barrel roll could rescue him. I knew his time was up so I took a Focus and managed to roll another two natural hits and two Focus, one of which I changed to a Crit. 3HP left on Kanan. Kanan then took out Jax with the Autoblaster and Accuracy Corrector. By this time I have managed to turn the Lambda back in range. Despite taking some damage Ryad - with some help from Target Lock and the Emperor’s help finally killed the Ghost. Sabine then was deployed with 3HP to her name but was unable to get a good deployment. The Lambda then stripped 1HP off Sabine before Ryad then used her ability and K Turned within Range 1 behind Sabine and destroyed the Attack Shuttle. It was now turning out to be a decent outing.
Game Five vs Dickson (100-49)
On to the final Swiss, now against Dickson who was one of the Top 4 in the 2015 Malaysian Nationals and a regular winner in Armada tournaments. As Dickson is also a commercial pilot, you can say that I played against an actual pilot. Dickson brought:
Bossk + Crack Shot + Engine Upgrade + Zuckuss + 4-Lom + Dengar
Palob Godalhi + Ion Cannon Turret + Crackshot
Binayre Pirate + Feedback Array
Binayre Pirate + Feedback Array
From my experience, shooting priority in the game is very important. I've seen games won and lost through unexpected 'regular' ships such as the Green Squadron Pilot being the hidden ace. So I was wary of the two bugzappers in Dickson's list. While sometimes Bossk is often seen as the main threat, I also see Palob with his ability and ICT as the actual threat.
As always, being the last Swiss round, most players are already tired. So it would often come down to who makes the fewer mistakes and Dickson also admitted he was feeling exhausted. Facing a PS1 ships meant that for the first time I can plan where it would be best for me to place my own ships so I can avoid the Bugzappers early on. Dickson decided to place his Binayres slight off to his left. There were rocks placed in the middle which meant both of us won’t be jousting so I placed my Shuttle slightly on my left alongside Jax while Ryad was on the extreme right hugging the right edge of the mat tightly. Palob stayed close to the Binayre while Bossk was at angle where theoritically if he were to fly straight it would meet the Shuttle head on as he saw a gap between the rocks. My plan as always was to break his formation and make Dickson decide whether he should concentrate on Ryad or Shuttle/Jax.
I planned my moves so that Jax would be able to approach Bossk from the side or back while using my Lambda as an offensive weapon. Meanwhile I wanted Ryad to dispatch Palob. In the early rounds Jax couldn’t move fast enough to clear Bossk’s arc so he took one hit from the Trandoshian despite evading and using my Evade Tokens as Dickson opted to use his Crackshot early and ZLOM + Zuckuss early. The Shield Upgrade again helped. I managed to anticipate all of Bossk’s moves at one point and it was a game of both Jax and the Shuttle chasing Bossk while being out of the YV-666’s arc.
Even though at one point I was stripping HPs from Bossk, on the other side of the field Ryad was caught by Palob’s ICT. Despite taking 1HP from Palob, Palob managed to Ionised Ryad when she was Range 1 away from and facing an asteroid. I knew that Ryad was as good as gone. Palob keep Ionising Ryad while she slowly crawled over the asteroid. Ryad was then killed by one of the Binayres’ Feedback Array. Despite being chased by Jax, Bossk didn’t die easily. However Jax was out of it’s firing arc so that helped. One Crit by Jax saw Bossk received Structual Damage and he couldn’t clear it immediately as he was still carrying the Stress from Zuckuss. Another Crit saw Weapons Malfunction so I was feeling slightly confident as this time.
Meanwhile I broke the Lambda away to chase Palob who was already down to 3HP. But in one round the Shuttle was blocked by a full health Binayre and Palob, both of which I cannot shot at, Palob meanwhile was now targetting the Shuttle. The other Binayre with 1HP was chasing Jax to support Bossk.
I finally killed Bossk with still 3HP left to Jax with the 1HP Binayre nearby. I figured that Dickson would sacrifice the Binayre (as this was something that I would do) but to my surprise he didn’t zap me. The Binayre was no match for the agile Interceptor who K Turned and flanked the Z95 and took it out.
