Denver Regionals, that is. I flew Corran Miranda with a bit of a twist -- drop the missile on Miranda, slap some Thermal Detonators on her, and swap FCS for Advanced Sensors on Corran; basically, lose out on some offense for some crazy maneuverability. Probably not better than the standard build, but it fits my playstyle better. Plus, I'm a big fan of the 99-point initiative bid; moving last (yes, LAST -- repositioning>Conner Nets) can really be a lifesaver.
Anyway, I was really hoping to do well at this tournament, especially considering that the last tournament season has been a pretty tough one for me. Up until this time last year, I had never failed to make the cut at a tournament I attended. Since last year, I have not managed to make a single cut. I knew it could be tough with Kylo being available, but it was too late to switch my list now -- I'd just have to hope for good matchups.
Round One
- Scimitar Sq Pilot + TIE Shuttle + Kylo Ren + Rebel Captive
- Starkiller Base Pilot + Kylo Ren's Shuttle + Emperor Palpatine
- Darth Vader + VI + ATC + EU + Proton Rockets (I think?)
Soooo . . . crap. First round of the day and I'm facing both Kylo AND a PS 9 ace; and Vader even has enough health to deal with a bomb or two. This was looking like a tough one.
The rocks were fairly loose, save for one triangular cluster toward the middle (a bit low and to the right from my vantage point). He deployed the bomber and shuttle in the top left corner, so I set up Miranda mid-right and Corran far right. He deployed Vader near the other two.
The opening moves were pretty tricky. I managed to pull him into a decent spot where the shuttle was facing the tip of that triangle of asteroids and the bomber was coming in through the bottom lane; Vader was up top. He Kylo'd Miranda (I kept Corran the hell away from that bomber) and we exchanges some meaningless shots. Next round was the pivotal one. His bomber banked up through the rocks while the shuttle made a hard turn, presumably to catch Miranda if she decided to run. I kept it simple; two-straight, and then SLAMed and managed to block Vader while also ending up out of arc of everyone. Corran took a bit of fire and dished out a shot, but nothing to important. Next round, I bombed with Miranda, managing to catch Vader, and she bumped the shuttle. Another bomb took the Dark Lord down to one health and he and the bomber broke off, circling around for another pass. I ion bombed the shuttle a couple of times, keeping it out of the fight, and slowly looped around to meet his ships. At this point, we were at the top of the board, with my two ships approaching from the left and his from the right.
Around this point, my opponent turned the Upsilon toward the board edge to bring it around more quickly, and discovered one of its drawbacks--the massive wings. He bumped it once or twice, and when he turned it back to face the fight, it was off the table. I wasn't sure what to think about this, as, to be honest, I hadn't put much thought into whether he'd be able to fit or not before the thing got bumped. I said something to that effect (because it totally could've been on), and he asked if I'd be okay to rolling a die for it. It sounded like a grand idea to me (we're all there just to have some good games, after all); I rolled, and fate decided that the shuttle was off.
That took a lot of the pressure off. Miranda took a couple of Blinded Pilots courtesy of Kylo, and turned to run. The bomber followed her and ate a couple of bombs, while Vader cut through the inside and Corran chased him. There was one pivotal round here where Miranda was poised to turn in and SLAM across the middle of the map; assuming he'd expect that, I took a hard turn towards the map's edge. Sure enough Vader banked in toward the center, meaning he missed out on a juicy shot. Next round, I dropped an ion bomb to keep Vader from coming to close and turned past the bomber (it was stressed from a Thermal Detonator--otherwise, it likely would've K-Turned). Corran rolled up with a focus and target lock and double-tapped Vader at Range 3, killing him off; and, with a two- or three- health bomber remaining, my opponent conceded.
Win, 100-0
Round Two
I was against Partanni -- and the guy flying it was **** good, too. We'd faced each other at a tournament two weeks ago and he'd been my one loss of the day thanks to Fenn Rau's powerful punch. This was looking like another tough matchup.
Again, rocks were mostly lose, but I always try to put a triangle on my side. The result was a weird sorta bubble of rocks on my half of the table, and two in his corners. He set up Asajj on the far left and Manaroo in the middle, so I once again put Miranda mid-right and Corran far right. Fenn went down far right.
He was very aggressive first round, sending Asajj and Manaroo in at full tilt. Miranda went forward a little more cautiously, banking in to face Fenn Rau. Corran went in nice and easy, while Fenn came in relatively fast and boosted to set up a joust with Miranda. Next turn, I went 3-straight with her and, on a whim, SLAMed into another 3-straight -- just enough to block a five from Fenn. Maybe even a four. But not a three, which is what he did. I groaned as Fenn focused and target locked. He slammed Miranda with a five-dice shot, stripping her shields; Manaroo and Asajj both rolled, but one was Range 3 and the other obstructed, so I only took a couple of damage from it. Still . . . not ideal.
