I took my list Kattanni to Vegas regionals and went 4-2 (20th Overall w/ Top16 cut). Link on that batrep is here

Fresno came two weeks later. I hadn't been practicing anything else, just been doing casual games since, messing around with Awing swarms, and an Epic match. Wasn't until A few days before that I decided to go and tag along with my brother. What list to bring? I really thought I should have made the cut in Vegas. I did some stupid flying in Vegas (flew Ketsu off the board!) and still almost made the cut. So redemption for Kattanni. Plus, with the new FAQ, this may be the last time Kattanni flies and I need to know if it's as good as I think it is.

Kattanni

Manaroo (27)
Attanni Mindlink (1)

Ketsu Onyo (38)
Attanni Mindlink (1)
Dengar (3)

Old Teroch (26)
Attanni Mindlink (1)
Autothrusters (2)
Concord Dawn Protector (1)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Round 1

vs

Talonbane w/ Fealressness + Glitter + Hull

PTL Fenn

PTL Terry

This one is long, as some drama happens. Short version is, I win. Go to round 2 or read for drama drama drama.

As we are setting up, my opponent asks me to explain exactly what Mindlink does as he has heard about it, but hasnt seen it in action. "Huh? New player, perhaps a good start to the day?" I have no problem explaining, and show him the cards. His list hits freaking hard, so I definitely can't slack on him gameplay wise. I win the toss and give him initiative so his Terry drops tokens from my ships, THEN manaroo passes tokens to said ship. Also I can see where he places Terry first.

I place Manaroo middle-right. He sets up Terry far left. I place Ketsu and OT (will use OT for my Teroch to not confuse the two) in my right corner away from Terry. Figure battle will be easier if his Terry aint around. He sets Talonbane and Fenn across from me. Perfect, I can bumrush Fenn and Talonbane and hopefully erase one of them before dealing with Terry shenanigans. I zoom in fast with some 5 and 3 straights, Talonbane slams into Ketsu. His Terry boost in front of an asteroid, then b-rolls still in front of asteroid and screwed next round. I tractor beam Talonbane off of Ketsu and b-roll in front of same rock as Terry (remember this tractor beam, as it comes up again). Fenn is range 1 of my OT, and drops Fenn's focus token.

First round of shooting, Fenn naked on OT at range 1. Hit/hit/hit/crit/crit. Early day for me if this is how dice are gonna go!!! I roll blank/blank/eye. OT is gone. Oh Joy! Ketsu and Manaroo put 4 damage in on Talonbane, with Hull Upgrade he has two left. His Terry fires on manaroo, safe.

Next couple rounds I am blocking Fenn with Manaroo to keep him out of fight, while Ketsu takes care of Talonbane. Meanwhile my opponent is forgetting all his abilities. Im not the type to take advantage. I noticed after a round he forgot the first time I fired on Fenn to get his range 1 bonus defense die and I did two damage. So next time, he forgot again, Range 1 out of arc Manaraoo rolled hit/hit/crit. He had no focus and rolled eye/eye/evade, and said "Well Fenn is dead." And Im like "You get one more defense die for Fenn's ability". He reads Fenn's card and then rolls his extra die. Its a blank, kicking in Autothrusters. Fenn takes the crit, it's a direct hit, bad luck Fenn dead anyways.

Now it's his Terry vs somewhat healthy Ketsu, and Manaroo with a shield. He gets Terry in Ketsu arc. Doesn't remember Terry's ability, so I remind him. Drops ketsu focus, but I give her another with Manaroo.

The next round. 15 minutes left. He ends up range 1 in Manaroo AND Ketsu. He begins to pick up dice for combat. And Im like "Wait wait wait. We have our combat things to do. Which tokens do you want to drop, Manaroo or Ketsu?" He chose Manaroo. I then declare I am tractor beaming Terry, and place the tractor beam token, then ask him to barrel Terry left onto the asteroid. This is where he blows up.

"What!? you cant barrel roll me on an asteroid, its not a maneuver. Do you have the tractor beam card? I want to read the card." So he calls the T.O. over and T.O. has the FAQ and reads the card. Then the guy is like "Well he placed the token, what is first, the barrel roll or the token, cause if barrel is first, and he placed the token, he cant barrel roll me." Now, remember, I already barrel rolled him once before, so he knows exactly how it goes, and didnt have a problem the first time. Anyways, T.O. says I can do it and so I do.

