All the Tournament Result threads spiral into the same thing: cries of "nerf that" or "buff this" based on posted results. A Mindlink list went 12-0 at a System Open. The list must be broken! Nerf it! Defenders w/ Swarm Leader took first and second at a regional. Defenders are more broken than ever! Nerf them too! Palp, Biggs, blah blah blah.

Does a good list go a long way toward winning games? Sure it does, but inches beyond the components on the table there is a player with sweaty palms deciding the best way to maneuver those pieces. The player is fighting fatigue after playing three rounds without respite. The player is hungry because there isn't enough time between rounds for some half-descent chow. The player is not going to quit now, because the player came to win.

In these forums I rarely see congratulations posted to the winning players. I rarely see credit given where credit is due: to the people playing the game. So if you're reading this, and you recently won a tournament:

Great flying. Well played. Enjoy the acrylic and cardstock spoils of war. You earned it.

SRSLY.

What we forget is that the people running these lists still put in the hours and days to learn them, practice them, cover their weaknesses, learn to counterplay the strong meta lists, etc etc etc.

Just because you play a popular meta lists doesn't mean you're bad, and if you play a popular meta list well enough to go 12-0 at a system open, you deserve every plaudit you get.

+1
Congrats to the best pilots!

Anyone who has played this game long enough knows that a lot of practice goes into making any list work. And anyone who has played in a large tournament knows it's more than just flying well and adjusting to each opponent. The endurance and concentration needed to play hour after hour is not for the faint of heart. This aspect of "being the the moment" for a sustained period is what makes playing tournaments so thrilling even when a few battles don't go your way.

Thanks for the positivity!

I didn't even know a System Open happened recently. Where was it and what was the winning list?

San Antonio - Mustafar

Jeremy Chamblee won with Mindlink Manaroo, Fenn Rau and Asajj.

What I got out of this is that swarm leader defenders won a regional and that's hilarious.

2 hours ago, nigeltastic said:

What I got out of this is that swarm leader defenders won a regional and that's hilarious.

Not just won a regional; the final match was a mirror match. The #1 and #2 spots went to identical Swarm Leader Defender lists.

1 hour ago, jmswood said:

Not just won a regional; the final match was a mirror match. The #1 and #2 spots went to identical Swarm Leader Defender lists.

Swarm Leader Defenders also just won Connecticut Regionals by one of the top pilots at our LGS in Norton, Massachusetts.

The majority of "Nerf this!" "That list is OP!" bs is people coming up against a list that wasnt obvious how to counter it right off the bat, so they scream OP because they dont wanna actually think how to play against it.

The only list ive faced that i truly thought was OP thankfully is no more: tripboats. Dengaroo can be dealt with...not easily but it can be. Tripboat literally came down to dice luck and/or is the person flying tripboats an unbelievably bad idiot. All of my victories felt more like luck or player error on his side as to why i won, not i did good.

1 hour ago, jmswood said:

Not just won a regional; the final match was a mirror match. The #1 and #2 spots went to identical Swarm Leader Defender lists.

They are two of the top local players around here. There were other Swarm Defender lists that went 3-3. You still have to fly the list right.

Exactly.