The Shuttle however was in trouble, it was left with just 3HP, within Range 2 from the edge of the mat while it was still being blocked by the surviving Binayre and Palob (who was starting to pull away.) Not only I was under threat from the ICT damage, I could also fly out straight if I received my second Ion Token. Jax was too far away and needed two turns to come in range. And to top it up we only had ten minutes left to the round. Then mental fatigue set in for Dickson and to everyone’s (crowds were already gathering as all the other tables have finished playing) astonishment Palob made a 2 Hard Turn TOWARDS the edge of the map instead of turning inside. This means that in the following round there was a very good chance of the HWK flying out. Palob then hit the Shuttle with another damage and another Ion Token thereby Ionising it for the next round. With 2HP left there were no hope for the Shuttle. It was flying out of the mat in at least two rounds because of the Ion Tokens.
And then, Dickson chosed to zap me with the 3HP Binayre. While the Shuttle is now down to 1 HP, by zapping me the Binayre was also Ionised. Because the PS1 ship moved first, the Binayre actually blocked the Shuttle from moving forward, keeping it alive for another round. True enough, Palob then flew out of the mat, and by this time Jax had arrived behind the 2HP Binayre and with a lucky roll and Crit pushed by the dying Emperor, I killed the Z95 on the last round. So now I’m in Top 8 placed at sixth, with the worst MOV among all the Top 8.
Top Eight vs Rodric (74-32)
Rodric is a new but up and coming player to the community. Despite only playing for a few months, he reached the Top 8 for his first Nationals which is no mean feat. His build was:
Nera Dantels + Deadeye + Guidance Chips + Electronic Baffle + Proton Torpedoes + Extra Munitions
Miranda Doni + Twin Laser Turret + Long-Range Scanners + Homing Missiles
This was the first and only alpha strike list I met at the tournament. It was a good list and it needed some hard thinking to overcome it. My plan was to bait the ships with ordinance to target the Shuttle (Thank you Reinforced Deflectors!) while supporting the Lambda with Ryad. Jax in the meantime must try to flank either Biggs or Miranda and stay the hell away from Nera. During this game I believed I did the best flying on the Interceptor for a long time.
With the Shuttle on the outside and Ryad on the inside on my left, I placed Jax somewhere in the middle of the mat. Rodric placed all three of his ships in the middle and started to move to his right. This meant that I can fly my Shuttle straight and hoped to tempt the B Wing to use his Torpedoes on the Shuttle. Jax started to turn right and then moved inside . Rodric then moved Miranda towards Jax and allowed Biggs and Nera to pursue the Shuttle and Ryad. Jax was locked early on by Miranda by the Long Range Scanners so this meant I had to carefully plan my moves so that I won’t be in the front arc of the K Wing. I spent the next few rounds flying around the K Wing and barrelling or boosting out even if it meant I was facing away from the K Wing. I wanted to not only avoid the front firing arc and Homing Missiles, but to also give me a chance to trigger Autothrusters for any TLT shots.
Through a combination of luck and timing during the joust between the Shuttle/Ryad and Nera/Biggs I managed to bring the Shuttle into Range 1 of the B Wing while my Defender was outside of Range 3. Nera couldn’t fire her Torpedoes but could use her Primary instead, and despite taking 3 hits, the Reinforced Deflectors recovered 1 Shield. The following round Nera was still within Range 1 of the Shuttle and was stressed, and Rodric opted to use his Electronic Baffle to gain his Focus in order to fire at Ryad, but Nera’s first ordinance only took one Shield as I managed to combine three evades (one Token, one evade dice and Emperor) even though he rolled three hits and used the Guidance Chips.
The Emperor died a few round later, which was three rounds more than it should be and during the time it was alive together with Jax it took a some HPs off Miranda and some from Biggs. Miranda was then suffering from Damaged Sensor Array, Loose Stabilizer and Structural Damage and was left with 2 Hulls and 1 Shield. Nera meanwhile decided to use the other Torpedoes on Ryad which again only one damage went through. Eventually Miranda capitatulated through intense firing by Jax without even using one of her Missiles. I then got a lucky break with Ryad which had a good flying path and used her ability to K Turn for a few rounds to slowly chip away against Nera. With two rounds left to the match, Rodric made a small mistake of separating Biggs away from Nera which means Ryad can opt to shoot at Nera instead of Biggs. After killing Nera I calculated that it was enough for me to win by points if both the Interceptor and Defender survive. So the last round I flew Jax away out of Bigg’s range and Ryad only move 1 Soft which means there was no combat in the final round. The progress continues to Top Four!
