5 minutes ago, ThalanirIII said:

Spoken like someone who doesn't realise that not only are defenders not at the top, but not even in the top 5!

http://www.meta-wing.com/ships?ranking_start=2017-03-17&ranking_end=2017-04-29&large_tournament_multiplier=true&widespread_use_multiplier=true&use_ranking_data=all&tournament_type=&

The meta is more than Defenders and Jumpmasters - it's not 2016 any more, we have Fang Fighters, Shadowcasters, Y wings, K wings, X wings Biggs, K wings, attack shuttles, and TIE/SFs above the defender.

Whilst this data is imperfect, it does a pretty good job of showcasing the meta overall.

No need to be quite so confrontational is there? Anyway, Worlds will be the proof of the pudding, and if the top eight doesn't involve at least five lists running at least one jumpmaster I'll be amazed.

1 minute ago, Estarriol said:

No need to be quite so confrontational is there? Anyway, Worlds will be the proof of the pudding, and if the top eight doesn't involve at least five lists running at least one jumpmaster I'll be amazed.

I expect plenty of jumpmasters, but wouldn't be surprised at all if they weren't 5 jumpmaster lists in the top 5. The three post-nerf system opens only had 3 lists each with jumpmasters (granted there was only liken1 scum list that DIDNT have a jumpmaster in those top 8 cuts)

36 minutes ago, Estarriol said:

No need to be quite so confrontational is there? Anyway, Worlds will be the proof of the pudding, and if the top eight doesn't involve at least five lists running at least one jumpmaster I'll be amazed.

Your were acting like the meta was completely stale and boring, with no variety. It's not. My intention wasn't to be confrontational, but it's undeniable that the meta is not just 'JMs and defenders'.

I've been flying imperial aces quite a bit with some success. Arc dodging is fun.

Squad building is one of my favorite aspects of the game. In fact, I only ever use a list if I've designed it myself... but it happens sometimes that the stronger lists I come up with end up looking similar to a netlist.

Even then, having built the "netlist" without help, I have a stronger emotional attachment to it. And I'd sooner go 50/50 with my own squad than undefeated with something I borrowed, due to that attachment.

TL;DR I only netlist by accident, because I'm willing to trade a few wins in exchange for the joy of flying my own ideas.

21 hours ago, sf1raptor said:

Just wondering, how many of y'all out there don't use meta lists that much, if ever? I know I just fly what I like, so I wanted to see how many others follow this ideology of list building.

We don't do Meta at all, we fly casual, fly what we want and have a lot of fun with it....

I won't put victory ahead of flying what I want, or buying what I want. I won't buy expansions for upgrades alone. I also don't buy upgrades off eBay.

I only bought one copy of imperial vets, so triple /x7 is beyond my collection. I have no K-wings, so no TLT. You get the idea.

Following the above logic, any list I fly will by necessity be purely a matter of my own tastes. Strictly speaking, my win or loss will be a matter of interaction with the meta, as others have noted. (Squad building itself is arguably a meta game, where the game itself is what we put on the table with templates, dice and minis.)

My lists, however are not built on the basis of observations of the colloquial meta game (the popular list archetypes, etc.). I don't use netlists, as I'd rather lose with my squad than win (or lose) with someone else's. A netlist victory would feel to me like something I owed to the original designer rather than my victory being my own accomplishment.