I really want to win the Kallus token and I have about 2 months before the store torny is coming up. For my part, I am really bad at x-wing so I am going to practice the basics. The part I need help with is how to I transition to being a better player from being a goofball. I want to run Imps (its also my go too) as I feel like most people after worlds are going to be sticking with Rebels and Scum so any ideas past just net listing? Are defenders "unplayable"? IDK my ideas tend to fall apart quickly in a game so I really would love some wisdom and help. That and I dont want to have to pay for a Kallus if possible :-) I am also going to spend some time watching a few worlds matches for ideas.

8 hours ago, Cubanboy said:

I really want to win the Kallus token and I have about 2 months before the store torny is coming up. For my part, I am really bad at x-wing so I am going to practice the basics. The part I need help with is how to I transition to being a better player from being a goofball. I want to run Imps (its also my go too) as I feel like most people after worlds are going to be sticking with Rebels and Scum so any ideas past just net listing? Are defenders "unplayable"? IDK my ideas tend to fall apart quickly in a game so I really would love some wisdom and help. That and I dont want to have to pay for a Kallus if possible :-) I am also going to spend some time watching a few worlds matches for ideas.

My current favorite imperial list uses matching Quickdraw and Backdraft with expertise, fcs, lwf, sensor cluster, title and pure sabacc with adaptaibility, ailerons and lwf

A rough guide:

1. Memorise ships movement distances. If you can get your judgement of what is a bump and what isn't down to a science and you can remove it from the equation when playing a game, you can focus your thinking power on how best approach the enemy list. I have found this to be pretty vital for competitive X-wing. Accidental asteroid fly-overs must be a thing of the past.

2. Netlist each of the major lists on list juggler or meta-wing at least once, if not twice. You want to know their capabilities, and you want to know what you feel is the right move to make in the opposite players shoes. If you are playing against a triple jumpmaster list and you are also familar with playing jumpmasters, you can accurately guess the kinds of moves they might be inclined to make, or guess what target priority they may have. This is very useful in learning how to play your own lists. I would venture to guess that you would be far better off playing a TIE swarm for 2 weeks and other lists entirely for 4 then back to TIE swarms, for example, than you would 2 solid months of TIE swarms.

3. Look at the most common upgrades in the meta. How badly does your list fall apart to them. If badly, devise a strategy for how you might wish an optimal game to go. for example. TLTs. If you don't have autothrusters, you need to be thinking about what arrangement of asteroids and what kinds of acceleration speeds you will want to use to get to range 1 of a ship with that upgrade card. There is no one perfect strategy for these things, but you need to think about them. If your whole list has less than 16 hit points, and all your ships are 2agility or less. you can assume on the first turn against 4 TLTs that you are going to lose a ship. the second turn you'll lose another ship if you don't destroy one of those TLTs. Does your list have sufficient firepower that you can out-gun these kinds of cards, or do you have a strategy in mind to break up what makes them efficient, etc.

4. All practice is good practice. No time spent playing will slow you down, and despite what I said earlier, 20 games of playing only X-wings is far better than 5 games of playing a diverse array of lists.

my two cents.

3 minutes ago, VanderLegion said:

My current favorite imperial list uses matching Quickdraw and Backdraft with expertise, fcs, lwf, sensor cluster, title and pure sabacc with adaptaibility, ailerons and lwf

I like that very much.

8 hours ago, citruscannon said:

A rough guide:

1. Memorise ships movement distances. If you can get your judgement of what is a bump and what isn't down to a science and you can remove it from the equation when playing a game, you can focus your thinking power on how best approach the enemy list. I have found this to be pretty vital for competitive X-wing. Accidental asteroid fly-overs must be a thing of the past.

2. Netlist each of the major lists on list juggler or meta-wing at least once, if not twice. You want to know their capabilities, and you want to know what you feel is the right move to make in the opposite players shoes. If you are playing against a triple jumpmaster list and you are also familar with playing jumpmasters, you can accurately guess the kinds of moves they might be inclined to make, or guess what target priority they may have. This is very useful in learning how to play your own lists. I would venture to guess that you would be far better off playing a TIE swarm for 2 weeks and other lists entirely for 4 then back to TIE swarms, for example, than you would 2 solid months of TIE swarms.