Top Four vs Putera (100-0)
The Top Four match was against Putera who did not wanting to meet me either at Top 8 or Top 4 because his squad depended on Focus tokens and Jax was the ultimate counter for his build.
Bossk + Attani Mindlink + 4-Lom + Zuckuss + Dengar
Torkil Mux + Twin Laser Turret + Recon Specialist
Palob Godalhi + Blaster Turret + Attani Mindlink + Moldy Crow + K4 Security Droid
Putera was a juggernaut on the way to Top Four, finishing second in the Top 8 despite (on first glance) having a squad with two HWKs in it. I did notice from his games (as sometimes I played in the table next to him) that most of his opponents opted to go for Bossk first and ended up losing. So that maybe I needed to target Bossk last as my small ships should be more manuverable than the YV-666. This was my third Party Bus of the day and I was now getting the hang of facing it.
Putera placed all his ships to his right on his corner of the mat while I started in the middle with the Lambda flanked by the Defender on the left and Interceptor on the right. As always I tried to time the movement of the ships. First I Jax had to be at Range 3 from Torkil’s TLT, and Palob’s Blaster Turret and ability. After a couple of rounds, his ships were now at the midway point on the edge of the mat (his right, my left), and I was able to boost Jax right in between the two HWKs and Bossk (but not well enough to avoid the YV’s side arc). While it was clear that he wanted to get rid of Jax as soon as possible, I managed to place Jax to avoid the TLT from the Torkil and then triggered Jax’s ability to prevent the Blaster Turret shot.
In the first round of combat, Bossk got three hits to Jax. Jax rolled an Evade and Focus (and rolled an Evade again after it was Zuckussed); I then used Emperor’s ability so Jax only suffered one hit. (Thank you again Shield Upgrade). Ryad got two hits on Torkil (I wanted kill Torkil first as his ability was the most annoying).The Shuttle then did more damage on the HWK. Finally the dumbed down Jax pushed in a Crit with the HWK suffering a Shaken Pilot damage was left with 1HP.
The next round the Lambda did a full stop which meant Palob was still in the Shuttle’s front arc even after the HWK moved, while the Defender made a 5 K Turn to flank Bossk. Bossk only moved 1 Straight as he was blocked by Torkil (the Shaken Pilot damage on Torkil saw him taking a 1 Soft move). Seeing there was no threat from any of the ships I cleared Jax stress and zoomed in alongside Bossk but outside of his firing arc. Bossk could only shoot at the Shuttle in this round and the Lambda took three damage but recovered one shield through the Reinforced Deflectors. The dice Gods were with me as Ryad took out Torkil. Palob could only use it Primary Weapon against the Lambda which missed, the Shuttle returned the favour and did two damage on the HWK and later Jax pumped in four shots into Bossk.
With Torkil out of the game this means Jax can now shoot first again. I made a 3 Straight with the Lambda which many people did not expect (it didn’t clear the stresst but I was away from Bossk’s arc even if I was still in the Blaster Turret range for Palob, I didn’t want to give half points to Putera). Then Ryad changed it’s course to chase Palob instead, even took the risk by flying it over the asteroid which suffered no damage (I wanted to be in Range 1 of Palob, and I still got the Evade Token so that was fine). Meanwhile Jax was still flanking Bossk. Two Hits and a Crit from Jax over Bossk saw Bossk taking Thrust Control Fire. No attack possible for Bossk and Ryad killed Palob with two Hits and a Crit. From that moment on it was Jax and Ryad chasing Bossk from behind and it was a matter of time before I sealed the match. And what do you know, I’m now on my way to the Top 2 match!
