So 'Canadian Defenders' are now 'Commonwealth Defenders'.

Has a certain ring to it...

To be fair, the list I used at Canadian Nationals was inspired by MajorJuggler.

Hehe, as was the one I used.

So I guess it should be 'The Major's Commonwealth Defenders', or something.

Initially I called the list "PalpFenders". But that's more of an archetype that could include any 2+ Defenders + Palpatine.

"The Major's Commonwealth Defenders" sounds awesome, but most of the squad names that actually stick are pretty short. So, I propose a compromise...

"Major's PalpFenders"

The guys at the local store are already calling it "Bob's Defenders" or something like that. Ironically I haven't flown it in a couple months, but another player has taken three local tournaments now with it. I was 2nd in two of them flying Dampeners Dengaroo, and can confirm again that Dengaroo can't physically beat Major's PalpFenders when flown correctly, unless the Dengaroo player significantly outflies his opponent and gets lucky.

I'be got a 50% win rate against palp defenders with asajj and fangs in tow. Manaroo/Rau/teroch deserves note too.

I'm pretty low on Old Teroch myself. Carnor does what he wants to, but better (usually) and at a PS higher, and Carnor is still a fringe option even at that. Also being incapable of turtling with focus evade at that lower PS hurts him a lot too. VI I think is just a terrible choice although many will disagree with me on that. Roo may make up for the action deficiency from dropping PTL, but then you are fielding Roo to make up for deficiency, where she is at her best adding value, not making up for lost value.

Defenders are quite popular in the Ottawa/Gatineau region and Dengaroo never quite took off. As far as I'm aware, no one making the trip to the Nationals actually brought Defenders though. I know the undefeated after swiss (both locals) were jumps+Palob and Chiraneau-Soontir and I know someone else went anti-meta with 3 Bs.

I can confirm that hunting Defenders with just Dengar is a pain, especially if the other player is halfway lucky with his greens and chooses his shots carefully.

Which is why I've switched to anti-Defender tech, like a Bossk party bus (mine runs with Kavil and N'Dru). It hunts other aces nicely too, and our meta is full of those. While it's not my type of list per se, it's been really fun to fly it at that one tournament, where I promptly learned that a properly flown Chiraneau is horrible for Bossk. I don't generally like running lists at more than one tournament, so I'll have to think of something else for the next one, keeping in mind the ridiculous number of Defenders flown locally.

Stress is a huge problem for Defenders.

The only loss I had at Nationals was at the end of swiss against Danny Laberge's RAC with Rebel Captive.

Geoff Gartland (1st in swiss, 6-0)

41 Whisper w/ VI, FCS, Kallus, ACD.

35 Vader w/ Crack, Engine, X1, ATC.

24 Zeta Leader w/ Crack, Comms.

Can we talk about this?!

Zeta leaders is a banger pocket ace that has the moves to clear its stress and punches way outside its weight class. Good pilot.

I've tried triple aces, and even these 3 should have some difficulty facing anything with Zuckuss/crackshot.

Looking through the results, Geoff faced his first 4 competitors and none of them made top 16 so we don't know their lists. Then he beat the overall winner in round 5, only losing Zeta Leader but killing Palpshuttle and Ryad. Round 6 he lost Whisper and got 100 points on Poe/Corran/Airen.

In elimination he beat 2 TLT K-wings with bombs to advance to top 8, then was finally taken down by a Dengaroo list (he got half MOV on Manaroo).

Was it just that his first 4 opponents didn't bring or field a Dengaroo list effectively? I must admit, those 3 aces are good! But that must have been some amazing flying to beat out TLT K's without Autothruster aces. Would have loved to see these!

Sometimes I think people forget what it's like to run Autothruster-less aces, hehe. Besides good flying (which all players need to win matches), you CAN just roll average to slightly above average green dice and still win a lot matches

Also, in lists with Whisper and Vader, rolling more and more accurate red dice is still a pretty solid win condition, one that works just as well as Autothrusters and longevity play. If you kill ships quickly, you dont have to roll as many green dice, after all It just feels more like "classic" X Wing where your current HP is more like a resource that can actually run out, instead of an unlimited resource (like Soontir AT SD Palp feels like).

Also imagine, the "10" dice that list can dish out, combined with crackshot, has pretty solid odds of killing a 9 hull 1 Agi ship in 1 round.

