Since Wave 9 and HotR dropped, I've spent a lot of time playing around with ARCs, Falcons, Xwings and K-wings... but I've never managed to settle on one list to fly week to week. Now regionals are looming and I'm unsure what to fly...

Anyone similarly afflicted? I know the typical advice is to fly what you know and get in your reps. But for those of us with difficulty focusing on a single list, how do you go about selecting one for competitive play? And what do you do to prepare with limited time to practice?

so you're going to be flying whatever list for a long sustained period of time

which, imo, translates into "you better ******* enjoy flying it for a long sustained period of time"

and that's how you choose

Take a look at the lists that you are considering, now look at the regional results thread and see what's been winning. For each of your squads go though the list of recent top finishers and make note of how many good matchups you see and how many bad ones. If you've got squads that have a lot more bad matchups than good ones you may want to eliminate them from consideration (unless you really enjoy playing them and that matters more to you than winning).

As for practice, I'd find a friend and ask them to run some of the currently popular lists against your squad. Make sure you do the same for them. Playing some of the popular lists a little bit will give you a better idea of what needs to be done to beat them.

This happens to me all the time... I end up flying 20 different builds over the course of 2 months, only to find out about a tournament this weekend and I'm having one heck of a time figuring out what to fly. It doesn't help that I have a major case of OCD, as I can't go to any tournament without making a complete analysis of the meta with graphs and everything. So yeah, my meta analysis ends up taking 2-3 days if I do it properly, so that leaves me with only a couple days to get some practice in with the top 2-3 builds from my analysis... I have placed highly in every tournament I've been in, so I guess over analyzing things seems to work out in the end. But, what about when you don't have time for the whole meta analysis + proper practice? To that, I say **** it and just fly Dengaroo. I took Dengaroo to my first ever competitive tournament last Gen Con and ended up going 6-3, just missing out on top 8 by a single hull point in my last match that would have put me through, without ever playing a competitive game before that in my life.

Tl;dr- If you're short on time, fly Dengaroo. Its got a lot of great matchups, only having one real matchup that is worse than 50/50 (defenders). It's also a list that tends to win big in the matchups it's good against, keeping your MoV up pretty high provided you play well and have decent matchups. Then again, flying Dengaroo would be the predictable thing... and the analysis paralysis starts again...

I'm just responding because of the awesome thread title. Epic!

... EDIT ...

Now that I have read things, fly what you like to fly. Every time.
If it's competitive, that's a plus. But going with what is competitive if you are not going to have fun? What is the point?

I usually try to have a list in my back pocket that I really like flying. Then in casual play I'll see stuff others fly that I'd like to try. Sometimes I changes a thing or two, other times I don't. If I don't feel comfortable even a little bit after half a dozen matches, I scrap it for good. And by comfortable I mean, if I don't feel that I have learned enough about what to do. Because if I feel like I don't gain some comfort after 6 games with a list, I know I'm just going to get frustrated at a tournament. And frustration does no one (opponents or myself) any good. I'd much rather enjoy myself and have fun, even if it means I give up on being uber meta.

3 hours ago, ficklegreendice said:

so you're going to be flying whatever list for a long sustained period of time

which, imo, translates into "you better ******* enjoy flying it for a long sustained period of time"

and that's how you choose

This 100%. Also don't forget, sometimes no matter how much you run the math - dice are dice and they WILL bend you over and take advantage of you at some point in time, so don't get too hung up on that.

Bless you fellow Rebel! With the simplicity of flying OP lists like PalpDefenders and Dengaroo its nice to see your toying with rebel ships. I'd recommend Rey and Nora or Rey and K. Both are very fun to fly!

I've just experienced going through playing a single list for an extended period of time and I'd still stick to my decision of playing something I enjoyed more than something I thought was more meta again, any day and twice on Sunday. I enjoyed tractor beaming ships so much so I just stuck with Ketsu specifically. In about a 4 month period, my main list only changed once, but only changed around Ketsu's wingmate (Kath to Bossk) and upgrade cards necessary I felt worked for each. I'd say at least pick one of those ships you thoroughly enjoy and play around with wingmates if you can't fully decide on a full list at the start. That can still get you good results and even get experience playing lists you might end up facing and have a better idea of what they can do.

You can do some crazy fun things with tractor beam. Its such a shame that you can run into a list has all large bases, leaving your tractor beam nearly useless.