3. Look at the most common upgrades in the meta. How badly does your list fall apart to them. If badly, devise a strategy for how you might wish an optimal game to go. for example. TLT s. If you don't have autothrusters , you need to be thinking about what arrangement of asteroids and what kinds of acceleration speeds you will want to use to get to range 1 of a ship with that upgrade card. There is no one perfect strategy for these things, but you need to think about them. If your hole list has less than 16 hit points, and all your ships are 2agility or less. you can assume on the first turn against 4 TLT s that you are going to lose a ship. the second turn you'll lose another ship if you don't destroy one of those TLT s. Does your list have sufficient firepower that you can out-gun these kinds of cards, or do you have a strategy in mind to break up what makes them efficient, etc.

4. All practice is good practice. No time spent playing will slow you down, and despite what I said earlier, 20 games of playing only X-wings is far better than 5 games of playing a diverse array of lists.

my two cents.

All really good advice. Number 2 is quite helpful; even if you play imperial for the actual tournament(s), playing the lists you expect to run into gives you a much better idea of hteir capabilities and how they fly. For number 1, jst plopping asteroids on a table and flying around them to practice the movement without overlapping can be really helpful.

8 hours ago, Biophysical said:

I like that very much.

It's worked out really well for me so far. It's one of my potential store championship candidates.

Practice. Find a list that is at least marginally dangerous, and good fun to you. Then fly it. A lot. Against all comers. Unless everyone at your local practices a ton with their netlist, you should do fine.

I ran Crackshot Ryad and Crackshot Maarek with Carnor in a tourney less than a month ago and ended up going 4-1 against a variety of lists. I still think Defenders are really good and Carnor helps shut off Mindlink which is always a plus. As others have suggested, practice with a list and get a feel for it. If you like it, then learn the inside and out of the list, but if you don't like it, then try and find a list that better suits your playstyle. There are many lists and I think playing against as many different types of lists as you can is a huge plus. And if you get stomped thats ok. Its part of learning a new list. I feel like I always learn far more from a loss than from a win anyways.

I believe I have good tactical sense, I can normally out judge where my opponent thinks I am going to go. But where I let myself down, and I think it is a massive one is judging where a particular maneuver will land me. be it small ships or large ships. I am a lot better with small ships, but that is because the base is quarter the size. Where this lets me down is clipping Obstacles. I very rarely land myself on a 'roid fully, but I clip the edges so many times it's frustrating. 'Roids are sometimes my opponents MVP...

Where am I going with this? No idea... but seriously, getting better is about practice, whether it be by yourself or in game. I love Imperials, but I am an Interceptor fan and the way the Defender flies just doesn't gel with me, so pick something you like to fly too.

There will be match ups that will counter your list and match ups you will smash, trying to cover everything, well I will paraphrase a very able Prussian King and General, "If we try to defend everything, we will defend nothing". You try and have a bit to defeat all, you may end up defeating nothing as your opponent will kill that threat quick.

My 3 fiddy, locker nest monsta.

Citrus already gave you some great advice so I will try not to repeat what he said. When it comes to tournament play there a few important things you need to do before planing your first move.

Half the game is the initial placement. I ve seen great lists fail because of bad placement and mediocre lists win tournaments because of good placement. Having memorized a starting placement and use the exact same setup regardless of what list you are going against is almost synonym to bad placement. At the beginning of each match, as soon as you know your opponent, spend 1-2 minutes thinking what would be the best path of approach against his list and place accordingly.

It is OK to place your ships apart and not in a tight formation, as long as your approach path will have all of your ships firing at a single target during the first engagement. In that case make sure your opponent is not able to converge towards a single ship of yours before you bring all your guns to bare for counter fire.