Top Two vs Dawei Chua (100-32) The Final
The Finals of the 2016 X Wing Malaysian Nationals. Dawei Chua is a Singaporean pilot who en route to the final, managed to defeat Thomas Soo who was undefeated during the Swiss round and was one of the favourites of the win the Nationals. Their Top 4 match was intense and longer than my Top Four match as both players were still neck to neck towards the end and both were throwing God’s dice either in attack or defense before finally Dawei won. Dawei is a heck of a pilot, and often got good results in local tournaments in Singapore. Looking Dawei’s list, although I was slightly optimistic playing against the list (I was more familiar than any Scum build), previously I played with no pressure and now that I have come so far, I was now feeling it. Dawei flew:
Delta Squadron Pilot + TIE/x7
Countess Ryad + Push The Limit + TIE/x7 + Twin Ion Engine Mk. II
Colonel Vessery + Juke + TIE/x7 + Twin Ion Engine Mk. II
I got the initiative. I wonder if this helped me as the game progressed because I decided even before we placed our ships to use my Ryad’s Adaptability in order to shoot first before his Ryad and Vessery. Dawei placed his ships on his left while I placed the Lambda in the middle with Jax on the left and Ryad on the right. I didn’t have any priority target although at the back of my mind I wanted to keep an eye on the Delta. There was a big lane which ran at an angle in the middle from the right to the left and as we started moving, his ships were making a line towards it and would eventually joust my Shuttle and Ryad. I wasn’t hiding Jax’s movement who was going on the outside to flank from the left to the right and cut the Defenders in the middle of the lane but Dawei ignored the Interceptor. It didn’t occur to me at that point but now I know he was aiming for the Shuttle.
The next round, we were all in Range of his Defenders and they did a lot of damage on the Shuttle without me not making much of an scratch on his ships. Suddenly in the first few rounds my dice were really, really cold. The next few rounds were filled with blunders from me. I overestimated his movements and thought he wouldn’t consider K Turning me with his Defenders as I could have made a full stop with the Shuttle and block all his ships. So I made a One Straight move thinking it would block him if he made a 3 Straight (a move that I would have done). But to my surprise they all K Turned me! The Lambda was as good as gone. Jax meanwhile kept bumping into the Defenders which meant he was out of firing arc and also couldn’t take any actions. The game barely went into maybe 5-6 rounds and it was looking bad for me, I didn’t know what to do and was close to giving up.
I was getting annoyed with my red dice rolls. “Close to giving up”meant I was beginning to throw caution to the win and started to fly aggressively. I wanted to take down one ship and not make it a clean sweep and since everything was starting to go wrong, I felt maybe it couldn’t get any worse.
The Lambda eventually died even though I managed to Reinforced it twice. It didn’t do much offensively except maybe it took 1 or 2 Shields from the Delta while Dawei’s Ryad and Vessery were in full health. Then they got two HPs off my Ryad and took the Shield off Jax. It was getting worse.
Then, something happened. I turned Jax to face all three Defenders who were facing me. My attack probably did one or two damage on one of them, and when they returned fire I evaded all the attacks where I even rolled three evades twice. My dice rolls were back! With the Defenders now concentrating on Jax, my Ryad managed to take some HPs from his Delta and Ryad. I then found a flight lane where I could K Turn my Ryad for a few rounds and was out of range of some of their attacks. But I still was not doing as much damage as I hope, it was basically Dawei’s game to lose. My Ryad has no more shields. Later in another round I went over an asteroid with Ryad for a K Turn, and suffered a Crit when checking for damage and it was Console Fire. With the same asteroid blocking me I now had to made a 1 Soft move instead in the next round to flip it down but it exposed me without an Evade. I took another hit on Ryad after that and she was left with her final hull. When this happened all his Defenders basically still had Shields left.
And then I managed to pull some good moves with Jax. I was flying the game of my life, perhaps my best Interceptor flying in a long time. Boosting in to either use Jax’s ability or to get four attack dice, barrel rolling to slip out of the the Defenders’ arc. Now my attack was getting through. Eventually through more great dice I took down his Ryad and together with my Ryad I then destroyed Vessery and suddenly the tide changed. It was then down to my Jax with 3HP, Ryad with 1HP and his Delta with 2HP. Both Jax and Ryad chased the Delta to a corner and despite the Delta doing it’s best to K Turn and put a fight eventually I barrel rolled Jax right in front of the Delta and shot it down with my Ryad as the Delta could not spend it’s Evade tokens.
So that's it. I went home with an awesome Championship Belt