But this was my chance. I'd learned from our last match not to be greedy with the Conner Nets -- I could easily get one off here, but it would cost me my action, meaning that I would likely lose Miranda in exchange for two damage on Fenn, which was hardly ideal. Instead, I dropped an ion bomb, and it landed perfectly. Fenn had nowhere to go thanks to the rocks, and it also caught Manaroo; meanwhile, Corran moved into position and turtled up, while Miranda SLAMed 3-straight 3-bank to get the hell out of dodge. Corran did Corran things and took no damage. The next round, though, was fantastic; Manaroo's ion would bump her into Asajj, and Fenn's would bump him into Manaroo, meaning they each only got the Mindlink focus. I did a hard turn with Corran and took a focus and a target lock. Fenn had already taken one damage courtesy of Sabine; that meant I had two Range 2 shots to put on three damage, and Corran managed to do just that. Fenn went down to the double tap, Corran took one or two damage from Asajj and Manaroo, and I breathed a sigh of relief. After that, it was really just cleanup. I brought Miranda back around and she took a few cautious shots to regen, staying behind the rocks and out of danger. Corran hunted down Manaroo in the meantime, and then I turned my attention to Asajj. When time was called, I had her down to half health.
Win, 80-0
Round Three
- Resistance Sympathizer + Hotshot Copilot + Smuggling COmpartment + Slicer Tools
- Blue Sq Novice + R2 astromech + Integrated + Sensor Cluster
- Jess Pava + R2 Astromech + Integrated + Sensor Cluster
It's scary to see a weird list on the top table in the third round. It means that the guy knows what he's doing with it. And man, did it look annoying. That HotCop was going to make life hell, and slicer tools meant I had to be very cautious with Corran. Worse, he sat down, took a look at my list, and said, "I know this exact list!" Apparently his buddy flew this variant of Corran Miranda at Worlds -- meaning that he knew how to deal with it.
The asteroids were a pretty tight cluster this time. He set his Falcon in the right corner, the two T-70s right next to it. I set Corran up far left and Miranda mid-left. I knew I'd have to bring down the Falcon; but if I could manage that, either of my ships would solo the T-70s, given enough time.
I approached with Miranda out in front. He traded shots with her, doing one shield which she promptly regenned; then I turned her away from the fight, knowing he would go after Corran. He did just that, but Advanced Sensors meant that he got out of it easy, only taking shots from the Falcon. That took two shields off of him which, honestly, is exactly where I wanted to be: just juicy enough a target that he couldn't resist. He turned his ships in and Miranda put a bit of damage out, first on the Novice (TLT and bombs) and then on the Falcon when it came in range. Soon, the Falcon was chasing Corran down the board edge, with the T-70s trailing behind.
What followed was some obscene dice luck, and proof that you don't always get punished for your mistakes.
I made a blunder and moved Miranda first, blocking the boost I'd plan to have Corran do. Then I K-turned him. It was a move that I'd second-guessed myself into, and one that shouldn't have ended well. This was the situation: Corran and Miranda were both at Range 3 of the YT-1300, which had its shields down but all eight hull on it. Corran, I think, was one shield down. Next round, he would be able to roll up with the YT, block Corran's green, slicer tool him, and then punish with the T-70s. But instead, Corran punched through two crits: Structural Damage and Major Explosion, which rolled into a Direct Hit (that's four damage to hull). Miranda TLT'd two more on. The Sympathizer shot and took the shields off Corran. Corran double-tapped and rolled two hits; he rolled nothing to evade, and died.
It was some stupid luck. Now, I don't think I would've lost necessarily without it (as long as I shot decently that round, I would've been able to bring him down low enough for me to bomb and TLT him to death next round, leaving Miranda to solo the X-Wings); but it definitely was one lucky break. Next two rounds were a guessing game, which I won, rolling Corran forward with a couple of one-straights where he expected three-straights or two-banks. With the stress cleared, he was able to use Advanced Sensors to finish off one T-70; the other chased for a few rounds, but Miranda brought it down.
Win, 100-0.
Round Four
So I'm feeling pretty good about myself, right? Top seed after three pretty poor matchups. And look what I'm facing!
- Tomax + Crackshot + Homing Missiles + Extra Munitions
- Vessery + x7 + VI
- The Inquisitor + Proton Rockets + PtL + Autothrusters + Title
They're all PS 8, but I have the initiative bid; and I promptly give it away. This is by far the easiest matchup of the day. I just have to not let them get shots; just whittle away and it'll all work out.
Rocks were fairly well clustered. There was a line of three down the right side, with two more protruding into the middle of the board. He set up spaced nicely apart on the left side of the map. Miranda goes mid-right, Corran goes far-right, and we begin. He rolls the bomber forward--that's the one I want to take out, if I can. Fortunately, he doesn't get any early shots off with that Homing Missile, while Miranda takes some pot shots at Vessery and did a shield or two. Next round, though, I have a feeling he's gonna switch targets -- Miranda is running and bombing, while Corran is just rolling into the fray. So instead of dialing in a one-straight, I put in a two-bank, leaving me an escape route; and sure enough, he goes after Corran, switching the target lock and letting Miranda go free. She gets off a bomb on Vessery while Corran uses Advanced Sensors to evade both the Bomber's arc and the Defender's, while the Inquisitor takes an ineffectual obstructed shot. Next round, he hard-turns with Tomax, stressing himself, to go after Corran; the other two try to get shots on Miranda. Corran dodges the bomber -- no problems there -- while Miranda plinks away at Vess, bringing him down to two hull.