Plan one move ahead. A great move for the current turn, that would put you in a tight spot for next turn is not that great move at all. Do not plan a move assuming you will clear your target this turn. Dice WILL fail, so plan a move assuming that you might have to attack the same target again.

Learn how to fly around obstacles. It takes allot of practice, but once you've got it, you've pretty much got it. (kind of goes back to the knowing how to gauge distances)

Or run debris clouds and learn how to deal with the stress. (Countess Ryad?)

Playing against living breathing opponents is best, but if you want to get some practice in, any time of the day on your web browser, go to Squadron Benchmark . It may take some getting used to, but every ship & upgrade is there. So if you're not one of those guys that has every ship, this will be a boon to you.

It's great to get a feel for lists that you've whipped together and test them, before you go "live" with real people. It has really helped me learn to judge avoiding rocks and bumping when I don't mean to.

So, find/make a list you like to fly, and practice, practice, practice against every stripe and color of opponent you can.

And this really is important: after your game with real opponents, take a minute while cleaning up your mat and ask them about the game you just played. What worked, what didn't. How did they choose which ship of yours to after first. What things they might suggest to improve your list.

And this may not be likely to happen depending on where you play, but it's good practice for both people: if there's time and they are open to it, switch sides with your opponent and play a second game against them. You use his ships & he uses yours.

Good luck!

19 hours ago, Cubanboy said:

I really want to win the Kallus token and I have about 2 months before the store torny is coming up. For my part, I am really bad at x-wing so I am going to practice the basics. The part I need help with is how to I transition to being a better player from being a goofball. I want to run Imps (its also my go too) as I feel like most people after worlds are going to be sticking with Rebels and Scum so any ideas past just net listing? Are defenders "unplayable"? IDK my ideas tend to fall apart quickly in a game so I really would love some wisdom and help. That and I dont want to have to pay for a Kallus if possible :-) I am also going to spend some time watching a few worlds matches for ideas.

2 months. I'm not going to discourage you, but you might want to bring your expectations down. My first bit of advice is always, Play More Games, and 2 months is not a lot of time to go from, in your words "really bad" to winning a Store Championship.

Here's my list of links on improving your X-Wing game.

Risk/Reward
http://xwingtactics.tumblr.com/post/112606225479/strategy-tips-when-to-go-for-high-risk

Understand variance
http://stayontheleader.blogspot.com/2016/03/in-my-experience-theres-no-such-thing.html

Understand overload dice.
http://stayontheleader.blogspot.com/2016/02/never-tell-me-odds-x-wing-dice-for.html

Bait and switch
http://xwingtactics.tumblr.com/post/108676017870/first-post-the-bait-and-switch

The cutback
http://xwingtactics.tumblr.com/post/117688497702/technical-tips-opening-gambits-the-cutback

Obstacles
http://xwingtactics.tumblr.com/post/114075167920/technical-tips-flying-close-to-the-sun

Turn zero
http://xwingtactics.tumblr.com/post/138212802468/technical-tips-obstacle-placement

Rule of 11
http://xwingtactics.tumblr.com/post/130587909765/technical-tips-integrating-the-rule-of-1016-aka

19 hours ago, Biophysical said:

I like that very much.

Can I ask the difference in Pure and Countdown? Is living longer better then the damage?

1 minute ago, Koing907 said:

2 months. I'm not going to discourage you, but you might want to bring your expectations down. My first bit of advice is always, Play More Games, and 2 months is not a lot of time to go from, in your words "really bad" to winning a Store Championship.

Here's my list of links on improving your X-Wing game.