The list idea seems super solid! +1 for coming up with a Whisper, Vader, Tie/FO list! I stopped building it when Whisper (with Kallus), Adapt Vader, normal Omega Leader came to 101 pts.

I'be got a 50% win rate against palp defenders with asajj and fangs in tow. Manaroo/Rau/teroch deserves note too.

I'm pretty low on Old Teroch myself. Carnor does what he wants to, but better (usually) and at a PS higher, and Carnor is still a fringe option even at that. Also being incapable of turtling with focus evade at that lower PS hurts him a lot too. VI I think is just a terrible choice although many will disagree with me on that. Roo may make up for the action deficiency from dropping PTL, but then you are fielding Roo to make up for deficiency, where she is at her best adding value, not making up for lost value.

Winner:

Ben Doyle (5th in swiss, 5-1)

35 Vessery w/ Juke, X7.

36 Ryad w/ PtL, Mk2, X7.

29 Omnicron w/ Palp.

Congratulations Ben!

I'm sorry I couldn't make it this year.

Stress is a huge problem for Defenders.

The only loss I had at Nationals was at the end of swiss against Dany Laberge's RAC with Rebel Captive.

And to think, he was originally planning to run a defender himself instead of Soontir.

My son and I ran a few practice runs the week before against him. My son's triple x7 crackshot Glaives showcased that he needed a better lone ace than Marek.

It's a shame the only time I've managed to beat him was during practice matches. He's a great player, I want those wins to be public!

Geoff Gartland (1st in swiss, 6-0)

41 Whisper w/ VI, FCS, Kallus, ACD.

35 Vader w/ Crack, Engine, X1, ATC.

24 Zeta Leader w/ Crack, Comms.

Can we talk about this?!

Sure we can, Geoff is a Kiwi.

For those wondering Geoff is the 2015 New Zealand National champion, which he won with Whisper, Vader and Colzet (or all ships). He is an exceptional player, going 6-0 was not an accident.

For those wondering Geoff is the 2015 New Zealand National champion, which he won with Whisper, Vader and Colzet (or all ships). He is an exceptional player, going 6-0 was not an accident.

A gentleman and a scholar.

I think the best thing about the event (besides heaps of X-wing!) was seeing such great sportsmanship from everyone, and meeting lots of great people.

For those wondering Geoff is the 2015 New Zealand National champion, which he won with Whisper, Vader and Colzet (or all ships). He is an exceptional player, going 6-0 was not an accident.

I had the pleasure of playing Geoff first round of the top 16, and although he knocked me out, he was a great opponent. I can attest to his skill with both Whisper and Vader. LIst-wise the matchup was tipped in my favour, but through some small mistakes on my part, and some clever flying he was able to recover from my initial lead. It came down to the dark lord of the sith against a heavily damaged Miranda, and a ballsy call on Geoff's part sealed the deal. It was a truely epic game of X-wing, and it was a shame we weren't up on the twitch table that round.

A gentleman and a scholar.

I think the best thing about the event (besides heaps of X-wing!) was seeing such great sportsmanship from everyone, and meeting lots of great people.

Sorry I couldn't make it all the way and he the first Kiwi to win a Aus nationals. I made big mistake in my game against dengaroo that cost me that chance. I stuck to my plan rather than adapting to the situation. Listen learnt.

It was awesome to meet and vs 3 of Aus regional champion and the over all winner. It was a event that would not be forgotten.

It was a amazing event and I will be back next year with a army of kiwis at my back. If you thought two of us was bad next year will be fun.

I hope to see you join us for the Nz nationals in little over a week away.

So 'Canadian Defenders' are now 'Commonwealth Defenders'.

Has a certain ring to it...

We just finished recording an episode of NOVA where we interviewed zerotc, the Canadian Nationals winner.

After thinking about it some more, I think the squad name "Commonwealth Defenders" sounds great! So that's what I'm going with from now on.

I hope to see you join us for the Nz nationals in little over a week away.

Alas my wallet still hasn't recovered from our Nats. I am hoping you take it out so we get the chance to play again at Worlds.

And not just because I want revenge for our game in the Swiss rounds.

Sadly Nz nationals doesn't give us a free flight to world's. Our rematch will have to be next year.