And then I did the worst move of all time.
He rolls up with the Inquisitor, saying "well, I suppose you get to bomb me now . . ." because, sure enough, Miranda's move places her just next to him -- out of his arc, but easily able to SLAM and bomb. My initial instinct was to just stay, and I should've trusted that; but for whatever reason, I decided to get greedy, SLAM, and drop a Conner Net right in front of him. Sucks for him next round, but it put me in the Inquisitor's arc, and he Procketed me. Next round, I do another flurry of stupid things. First off, I forget that Sabine triggers once per round, meaning that him running over the Net and then getting hit with a Detonator won't kill him. Next, I two-bank with Corran when I should three-straight, knowing that I can boost before I move. And, to top it all off, I got sloppy when placing the Detonator token, figuring "it won't matter, right?" The net result of all that is that I put Corran on a rock trying to avoid the Homing Missiles (which I probably could've tanked fairly well with a focus and evade instead of a boost and barrel roll), the Inquisitor survives the round, and Corran takes the damage and stress from the Detonator (the way I placed it, he was out, but I was the one who was all sloppy with it, so I told my opponent I was going to count him as in range -- don't want to be a **** about these things). Worse still, Corran is going to have to run over the rock again next round, so no actions . . . .
Anyway, Corran got nuked the round after that, courtesy of a Homing Missile. At that point, Miranda MIGHT have been able to pull it out, if it weren't for the clock. We had about twenty minutes left, which ended up being four or five rounds. I just needed to get off three damage to kill Vess and the Inquisitor, but it wasn't happening in that little time.
Loss, 0-100.
Round Five
Yep, I was tilted. And even worse, I was matched up against Triple Scouts, which is just about the worst thing I can imagine; it's an Alpha Strike list (which sucks for both lists) and a blocker list (which sucks for Miranda, although Advanced Sensors on Corran means he doesn't care). Plus, anyone running these guys at this point really knows what they're doing.
But I knew I had to win to go on, so that's what I planned on doing. I made a fairly loose cluster of rocks in the bottom, and then he set up with all three of his ships touching, two facing forward and one facing into them; meaning, in other words, that he'd be able to two one-hard turns with all three and fortress. I almost set up my ships in a fortress of my own, but then decided against it. I just moved them really slow to force him to engage on my terms (which he kinda had to -- if we both fortress, I have the advantage. It's easier for me to run in, bring a ship to half hull, and run out with five minutes left than it is for him to kill one of mine). So I moonwalked Corran along the edge (he was at a 45 degree angle to the edge; each round I would one-straight and barrel roll back), and Miranda just SLAMed circles around a rock until he was halfway across the map. At this point, it was very touch-and-go. He picked up some target locks when he could, and I took a couple of TLT pot-shots. Finally, I got an engagement I liked and started the actual fight. Unfortunately, I made an error that ended up being way too costly: I banked Corran instead of sending him straight (and I took a focus and a target lock instead of a focus and evade). I was needlessly worried about avoiding his firing arcs -- hence the bank -- and wanted to brink one of his ships down. A TLT from Miranda and double-tap from Corran put some damage on the Scout, but not as much as I would've liked; and his two Range 1 shots stripped my shields. At that point, I realized how stupid it had been to bank with him. Had I been facing the Scout head-on, I could've focused, evaded, and taken a three-straight. I would've gotten a shield back, and likely taken no damage, seeing as he wouldn't be able to get his torps off. But because of the bank, I was facing a rock, and had to waste both my actions getting around it and out of one firing arc. So Corran went down to three primary-weapon attacks from the U-Boats.
And that was about it. Miranda managed to bring one down, and I might have had a chance for a moment -- if I got a Conner Net off, and then the ion bomb, I think I could've got one of his Scouts off the board . . . but I missed by millimeters with the Net, and then he Boba'd my TLT off. From there, it was a pretty quick game.
Loss, 30ish-100.
And for the first time ever, I dropped from a tournament. It was pretty tilting to have flown so well for so much of the day, only to have it all brought down by one single round (which spiraled into losing the game, and then a terrible matchup, and so on); and I won't pretend that I don't miss doing well at tournaments. On the bright side, I flew well and beat some very good opponents, so I know I've still got it in me -- I've just got to have the confidence to not **** up. If I could go to a Regional tomorrow, I think I could make the cut; but as it is, I'll probably have to wait another year. Such is life.
Anyway, thought I'd share the experience, and thanks for reading. I know there's plenty of folks out there in the same predicament as me, and honestly? Sometimes, it really is that close. One bad decision, even one bad die roll can cost you the tournament. Easy solution -- just never make mistakes 
. MTFBWY!
I was your round 4 opponent. I looked for you later in the day and couldn't find you. You had me on the ropes pretty much the entire game. The Inquisitor was to 1 hull and the defender down to 2. I'm pretty sure the bomber had 4 damage on him too.