Risk/Reward
http://xwingtactics.tumblr.com/post/112606225479/strategy-tips-when-to-go-for-high-risk

Understand variance
http://stayontheleader.blogspot.com/2016/03/in-my-experience-theres-no-such-thing.html

Understand overload dice.
http://stayontheleader.blogspot.com/2016/02/never-tell-me-odds-x-wing-dice-for.html

Bait and switch
http://xwingtactics.tumblr.com/post/108676017870/first-post-the-bait-and-switch

The cutback
http://xwingtactics.tumblr.com/post/117688497702/technical-tips-opening-gambits-the-cutback

Obstacles
http://xwingtactics.tumblr.com/post/114075167920/technical-tips-flying-close-to-the-sun

Turn zero
http://xwingtactics.tumblr.com/post/138212802468/technical-tips-obstacle-placement

Rule of 11
http://xwingtactics.tumblr.com/post/130587909765/technical-tips-integrating-the-rule-of-1016-aka

Rule of 11 totally forgot about this going to watch everything above. :-0

15 minutes ago, Cubanboy said:

Can I ask the difference in Pure and Countdown? Is living longer better then the damage?

Imo,i think the sooner you kill a ship the better. This way you do not have return fire for very long. Just my 2 cents

Agreed. In "combat" the longer you are in it, the more likely you're going to make mistakes and get into trouble.

35 minutes ago, Cubanboy said:

Can I ask the difference in Pure and Countdown ? Is living longer better then the damage?

In this list, Pure Sabacc functions a lot like an imperial biggs. People really don't want to take 4 dice attacks, so they frequently target PS first to take away his ability. Given that he's the weakest closer in the list, that works great for me. If they DON'T shoot him first, then great, I get to throw 4 die attacks at people, and the other 2 are tankier with sensor cluster and tokens so more likely to survive more shots. With countdown's ability, he may well have the opposite effect. If they know they're not going to hit for more than one anyway, they may just decide to kill an SF first. And countdown is doing less damage himself, so you gain less by him surviving longer/

37 minutes ago, VanderLegion said:

In this list, Pure Sabacc functions a lot like an imperial biggs. People really don't want to take 4 dice attacks, so they frequently target PS first to take away his ability. Given that he's the weakest closer in the list, that works great for me. If they DON'T shoot him first, then great, I get to throw 4 die attacks at people, and the other 2 are tankier with sensor cluster and tokens so more likely to survive more shots. With countdown's ability, he may well have the opposite effect. If they know they're not going to hit for more than one anyway, they may just decide to kill an SF first. And countdown is doing less damage himself, so you gain less by him surviving longer/

This is all totally correct based on my experience, and I'll add that if you think you know if your opponent will go after Sabacc, Strikers are tremendously maneuverable and you can get the heck out of there really effectively.

Build your squad, whatever it may be. And practice. A lot. If you can play against others, do so when you can. In my experience, Squad Benchmark and Vassal don't help as much as one might hope, as gauging moves in that perfect, top down view differs from physical perspective when playing a real game. Then again, maybe you can fly, or your spatial sense is better than mine.

When you can't get a real game, play against Aturi Cluster style AI, or even just run both squads yourself. Try to fly against "meta" lists. That'll help you see their advantages against your list. Also, whether you have an opponent or you're playing solo, you'll get practice maneuvering your ships, optimizing your skill with getting the most out of whatever kind of formation you're using.

Formation will vary by list. Some will want to stick close (like Howlrunner squads) while others like to keep some number of ships out at long range from the enemy as much as possible. (Anything equipped with a range 3 cannon is better off using it from range, denying defense bonuses to their targets via secondary weapon, while likely holding the extra green for themselves.)

If you're formation allows for concentrated firepower, it can be very helpful if you can blast an enemy ship off the map in a turn or two.

Bottom line- build your list and have a plan. Practice A LOT and refine as weaknesses become apparent, or if you note that there are upgrades in your list you often get no use from.

And make sure it's a list you'll have fun flying and be proud of no matter how it does.

21 minutes ago, MarekMandalore said:

Build your squad, whatever it may be. And practice. A lot. If you can play against others, do so when you can. In my experience, Squad Benchmark and Vassal don't help as much as one might hope, as gauging moves in that perfect, top down view differs from physical perspective when playing a real game. Then again, maybe you can fly, or your spatial sense is better than mine.