Then I say to roll for damage on asteroid.

"What!? I have to roll for damage too? It's not a maneuver! I want to see the tractor beam card! Where is your tractor beam card, you should have the card!"

I'm very calmly like "It's in the FAQ, I will pull it up on my phone if you want."

Meanwhile time is now called in game. T.O. comes back, tells him he has to roll for damage. I don't kill Terry. Game over.

Wow, I am just like "where the hell did that come from?" I was helping him all game remembering his abilities because he was a new-ish player, and then that. I have played against those intense "Win at all cost players" who I let have their forgotten FCS, then 5 rounds later with 10 minutes left, I forget mine and they are like "You missed it, sorry" But never had anyone blow up on me before.

Win: 68-51

Record: 1-0

Round 2

Promise to keep the rest somewhat short, lol

vs

PalpMobile

Quickdraw + LW + FCS + Title + LWF

x7 Juke Vessery

So, I always tell myself, always go after the high PS ships first, to make my endgame easier. I setup opposite (about range 2.5 from left edge) of Shuttle and Vessery. I set 5 straights with Vessery and Terry, I figure he is gonna 4k Vessery and keep shuttle in corner, so I want to close on QD fast. Instead he hard 3's left, then barrel rolls Vessery towards me. So, a 5straight Ketsu, and a 5 straight Terry are range 3 on a Vessery with just an evade. I shoot Vessery and strip 2 tokens. Now, I am in a perfect spot to tractor beam him next round, and even drop tokens with Terry. There goes the plan of hunting high PS first! I do just that, and Vessery survives thanks to crappy dice rolls. However next round I can do it again if he 4ks. And I tractor beam him and b-roll him into range 1 of terry. Naked Vessery does not live. While I am doing that, he brought the shuttle in, and did some nice damage to manaroo dropping her to 2 hull. And QD was working on Ketsu. Seemed like every attack he was getting full hits and a crit, even without Palp. I am rerolling 2 blanks with Dengar into 2 blanks. Having a hard time even doing anything to QD. QD attacks Terry, and rolls crit/crit/crit/focus. So he Palps to a 4th crit, why not? I roll no evades, Terry dead. Injured Ketsu did not survive much longer. I should have gone after QD first, big mistake, but when someone serves up a New York Sirloin and drops it in front you, it's hard not to take a bite.

Loss: 35-100

Record: 1-1

Round 3

Not too happy with my previous game. One more loss and I am out. I get matched up versus a guy from local area. We are both like "Oh ****, lets do this!" I have played him once, but seen him a couple times, so I have some experience against his list. He has flown the same list for about a year, and recently placed in tops of Endor system open. His list just absolutely wrecks things.

Boskaroo

Bossk + Fearlessness + Cluster Missiles + Dengar + Zuckuss + 4lom + ID + GC

Manaroo + Predator + R5P9 + Gonk + Punishing One + Experimental Interface

I win toss and give him initiative, since we are all PS4 and PS7. He sets manaroo and Bossk on far right corner. Set Manaroo in middle, Ketsu Left, and Terry opposite of Bossk and Manaroo, as far to the right edge as I could. My plan is to try and zip passed both ships with Terry, feed the wolves, so to speak, make them occupied with that New York Sirloin that I am offering up. That will give me time to get behind Bossk with my Manaroo and Ketsu. I cant afford Bossk Cluster Missiling Ketsu off the board, then Terry suffering painbot attacks.

I set a 3 straight. Rule of 11. If he does a 4 straight with Bossk, I dont want to take a range 3 shot this round with zuckuss. He does a 4 straight with Manaroo, barrel rolls toward edge, in front of Bossk, who also did a 4 straight. I TL manaroo and take a shot. As soon as I roll the dice, I am like "Oh crap! PAINBOT!" I didnt want to suffer any damage this round! I think I take a shield off manaroo. Luckily painbot misses. "Whew!"

Next round, I set a 5 straight. I am praying he doesn't 1 bank, then b-roll backward toward the edge, cause that would block me, and give Bossk all he needs to wipe Terry out. He 1 banks with Manaroo. "Oh crap!" Then focuses. "WHEW!" Bossk also 1 banks towards edge. I was not expecting that and it looks like he might block me. I 5 straight with terry and land just in front of bossk's primary arc, where fearlessness triggers. I boost and get out of that arc. Ketsu has come around and now has a range 3 on Bossk and is behind him.