Check out this list http://stayontheleader.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/stay-in-formation-when-thane-met-biggs.html?m=1

You say you have been having fun flying ARCs, Xwings, and K Wings, you can try putting them together. This was a list that did well at the Minneapolis Regionals which was heavy on Party busses, Dengar, Bossk, Ghosts, and Decimators. It performed better than my 3 K Wing list.

-- Miranda : TLT, Long range scanners, Rey, Homing Missile -- Biggs : R4-D6, Integ Astro -- Braylen : R3-A2, Gunner, Title

You can see it being played on the Twin Cities Xwing Youtube page 2017 MN regional Swiss Round 3.

I was having the same problem. Until I decided to embrace it.

I've basically taken a random build I created the night before every tournament for the last year. It's kept me on my toes remembering how/why I built the list and usually thrown a spanner at my opponents who have no idea what the crazy non-meta insanity in front of them is. Plus I'm not a big believer in this practice practice practice lark. It sounds like turning fun into work IMHO.

16 hours ago, TBot said:

You can do some crazy fun things with tractor beam. Its such a shame that you can run into a list has all large bases, leaving your tractor beam nearly useless.

Most people think it's a huge deal to lose the ability to move a ship with the tractor beam token, but I think the -1 (or more) agility is a bigger deal. I find moving a ship is a bonus if I can do it or if I find it advantageous. Dash Rendar/Dengar/Asajj/Manaroo at only 1 or 0 agility can REALLY hurt them when Bossk is the follow up shot.

IMO losing 1 fickle green dice isn't a big deal. Tractor beaming someone on to an asteroid so that:

A. They can't shoot

B. They potentially take asteroid damage

C. Their maneover template hits the same asteroid next turn

D. You have pulled them closer to another one of your ships that was previously out of range to get another shot

Is a big deal

Oh trust me, it's awesome to do all those things and it definitely has HUGE benefits, but when I'm going up against any Imperial aces or defenders w/ Palp, I personally love to take away their green dice that they'd liked to modify with focus or to Palp to help keep it alive and kill it in the first round of engagement between Ketsu/Bossk combo.

23 minutes ago, TBot said:

IMO losing 1 fickle green dice isn't a big deal. Tractor beaming someone on to an asteroid so that:

A. They can't shoot

B. They potentially take asteroid damage

C. Their maneover template hits the same asteroid next turn

D. You have pulled them closer to another one of your ships that was previously out of range to get another shot

Is a big deal

losing agility is actually also a huge deal

it cuts the maximum amount of damage mitigation by one

so if you lob 4 dice at a tractored defender and get four hits, you will do one damage

dengaroo also becomes an utter joke at less agility

You're not guaranteed a damage if there is an asteroid in the way

6 minutes ago, TBot said:

You're not guaranteed a damage if there is an asteroid in the way

#tractorbetter

#mustnothavebeenaJohnDeer

Been having the same problem. Been trying to find a list that i am happy with to run at the system open. Been a hassle. Now with the new wave dropping soon it will be harder to pick with all the new goodies.

I actually suggest not over analyzing the competition via regional reports. While you may see some, you also can see that they vary heavily. I know a few people, and myself included, that choose not to fly certain things at different regionals because they knew someone was flying a direct counter. That person showed up....But with a completely different list.

So best thing like others have said, fly what you like, fly what you know, and you will do well. Doesn't necessarily mean you need to practice the same list, but a list compromised of elements you know will do just as good.

16 hours ago, ficklegreendice said:

losing agility is actually also a huge deal

it cuts the maximum amount of damage mitigation by one

so if you lob 4 dice at a tractored defender and get four hits, you will do one damage

dengaroo also becomes an utter joke at less agility

Seriously.

Tractor beams do comparatively little to the average 2-agi-and-focus ship in terms of killing it, but put one on a Defender, and it's in pain.

Put 2 on a Defender and it melts.

(<3 Ketsu pilot. Shame she's just not quite up with the greats in terms of keeping up with stuff that ISN'T defenders...)

1 hour ago, thespaceinvader said:

Seriously.

Tractor beams do comparatively little to the average 2-agi-and-focus ship in terms of killing it, but put one on a Defender, and it's in pain.

Put 2 on a Defender and it melts.

(<3 Ketsu pilot. Shame she's just not quite up with the greats in terms of keeping up with stuff that ISN'T defenders...)

She did just fine for me at worlds against everything that wasn't defenders.... Actually only played one defender list and those melted like an ice cube in the Sahara. Only played against 6 small base ships in 6 games, and that was with all of those being in pairs when I did face them.

What did you put with her?