Vassal isn't great for learning to gauge distances on table (as I can fully attest since the vast majority of my play is on vassal. Im way better judging moves there than I am on table), but it can be a huge help in learning how to fly a list and how to fly AGAINST other lists.

3 minutes ago, VanderLegion said:

Vassal isn't great for learning to gauge distances on table (as I can fully attest since the vast majority of my play is on vassal. Im way better judging moves there than I am on table), but it can be a huge help in learning how to fly a list and how to fly AGAINST other lists.

Very true. I should have acknowledged that aspect, rather than glossing over it in admitting my own weak skills at judging where my ships will land.

Just putting this out there.... Do u have anything to trade for the agent kallus token if you don't win? A lot of ppl trade x wing paraphernalia....

Play the 2 Tie SF list.

Heres a Tie SF list with Omega leader and a bid. This is very important in high level meta. You must ahve a 2 pt bid.

On 5/8/2017 at 6:35 PM, tsondaboy said:

Citrus already gave you some great advice so I will try not to repeat what he said. When it comes to tournament play there a few important things you need to do before planing your first move.

Half the game is the initial placement. I've seen great lists fail because of bad placement and mediocre lists win tournaments because of good placement. Having memorized a starting placement and use the exact same setup regardless of what list you are going against is almost synonym to bad placement. At the beginning of each match, as soon as you know your opponent, spend 1-2 minutes thinking what would be the best path of approach against his list and place accordingly.

It is OK to place your ships apart and not in a tight formation, as long as your approach path will have all of your ships firing at a single target during the first engagement. In that case make sure your opponent is not able to converge towards a single ship of yours before you bring all your guns to bare for counter fire.

Plan one move ahead. A great move for the current turn, that would put you in a tight spot for next turn is not that great move at all. Do not plan a move assuming you will clear your target this turn. Dice WILL fail, so plan a move assuming that you might have to attack the same target again.

Lots of good stuff here, but the part I have bolded has really sunk in recently. I don't think it's an exaggeration: literally half of the game is initial placement. Myself and some of the others on these forums are on a crusade of sorts to see just how far triple T-70s can go. I couldn't figure out why sometimes I would get wiped off the board, and other times I would dominate. Seriously, I either don't lose a ship or I destroy only 1 or fewer ships before getting annihilated. Then I started noticing how I felt at the beginning of each match. If I felt confident in my placement, I'd win. If I placed my fighters with some measure of trepidation, I'd lose. The next step for me is figuring out just where that trepidation comes from, (i.e. what about my match up has me confused about optimal approach), and what aspects of my opponent's squad lends me great confidence in my approach. I also need to re-learn how to make the obstacles work in my favor. It's a big challenge, and I think perhaps the best way to practice may be to play tons of reps on Vassal so I can easily record and review my matches to look for mistakes I made, or surprising moves my opponent made.

7 minutes ago, Parakitor said:

Lots of good stuff here, but the part I have bolded has really sunk in recently. I don't think it's an exaggeration: literally half of the game is initial placement. Myself and some of the others on these forums are on a crusade of sorts to see just how far triple T-70s can go. I couldn't figure out why sometimes I would get wiped off the board, and other times I would dominate. Seriously, I either don't lose a ship or I destroy only 1 or fewer ships before getting annihilated. Then I started noticing how I felt at the beginning of each match. If I felt confident in my placement, I'd win. If I placed my fighters with some measure of trepidation, I'd lose. The next step for me is figuring out just where that trepidation comes from, (i.e. what about my match up has me confused about optimal approach), and what aspects of my opponent's squad lends me great confidence in my approach. I also need to re-learn how to make the obstacles work in my favor. It's a big challenge, and I think perhaps the best way to practice may be to play tons of reps on Vassal so I can easily record and review my matches to look for mistakes I made, or surprising moves my opponent made.

About 80% of my success with pre-title Defenders was due to reps put into games against myself on Vassal where I'd just test setups against power squads over and over to see what openings and setups led to favorable matchups.