Combat, Terry drops Bossk's focus. His Manaroo keeps her focus. He rolls hit/hit/crit/eye. Rerolls the eye into another eye. I get two evades. SAFE! Bossk turns crit into 2 hits. Manaroo cant punch through thanks to autothrusters. Terry on 2 hull, and my entire list is behind Bossk next round. Plan A, accomplished.

In a weird spot with my Manaroo a couple rounds later. She moves first, but is pointing towards board edge. I cant turn in, cause I bump Ketsu, and I need my focus this round. I think a one straight flies her off the edge, so I hard 1 left. UGH! Her corner is barely off the mat, she is gone! We check the 1-straight and she would have made it. I take Bossk out that round. Manaroo has been doing some serious work on Ketsu in the meantime.

After a few rounds, he is out of gonks, Ketsu is on 3 hull, Terry is on 1 hull. Ketsu fires at Manaroo, he elects on to use painbot. So I elect not to shoot with Terry. He then shoots at Ketsu, and gets all three damage into her. Ketsu is gone. UGH! Manaroo on 2 hull, Terry on 1 hull. I TL manaroo next round and take her out! YES! Wait, painbot! He rolls a hit and kills Terry! We are both laughing. "Final Salvo!!!"

My 8 dice to his 5 dice. I roll 4 hits, he rolls 3 hits. My first final Salvo. What a game!

Win: 100-100

Record: 2-1

Round 4

vs

Dengar + LW + Tactician + Title + R5P9

Asajj + PTL + Latts

Dengar and tactician, never seen or played against it, but does not sound fun for Attanni Mindlink. My list was built specifically to take Asajj out ASAP, so that is what I am going for. All three ships can then take Dengar out. He places Asajj right side. I place opposite. He places Denger left side. Perfect, far from the battle! He 3 straights Asajj and rotates the arc. I 5 straight Ketsu and Terry and boost Terry. Both range 3 of tokenless Asajj. She eats 5 damage. I will note here, my opponents green dice where VERY COLD this game. Next round, he 2 straights Asajj and focus evade, I 3 hard Ketsu and am range 1, and bank Terry inwards and also get range 1. Dengar moving in, only range 3 of manaroo. I drop Asajj's tokens, and tractor beam her down to 1 agility. She does not survive. I will keep this short and just say, Dengar lasted two rounds after that. Game was over fast. Think 45 minutes were still left in the round, plus it was gonna be dinner break, so nice extra time for me to rest up and hydrate.

Win: 100-21

Record: 3-1

Round 5

I am matched up with the list everybody dreads.

Double VCX + Y all with ABT.

UGH!

NOTE: My opponent is a **** cool guy. We had a blast this entire match!

I joke with my opponent that his list counters every single thing in my list. Terry and Ketsu both like range 1. He has range 1 instant damage ABT, and 4 dice primary's. Terry drops tokens, VCX doesnt care with FCS and Hera crew. Ketsu drops agility and VCS has none! I am not looking forward this match! Oh, and did I mention they are all generics, so dengar crew only gets 1 reroll. UGH!

To keep this somewhat short. My plan is to sacrifice Terry. Three ABT's, he aint gonna live long anyways. Sorry, Terry! I need to split my forces into three, and get the VCX's pointed at Terry. Basically my Bossk strategy. So, I bank Ketsu in middle, bring terry up middle/left, and Manaroo screaming down the right side. His VCX's go through the middle, and a couple range 3 exchanges happen with Ketsu. next round he takes the bait, and 3 sharps to block Terry with the Zeb VCX, and he moves 1 straight with the other Hera VCX, to block Ketsu, as there is an asteroid in front of Ketsu at range 1. I 5K Ketsu over the rock. This puts me behind both his VCX, and the Y is beyond range 3. Better yet, his Zeb VCX is stressed (so no kturn), and facing the wrong direction and is gonna be out of the fight for a few rounds. Terry dies, but it was for a good cause old buddy! I put lots of damage into Hera VCX for a couple rounds, then she 5Ks, and I switch to take the Y wing out since the ghost has a range 3 through the rock shot at tokened up Ketsu and the Ywing is served up on a platter to me. Zeb is still turning around. By the time Zeb comes back in the fight, Hera VCX is gone, and Ywing just then eats it. From here on out, its Manaroo and Ketsu vs Zeb VCX (missing just a few shields). By the time the VCX is dead, he got Manaroo and Ketsu to half.

Win: 100-65

This match was one I thought I was going to lose. That 5K from Ketsu changed the game, getting behind his VCX's and one stressed and pointed the wrong way. After the match everyone asked if I won. I go "yeah" and they are like "Great, cause I did not want to play against that list." HAHAHA. I dont think anybody does. It's so **** tough!

Record: 4-1

I need just one more and I am in!

Round 6

vs

Rey + Expertise + Kanan + Finn + HotR title

Norra + PTL + Katarn + R2D2 + VT + Title

Not sure how I feel about this matchup. Rey gonna hit really hard, but I can easily close range on Norra and taker her off quickly I think.

We setup in opposite corners. I go fast through middle. He keeps Rey and Norra on the edge. Rey 2 turns in and gets range 2 on terry who takes 2 damage. All my list gets return fire and Rey lose 3 or 4 shields?

I kind of like this as it looks like I am going for Rey first, but she was just the only one in range. I WANT NORRA! He turns Norra around and barrel rolls, heading back for the corner. I 5 straight Ketsu, 4 straight and boost Terry passed Rey and into Norras rear arc. Manaroo moves up also in range 3 of Norra. She gets dropped to I think 3 hull remaining. Rey fires on Terry but does no damage. Then Norra range 1 gets a damage through. Next round she regens, Terry is in an awkward spot. I hard 1 turn, and don't have enough room to barrel roll behind Norra to get a shot. I am in her rear arc, to drop the focus, but do I want two shots coming to Terry? I boost Terry forward towards Rey, hoping it's enough to get the block. It's not, Rey lands just in front of Terry. Goodbye Terry! Ketsu drops Norra to 1 hull remaining, then Manaroo finishes her off. Rey and Ketsu collide in the corner. Then Ketsu 3 turns, and Rey sloops, I don't think she had enough room to do the sloop, but she lands a millimeter within the board edge. Wow, crazy. Ketsu and Rey exchange shots, Manaroo has a range 1 on Rey as well. Next round Ketsu and Rey exchange shots again. Ketsu lands a crit on Rey - Blinded Pilot! She only has I think 3 hull remaining at this point, Ketsu has taken 3 shields and I think 1 hull damage, manaroo untouched. I finish Rey off the next round.

Win: 100 - 30

I made Top 8, finally!!!

Record: 5-1

Feels so good. I walk over to scorers table and see my brother there as well. I ask him how he did and he also made Top 8. Finishing 2nd overall, top MOV, and the only rebel player in top 8.

I am 8th seed, so I am playing top undefeated Paratanni list for my matchup. He gave my brother his only loss, and a couple other top8's there only loss. Paratanni is tough, but my list is strong against it. We have exactly the same ships, same HP, but different abilities. I can remove tokens and hit hard. It's going to come down to controlling what Fenn can do.

Day 2 (continued below)

Edited March 13, 2017 by wurms

Day 2

vs Paratanni

The game was recorded HERE (first game on recording, I am top player even though it says my name is bottom player )

I will post links to the action, and not us thinking for 10 minutes setting dials. We took our time in this match.

1:38 camera got moved and they are adjusting while we play. I have manaroo slow rolling up middle, and bring Ketsu and Terry together on the right. He brings Fenn up left, and banks in towards Manaroo.

4:37 He skirts manaroo on the edge. I want that middle ground ASAP, so I go fast and hard at Asajj. I am letting Manaroo take a few damage, because I want her to block Fenn and keep him occupied while Asajj and Terry can do their thing.

18:12 I was expecting a 2sharp left with Asajj, or a 1 straight. With my Manaroo, I just wanted to take all of Fenn's good options away. I really wanted to hard 1, but Manaroo would have been right in front of the rock, plus it left the hard 2 right open for Fenn, to get a range 1 full mod shot on Ketsu. His only other safe move was the 3 bank for no shots, or a 4K which I was fine with. I think Asajj has now taken 5 damage after this.

33:42 I am not sure if he is going left or right with Asajj. The way Fenn is pointed, he could easily go left and then Fenn is behind my entire squad, AINT GONNA HAPPEN! I tell myself all the time "Versus Paratanni, just take out Asajj, keep Fenn occupied, unless the opportunity arises to take Fenn out in a single round. Well, I absolutley love where Fenn is, in relation to my squad's position. I can slow roll Manaroo forward, clear stress and block 3 straight green. Ketsu can 2 sharp right in front of him, taking all his left and 2 straight greens away and hopefully *fingers crossed* get that block. A 2 bank right puts him on the rock, his only safe green would be a 2 hard right, away from the battle, which saves Fenn, but also saves me and puts him in a bad postion for the next round. Well, It just so happens I get the block on Fenn, tractor beam him onto a rock so he cant shoot! Terry 1 hard turned and is range 2 of Fenn, no autothrusters for Fenn! He rolls for the rock damage and it misses, NO!!! My squad gives him everything I got, only 3 damage gets through. ****! Where is that rock damage when I need it! Asajj with 5 hull left, and if Fenn was dead, the game would have been over.

50:15 I dont want to left 2 manaroo, ideally I would try to fit a hard 2 right to get away from Fenn, but it would be close call, and I need her focus, because I am going to bump into Fenn with Ketsu, and Terry is going to be very close to a rock. This is the round where Manaroo is destroyed. Terry drops Asajj tokens. Ketsu gets a crit through on Asajj, MAJOR EXPLOSION! And...nada! DOH! These 50/50 are not working out for me! Terry does another 2 damage. Time is running out and I need 2 more on Asajj to take the lead. The entire time I am thinking, "ROCK! Why did you not damage Fenn! OY!"

1:03:30 This is it, 1 minute remaining (time started while we were still setting up, and stream started late, so we lost about 10 minutes) so this is the last round. I need to criss cross Ketsu and Terry so they both get shots. So, leading up to this turn, I figure Manaroo hard turns and focuses. Fenn hard turns and boosts to try and get a range 3 shot, and Asajj will move and evade. Well, Manaroo moves and barrel rolls. My eyes widen. I like this. Asajj moves and evades.

I 3-hard Terry right, already in range 1, I want to TL but after he lands I spend a good deal of time measuring Ketsu's 3-hard in my mind and it looks like Ketsu is gonna land on Terry's back corner. UGH! My options are to barrel roll Terry into Asajj's arc. It drops her single evade token, but stresses both of my guys which equals 2 evades. If Ketsu's 3-hard gets out of Asajj's arc, she only has a single evade. So, I boost forward. Ketsu 3-hards and I have to turn my arc (she has Dengar for mods, DONT LET ME DOWN BIG GUY!), I look at Asajj's arc and she clearly has arc on Ketsu, what the hell was I thinking? Oh boy, two more evades for her. Then to top it all off, Fenn hard turns and focuses. WHAT!? Why am I making mental mistakes on the last turn? I was flying so great. The entire time I was planning dials, I had in my head Fenn was hard turning and boosting. Never thought about Manaroo b-rolling and Fenn focusing. So when I was deciding to b-roll Terry or not, I was only staring at Asajj's single evade token. UGH! What a blunder by me. Now Asajj has 2 focus and evade, plus two more from stress. Worse mistake I have ever made with this list and that includes flying Ketsu off the board in Vegas, lol. A b-roll wins me the game, and I boost. I fail to kill Asajj. Game over. Man, wish I had those 10 minutes we loss, one more round? HAHAHAHA. Or maybe I need to set my dials faster, cause I was taking my sweet time.

Loss: 20-28

Well, I still made top 8 and had a hell of a good time. All but one of my opponents were awesome and this is my first top 8 in a regionals, so I will take it.

As for Kattani's future. I love Ketsu and Teroch combo. It's so deadly. Manaroo could drop to a Scout, then I can put Gyro on Ketsu so I don't have to waste an action turning her turret. Another option is to drop Jumpmaster and I can add Genesis Red scyk fighter with Mangler and Pulse Array Shield. Then my squad will be all 7's. Anyways, that will take lots of playtesting.

Hope you enjoyed the read, if you made it this far!